Heath Shuler’s Form Letter Response to Those Concerned About the Health Care Bill
Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your thoughts regarding funding for abortion in health care legislation. Your views are important to me, and I appreciate hearing from you.
I am pro-life. I believe that life begins at conception and that all life is sacred, including the lives of the unborn. It is important to me that taxpayer dollars do not go towards the funding or promotion of abortions, and I will work to ensure that no such provisions are included in any comprehensive health care legislation.
On November 7, 2009, I voted in favor of the Stupak-Pitts amendment to H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. While I did not vote for the final passage of H.R. 3962, I voted in favor the Stupak-Pitts amendment because it maintains the current policy of preventing federal funding for abortion and for benefits packages that include abortion. I was pleased to see that this important amendment was adopted by the House and incorporated into the final bill.
The Stupak-Pitts amendment removes two major pro-abortion components from H.R. 3962. Specifically, the amendment would permanently prohibit the new federal government insurance program, the “public option,” from paying for abortion, except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest. The amendment would also permanently prohibit the use of the new federal premium subsidies (”affordability credits”) to purchase private insurance plans that cover abortion (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest).
Individuals, both who receive affordability credits and who do not, can purchase separate supplemental coverage for elective abortions with their own money. It also clarifies that private plans that do not receive government subsidies may still offer elective abortions.
Earlier this fall, I signed onto a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter requesting that funding for abortions be excluded from health care reform legislation. I also co-authored a letter with Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) requesting that all traditional pro-life protections be kept in the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations bills. Pro-life riders have been in appropriations bills since 1976, through Democratic and Republican administrations and Congresses. The riders prevent taxpayer funds from being used to perform or promote abortions and the organizations that provide them. The letter, signed by 180 members from both parties, urges Congressional leaders to maintain the integrity of the riders or, at minimum, allow for an up-or-down vote on the amendments on the House floor.
I also voted for an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act of 2010 to prohibit funds from being allocated to Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides abortions at many of its clinics. I also supported an amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2010 which clearly stated that no money derived from the legislation would be used to fund abortion or the promotion of abortion. Please be assured that I will continue to work to ensure that federal funding of abortion is prohibited in health care reform, as the process moves forward in the coming months.
Again, thank you for sharing your views about this important matter. I encourage you to check my website at www.house.gov/shuler for continued updates on my work, and please do not hesitate to contact me again about those issues that are important to you. It is an honor to serve you in the U.S. Congress.
