Last night, House Democrats submitted a 42-page amendment to the proposed health care bill, setting the 72-hour review period into motion. The amendment is a package of changes to Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990-page bill. All of these amendments have been pre-approved by the Democrat Majority without Republican input. This amendment will push the text of the bill to well over 2,000 pages.
As it stands now Speaker Pelosi’s bill permits federal funds to be used for abortion in government-run insurance plans. Supporters of the bill say that only private funds will be used to fund abortion in the government insurance plan, but this simply is not true. The bill places individual premium payments into a federal Treasury account that may be used to pay for abortions. It is important to take notice that these premiums are federal funds. Going even further, this legislation will attempt to subsidize private insurance plans that cover abortion.
Pelosi's plan is to demand that the House pass the bill under a "closed rule," which is a procedure that would not allow any amendments to H.R. 3962 to be considered. On top of that the proposed manager’s amendment does not even address the issue of abortion. Instead it includes things like changes to biofuel tax law.
If this bill passes without removing the abortion provisions, this will be the first time in decades that federal dollars will go towards abortion. I cannot stand for the federal funding of abortions- it is one of the many reasons I continue to oppose this bill.
About Me
- Rep. Randy Neugebauer
- Randy Neugebauer represents the 19th District of Texas, which stretches across 27 counties and includes the cities of Abilene, Big Spring, and Lubbock. He is now in his fourth term in U.S. House of Representatives after first taking office on June 5, 2003.
