Rep. Chris Smith: Health Care Reform Is "The Abortion Industry Bailout Bill Of 2009"

Speaking at the Family Research Council's "Values Voters Summit" over the weekend, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) warned that abortions would increase by one-third if health care reform passes.  In an interview with the Washington News Observer released yesterday, Smith repeated his claim, saying that current reform plans would cause "hundreds of thousands" of additional abortions per year.  He also referred to health care reform as "the abortion industry bailout bill of 2009." Watch it (the relevant part starts about 40 seconds in):

REP. SMITH: This is the abortion industry bailout bill of 2009.  It will cause hundreds of thousands per year additional abortions because it will market it, provide new venues, new abortion clinics and public subsidies, public funds will be paying for abortions.

However, Smith's attempt to rile up anti-abortion activists doesn't have any basis in reality.  The non-partisan website PolitiFact.com has determined that neither the House bill nor Sen. Max Baucus' (D-MT) proposal would subsidize elective abortions.  Regarding the Baucus plan, the website wrote:

The Baucus plan explicitly states that no federal funds -- whether through tax credits or cost-sharing credits -- could be used to pay for abortions (again, unless the pregnancy is due to rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is in danger).

Under reform, some plans in the public exchange would offer abortion coverage (like 87 percent of private insurance plans already do), but it would not be subsidized using taxpayer dollars. Rather, abortion coverage would be paid for through the premiums of the insured -- people who voluntarily choose to enroll in plans that cover abortion services.