Sen. Hatch Misleads On Abortion Coverage In Senate Bill

Sen. Hatch Claims Senate Bill Funds Elective Abortions, Goes Against Hyde Amendment

Hatch: Senate Bill Will "Allow Hard-Earned Taxpayer Dollars To Pay For Elective Abortion"

For almost 35 years, the law of the land has been an explicit prohibition against federal taxpayer dollars being used to pay for elective abortions, known as the Hyde amendment, after the late great Illinois congressman. This is a policy supported by the majority of the American people.

In fact, this hard-fought explicit ban was included in the health care bill that passed the House last year. Regrettably, the Senate did not follow suit and instead passed a bill that would allow hard-earned taxpayer dollars to pay for elective abortion. That is a simple fact. Unfortunately, in a mad rush to secure enough votes, leading House Democrats now intend to take up the Senate-passed bill, arguing that the Senate language prohibits federal funding of abortion. Besides that fact that this simply not true, it also demonstrates the lengths the president and his allies will take to pass this bill against the will of the American people. [Hatch op-ed, Foxnews.com, 3/18/10]

Hatch Fundamentally Misunderstands Hyde Amendment

Opponents of Senate Bill Misunderstand Hyde Amendment. Slate's Timothy Noah notes, "A common misconception is that the government's ban on abortion funding through the Hyde Amendment (which covers spending by the Health and Human Services Department, chiefly through Medicaid; other laws ban abortion funding through other government agencies) has the force of permanent law. It does not. It is merely a rider routinely attached to annual appropriations bills. Should the appropriations committees in Congress decide one year not to attach it, then HHS will become free to fund abortions. Pro-lifers live in fear that this will happen, but they don't want to draw too much attention to the possibility, lest they discourage the public from thinking the Hyde Amendment is writ in stone." [Slate, 4/3/10]

Senate Bill Maintains Current Restrictions On Public Funding Of Elective Abortions

Pro-Life Groups: "Longstanding Restrictions On Federal Funding Of Abortion Have Been Maintained." Twenty five pro-life Christian leaders wrote a letter to members of Congress, saying, "We are writing because of our concern about the lack of clear and accurate information regarding abortion provisions in the health care reform bill passed by the Senate on December 24, 2009. Reforming our health care system is necessarily complex, and the provisions related to abortion, or any other issue, require careful examination of the facts as they exist in the legislative language. We believe that the provisions below provide extensive evidence that longstanding restrictions on federal funding of abortion have been maintained. Furthermore, this bill provides new and important supports for vulnerable pregnant women." [National Catholic Reporter, 3/12/10]

59,000 Catholic Nuns: "The Senate Bill Will Not Provide Taxpayer Funding For Elective Abortions." On March 17, 2010, the Associated Press reported, "Catholic nuns are urging Congress to pass President Barack Obama's health care plan, in an unusual public break with bishops who say it would subsidize abortion. Some 60 leaders of religious orders representing 59,000 Catholic nuns Wednesday sent lawmakers a letter urging them to pass the Senate health care bill. It contains restrictions on abortion funding that the bishops say don't go far enough. The letter says that 'despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions.' The letter says the legislation also will help support pregnant women and 'this is the real pro-life stance.'" [Associated Press, 3/17/10]