If you've been keeping up with the health care debate, opponents of President Barack Obama's health care plan have been accused of spreading misinformation to thwart the administration's efforts. Even Obama himself said recently that those who raised the abortion concern were "bearing false witness." But the same sorts of claims have come up in the media.
For example, on August 18 left-wing MSNBC host Ed Schultz interviewed Linda Douglass, communications director for the White House Office of Health Reform and a former ABC reporter.
"[F]ifty-four percent believe that abortion is going to be funded," Schultz to Douglass on "The Ed Show." "Fifty-four percent believe that there's going to be a government takeover. And 45 percent believe that death panels are going to be there for the elderly. I should point out, none of those are true. So, obviously, the White House is not connecting with the American people."
Douglass, also on his show agreed that was indeed the case. "Well, Ed, you're absolutely right, none of those things is true," Douglass said. "And the White House has made a very clear message to the country that we understand that you need protections against unfair insurance practices."
However, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., explained during a tele-town hall meeting on Aug. 20 how ObamaCare could force American taxpayers to pay for abortions. While there is no language in the House bill specifically allocating funds for abortions, it delegates the authority to determine what is covered to the administration's Department of Health and Human Services.
"Well the Democrats are saying it's not in the language - that we have to cover abortion," DeMint said. "And it's not. Republicans offered an amendment in the House to make sure taxpayers would not subsidize abortion through this plan. The Democrats voted it down because in the language, it gives the Department of Health and Human Services the prerogative to decide what these plans have to cover."
Therefore with an unambiguously pro-abortion Kathleen Sebelius as HHS secretary, it stands to reason abortion funding could be OK'd at the executive level, according to the Senator.
"So the assumption of the Democrats is, is with a Democrat administration, the regulations would be written to force people to pay for abortions - elective abortions - through this public insurance plan. And I'm convinced based on the political pressures that this plan will ultimately force Americans to pay for abortion," DeMint added.
The answer: True. Nonetheless, liberals have continued to maintain that abortion funding is a myth.
