White House official: Abortion funding will be part of health care reform debate
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Budget Director Peter Orszag

Washington D.C., Jul 20, 2009 / 07:02 pm (CNA).- The White House budget chief has said that he will not rule out whether a government-funded public health insurance proposal will allow taxpayer money to pay for abortions. Rather, the matter will be “part of the debate.”

The White House’s Office of Budget and Management Chief Peter Orszag, speaking to Fox News Sunday, said he is not ready to say whether abortion services would be part of a final taxpayer-funded health care package being considered by Congress for about one third of the 50 million uninsured Americans.

Speaking about abortion, he said “I think that that will wind up being part of the debate. I am not prepared to say explicitly that right now. It's obviously a controversial issue, and it's one of the questions that is playing out in this debate.”

“I’m not prepared to rule it out,” he added.

The health care reform bill is being debated in the U.S. House and Senate. President Barack Obama is seeking its passage by August. The package is estimated to cost as much as $1.5 trillion over ten years.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) said abortion should not be an issue in the debate since so many Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortion.

“No matter what your views are on abortion, you shouldn't ask people to use their tax dollars if they think that abortion is taking a life -- to use their tax dollars for those purpose -- for that purpose,” he commented on Fox News Sunday.

“I would hate to see the health care debate go down over that issue,” he added. “So hopefully we won't get ourselves wrapped around the wheel of abortion in this debate.”

The Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress have already expanded funding for abortion and abortion-promoting groups. In January, President Obama rescinded the Mexico City Policy which bars funding for groups that promote or perform abortion overseas.

Last week the House voted to eliminate a ban on local funding for abortions in Washington, D.C. and to broaden the circumstances in which federal funds for abortions may be used in the District.

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Subscriber comments:
Published by: sharyn Herian
Littleton CO USA 07/29/2009 10:43 AM EST
Obamacare is not health care "reform". It is the government becoming the primary abortion and
euthanasia provider. This is the test to see what form of Eugenics Americans will stomach.
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Published by: Janet RN
Bolingbrook, IL 07/22/2009 04:09 PM EST
What a shame! We need healthcare reform so badly, yet the inclusion of abortion services - a severely divisive issue - is more important. It never ceases to amaze me that a procedure your local hospital will not consider performing is considered HEALTHcare at all. Even so, why can't we settle the details of what is considered covered healthcare procedures until after the basic decision to fix this badly broken system is agreed upon.
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Published by: Dan
Santa Fe 07/21/2009 07:41 AM EST
Get use to the fact--abortion funding will be part of the public health insurance program--repeal of the Mexico City Policy and initiation of the DC program gave the clear go ahead for this.
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