Washington D.C., Mar 2, 2010 / 01:30 am
An official with the U.S. bishops’ pro-life activities office has countered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claims that proposed health care legislation does not fund abortion, saying that the abortion funding problems in the bill are so serious the bishops will have to oppose the legislation.
At a Friday press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was asked whether Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) was wrong in stating that the legislation would allow tax dollars to fund abortion and whether this would be an obstacle to the progress of the bill.
Saying she had talked to the Catholic bishops about the issue, she said “federal law prevents federal funding of abortion.”
“There is no federal funding of abortion in this bill. There’ll be no expansion or diminution of a woman’s right to choose and that does not happen in this bill, and we’re determined that we are going to pass health care reform.