AP Confirms: Hyde Amendment Would Not Prevent ObamaCare from Covering Abortions

This has been an issue for months now. Nice to see the Head-Pat Media finally do some fact-checking.

- White House press secretary Robert Gibbs may want to add a Friday news story from the Associated Press to his to-do list today. The article disabuses Gibbs on claims he made in recent weeks saying the Hyde amendment prevent taxpayer-funding of abortion in the health care bills.

The Associated Press acknowledges what pro-life groups have been saying all along -- that the Hyde amendment, which stops abortion funding in Medicaid, doesn't apply to these new health care bills.

"Currently a law called the Hyde amendment bars federal funding for abortion - except in cases of rape and incest or if the mother's life would be endangered - and applies those restrictions to Medicaid," AP writer Erica Werner reports. "Separate laws apply the restrictions to the federal employee health plan and military and other programs."

"But the Democrats' health overhaul bill would create a new stream of federal funding not covered by the restrictions," AP confirms.

As LifeNews.com reported October 7, Gibbs said during a press briefing that, referring to the Hyde amendment, "there's a law that precludes the use of federal funds for abortion. That isn't going to be changed in these health care bills."

"Again, there's a fairly well-documented federal law that prevents it," he claimed.

Gibbs repeated the claim the next day when challenged by a reporter with a follow-up question, saying "there's a fairly clear federal law prohibiting the federal use of money for abortion."

This is happening with several provisions of ObamaCare. Liberals want illegal aliens covered; moderates and conservatives don't. Liberals want abortions covered; moderates and conservatives don't.

In both cases the liberals want to pretend that current law already bars the coverage, when they know in fact it doesn't, so they continue to vote down amendments specifically barring coverage in these cases on the pretext "it's already the law, there's no point in passing this."

It's a lie. They are trying to paper over serious conceptual splits by claiming the moderate/conservative position is already prevailing while all liberals know that's not true at all.

It's important for people to know what laws actually mean. Obama and his flacks keep lying about what they mean.

As they say, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than obtain permission in advance. Once they've gotten this on the books, they plan to say "Oh dear, we were wrong, turns out illegal aliens and abortions are covered; our bad. But, on the other hand, we'll block any amendment seeking to reverse this coverage."

posted by Ace at 12:48 PM

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