Washington D.C., Sep 10, 2009 / 15:29 pm
On Wednesday evening, President Barack Obama stated in his speech on health care reform that "no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions." According to one U.S. Bishops' Conference official, the president's abortion statement refers not to H.R. 3200 but to a new proposal on health care reform that the White House plans to introduce.
The reaction from many pro-life organizations to last night's statement by President Obama was to say that the House bill—H.R. 3200—does in fact fund abortion and that the president was misleading the American public.
Cardinal Justin Rigali, writing for the U.S. Catholic bishops, weighed-in on the House legislation in mid-August, describing it as "seriously deficient" because it bypasses restrictions on the federal funding of abortion and allows federal officials to make unlimited abortion a mandated benefit.