Wednesday, October 19, 2011

In This Issue: Following a pro-life victory in the House, the Protect Life Act moves to a reluctant Senate where a group of Senate leaders push Rep. Cliff Stearns to drop his investigation of Planned Parenthood.

AUL Salutes Bipartisan Victory --
The Passage of the
Protect Life Act



Up Next: a vote in the Senate

“Money is fungible,” says AULA’s Dr. Yoest. “Taxpayers should not be
involuntary donors to the abortion industry
and health care workers’ conscience rights must
be protected. It is time for the U.S. Senate to add its support for the 7 in 10
taxpayers who do not want their money subsidizing the abortion industry.”

Members of the U.S. House voted 251 to 172 to support the Protect Life Act -- a bill that addresses anti-life and anti-conscience threats in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health care law enacted in 2010. The measure is designed to deal with loopholes in the health care law that would allow some monies to subsidize abortions. AULA has been active on Capitol Hill on behalf of the bill to deal with the deficiencies in the health care law where the matter now moves to the Senate.

“This is a bi-partisan issues,” said AULA’s President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest. “Among the majority voting in the House were 15 Democrats who understood that taxpayers do not support a health care law when it funds abortion. It is now up to the Senate to defend the rights of taxpayers who do not want to be forced to subsidize abortion.” For a round up of reaction to the vote, and to see how your member voted, click here.

The bill now heads to the Senate where passage is deemed less likely. Last week, White House advisors released a statement saying that they would recommend that the President veto the measure should the Senate follow the House. That would be a mistake on the part of the President, said Dr. Yoest.

"This vote applies longstanding federal law and policy to the pro-abortion health care law. It would ensure that no funds authorized or appropriated through the health care law can be used for abortion or insurance plans that provide abortion coverage,” said Dr. Yoest. “That is what the White House promised when the law was written. A vote for the Protect Life Act would keep that promise.”

The Protect Life Act applies the principles of the Hyde Amendment – which prohibits federal funding for abortion and federal funding for insurance plans that cover abortion – to the ACA. It replaces the ACA’s accounting gimmick in the state insurance exchanges (which the ACA requires be in place by 2014) and closes the loopholes in other funding streams that lack any statutory restrictions on using their funds directly for abortion.

But in reporting on the debate, The Washington Post noted, “The real abortion battle isn’t on the Hill. It’s in the states.”

Talking with reporter Sarah Kliff, Dr. Yoest noted that AUL is working a “two-pronged approach,” targeting the issue of ending taxpayer funding of abortion at the state and national levels.

“The vote today on Capitol Hill is important, but it is not the only game going on,” she said. “Many victories have been accumulated at the state level.” To read the analysis in The Washington Post, click here.

For more information on this on-going debate, click here.

Senators Pressure Rep. Cliff Stearns to Drop Investigation of Planned Parenthood

Pro-abortion U.S. Senators sent a letter to Rep. Cliff Stearns last week to “express our strong disapproval of your Subcommittee’s investigation into Planned Parenthood and their affiliates.”

Despite the fact that AUL documents in its “Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood” evidence of Planned Parenthood’s misuse of federal government funding, its failure to comply with mandatory reporting laws for child sexual abuse and statutory rape, and its willingness to assist those allegedly engaged in sex-trafficking of girls as young as 14, the Senators called Rep. Stearns’ investigation into Planned Parenthood “invasive and baseless.”

The letter was sent by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Patty Murray (D-WA) -- Senators Mark Begich (D-AK), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Jon Tester (D-MT) are cosignatories of the letter. To read it in full, click here.

Dr. Yoest commended Rep. Stearns for his courage in investigating an organization “championed by so many politically powerful cultural leaders. This is an honest inquiry into what is happening to our tax dollars: one million dollars a day subsidizing Planned Parenthood.”

To sign a petition in support of de-funding Planned Parenthood and to support Rep. Stearns’ efforts, click here.

In His Own Words:
Chairman Stearns Discusses
Planned Parenthood Investigation

Rep. Cliff Stearns appeared on The 700 Club last week to discuss the investigation of Planned Parenthood. While being interviewed by Pat Robertson, Stearns mentioned AUL’s Special Report: The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood as one of the things that prompted his investigation. To view the exchange, click here.

In the News

The Daily Caller noted Dr. Yoest’s reaction to a powerful, pro-life ad released by Rep. Ron Paul, a former ob-gyn. “The overall message of the ad is a beautiful reminder that as a society, we should consider all our children valuable, worthy of our protection,” she wrote in an emailed statement.
Read more here.

The National Catholic Register, reporting on the Heartbeat Informed Consent Act sponsored by Rep. Michelle Bachmann, noted Dr. Yoest’s reaction: “This bill provides concrete, positive and effective steps for Congress to protect women’s health.” To read the entire article, click here.

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