Here is Right to Life of Central California’s reaction to the news from last Thursday on the passage of the American Health Care Act and President Trump’s executive order on the question:
1. Focusing solely on its pro-life impact, the new healthcare bill will be a significant improvement over the Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as the ACA or “Obamacare”). Obamacare directed roughly $80 billion per year to subsidize healthcare plans that covered abortion through the ACA Exchanges. The new healthcare bill will prevent any tax credits or subsidies from being spent on plans that cover abortion. This would be an enormous victory–the incidence of abortion is most directly tied to the amount government pays for it, and this will cut off almost all federal money for abortion coverage. The new bill will also cut off the roughly $400 million in annual Medicaid subsidies to Planned Parenthood, and divert those funds to clinics that do not subsidize abortion. It will also end the oppressive regulations that required employers to cover morally objectionable services in their employee health care plans, like abortifacient “contraception” and IUD’s.
2. The President’s executive order on religious liberty on Thursday does very little to address the serious concerns pro-lifers face regarding the various HHS Mandates stemming from Obamacare. It also does not assist pro-lifers in California who are being forced to pay for abortion coverage in all employer-based healthcare plans due to oppressive and unlawful state regulations. While this is by no means a bad executive order, President Trump promised more than this during his campaign, and must deliver more if he is serious about safeguarding religious liberty. We hope he and Congress will work further to protect and safeguard the religious liberty rights of pro-life doctors, hospitals, insurance providers, and employers by passing such legislation as the Conscience Protection Act and the First Amendment Defense Act.
Also, check out our Executive Director, John Gerardi, in this interview he did for KSEE 24 on Thursday!
AHCA could force Planned Parenthood clinics to close, employees say