Congressional Research Service: Obamacare Alows For Federally-Funded Abortions

From The American Spectator:

New CRS Report Says ObamaCare Allows Federally-Funded Abortions


By Philip Klein on 7.28.10 @ 1:16PM



A new report by the Congressional Research Service reveals that the national health care law allows for federally-funded abortions, despite Democrats' claims to the contrary.



Under one of the provisions of ObamaCare, before the new health insurance exchanges are set up in 2014, the federal government is funding state-based high risk pools to help cover those with pre-existing conditions.



But according to the CRS, the abortion restrictions contained in the new law "would not appear to apply specifically to the funds made available for high risk pools by section 1101."



The report says that President Obama's executive order on abortion "does not specifically address high risk pools and the funds provided under section 1101 of (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act)."



The Department of Health and Human Services sets the guidelines for the operation of the high-risk pools, but according to CRS, those guidelines "neither explicitly provide the authority to cover elective abortions with federal funds, nor do they specifically prohibit the use of federal funds."



In response, 13 Republican Senators have sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, urging her to issue regulations that would prohibit federal tax dollars from covering abortion through the high risk pools. You can view the PDFs of the CRS report and the letter below.