Oct 20, 2010 / 23:07 pm
Persistent questions about abortion funding in President Obama's Affordable Care Act arose again on Oct. 20 in a telephone press conference hosted by the bill's supporters at Catholics United. Heated discussion ensued between the organization's executive director Chris Korzen, and Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee over a controversial ad campaign targeting a Democrat who supported the bill.
Representative Steve Driehaus (D – Ohio) previously filed a complaint to the state's election commission due to a proposed billboard campaign by the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List. He claimed that the campaign would have illegally misrepresented his voting record by stating that “Driehaus voted FOR taxpayer funded abortion.” With a full hearing by the state's election commission scheduled for October 28, SBA List has filed its own lawsuit, alleging that Ohio's regulations of electoral advertising violate their right to free speech.
On Wednesday, Korzen accused the SBA List of “lying” to voters. The Catholics United leader reiterated his group's position that the bill “maintains current restrictions prohibiting taxpayer funds for abortions,” alongside the executive order of President Obama intended to prevent such funding.
But Johnson, the legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), said Korzen's defenses of the bill ignored a series of omissions and loopholes that exist alongside those “current restrictions.”