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Dear Daniel:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
H.R. 3 was introduced on January 20, 2011 by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation. As you may know, H.R. 3590 was passed by the House and Senate and then signed by the President on March 23, 2010. I actively opposed and voted against this legislation for many reasons, including its lack of protection for preborn human life.
There has been confusion over whether this legislation allows for taxpayer funded abortions. Sadly, it does. While the original House health care bill included language similar to the Hyde amendment, H.R. 3590 omitted this language. It also failed to include conscience protections for life-affirming medical professionals. President Obama issued an Executive Order in regards to abortion funding in the healthcare law. However, this in itself cannot restrict the funding of abortions by taxpayer dollars.
History has demonstrated that unless abortion is explicitly excluded in the enabling legislation, administrative agencies and the courts will mandate it. We have seen this time and again. Initially, the federal Medicaid statute was silent on abortion, but because prior administrations and the courts deemed abortion-on-demand to be mandated coverage, over 300,000 abortions were performed yearly before the Hyde Amendment banned public funding for abortion in Medicaid. In 1979, Congressman Henry Hyde asked the Indian Health Service how they had the statutory authority to pay for abortions. The agency responded, "We have no basis for refusing to pay for abortions." In these two instances, explicit exclusion of abortion services needed to be included in law to ensure taxpayers would not have to continue to pay for abortions.
The issue is clear: if abortion is not explicitly excluded, it is implicitly included in any health care reform package passed by Congress.
Life-affirming Americans rightly object to liberal politicians in Washington forcing their values on Americans in the face of strong moral opposition. And most Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortions. Yet those who support a policy of abortion on demand seem determined to use our tax dollars to pay for it.
You can be sure that I will continue to work to protect innocent human life at all stages of development – and oppose any taxpayer funding of abortion. Abortion is not health care and I will not rest until our laws once again prohibit tax dollars going to pay for abortions in any way whatsoever.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact my office. Please know that I will continue to work for my fellow Missourians in the legislative matters I am able to address.
It is a privilege to represent you and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me regarding any matter where I might be of assistance. Please visit my website, where you can find more information on current issues, share further thoughts with me via email and subscribe to my e-newsletter for updates on issues you care about. Sincerely,  Todd Akin |
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