Pro-Lifers cave, secure health care reform
By Doug Carlson
All eyes were on Capitol Hill on Sunday. Late that evening, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, bucking the will of the American people, cobbled together a slim majority of House votes to send a trillion-dollar health care reform package to President Obama, who signed the overhaul into law today. To pro-lifers’ dismay, a flawed concession on the prominent issue that had threatened reform for months, abortion, proved to be a deciding factor in its passage.
Just hours before the House vote, the White House struck a deal with Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and a handful of other Democratic holdouts by agreeing to an executive order to supposedly block funding of elective abortion under the bill. That was enough to propel the bill past the necessary 216 mark for passage with a final vote of 219-212.
Yet Rep. Stupak and his band of colleagues, who had …
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The Public Health Plan: A Pro-Life Non-Starter
By By Barrett Duke
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has posted on its Web site the health care reform bill they have been working on. It’s called the “Affordable Health Choices Act.” As promised, it contains a public health care option. The impact on other health insurance providers is reason enough to oppose a public health plan, but an even greater reason is the way it is going to undermine pro-life values.
The public plan’s immediate and long-term threat to pro-life values is what makes it a non-starter. The plan’s immediate threat to pro-life values is evident from its failure to provide any pro-life protections. There is no protection for health care providers who, due to their faith convictions, cannot provide abortion or abortion referrals. There is no protection for pharmacy owners or workers who cannot in good conscience dispense abortion drugs. There is no restriction on abortion, …
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Bad Health Helped Create a “Bad” Health Care System
The stress of paying for health insurance is enough to give you a heart attack. With rates and deductibles increasing, and coverage decreasing, Americans are crying out for the broken health care system to be mended — but it’s not just America. Health care is a concern shared by every other country in the world. Canada, often cited as a shining example of a universal health care system, is plagued with long waiting times for operations, limited access to modern technology, and doctors scurrying to leave the country. Thirty years of government intervention has not fixed their health care problem.
Seventy percent of Americans believe the U.S. health care system is in a state of crisis or at least has major problems, according to Gallup pollsters. The Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a survey in June 2005 and found that over twice as many respondents were more concerned about …
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