Missouri Family E-News

January 19, 2016

                     
Obama Veto Preserves Subsidies of
Abortions       

President Barack Obama
has vetoed legislation which would have ended federal subsidies of abortion through health insurance policies and programs.

Obama vetoed the Restoring Americans Healthcare Freedom Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives endorsed by a 240-181 vote.  (The bill included provisions dealing with Planned Parenthood covered in the accompanying story.)

The bill approved by Congress would have  repealed several provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.  Under that law, American taxpayers are financing the performance of abortions for the first time since the lethal practice has been legalized.

The legislation would have abolished federal subsidies of premiums in private health insurance plans for lower-income Americans.  Those subsidies, known as affordability credits, are refundable tax credits applied toward the cost of an insurance policy.

Those subsidies are helping underwrite the cost of insurance policies that include abortion coverage in 26 different states.  Missouri is not one of them.   Missouri took advantage of a provision in Obamacare which allowed each state government to prohibit abortion coverage in the health insurance exchanges created in their state.

The bill also repealed a mandatory abortion surcharge attached to individual or family polices issued by insurers who offer abortion coverage.   The abortion surcharge is assessed whether you desire the coverage or not.  It is applied insensibly to each individual regardless of their age, sex, or ability to conceive.

The most sweeping provision of the bill repealed the mandate that individuals purchase health insurance and that employers provide it.  Elimination of the mandate would have freed employers to provide health insurance plans without the abortion drug mandate implemented by Obamacare.

Members of Congress from Missouri voted for or against the bill as detailed in the adjacent story. Representative Vicky Hartzler was among those championing the repeal effort.

"I continue to hear stories from Missourians of premiums going through the roof and deductibles doubling and tripling," she said.  "People are now facing thousands of dollars in fines because they can't afford the inflated costs of Obamacare plans."

"The American people do not want their healthcare dictated to them by Washington," Hartzler observed.  "People should be allowed to make their own choices based on their needs."

Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer says that Obamacare needs to be replaced with a "serious, common-sense alternative." 

"The President's health care law has been a bureaucratic nightmare.  Far too many Americans have lost their doctors and seen their premiums rise.  It is time to create an alternative so that Americans will not continue to suffer the burdens of this disastrous law."
  

Listen to the Broadcast Version of the Jeff City Update online at 
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MO Representatives
Take Stand to Defund
Planned Parenthood

Members of the Missouri delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives took a strong stand for the unborn in the recent major vote to eliminate federal funding to the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

The House voted 240-181 to suspend for one year the disbursement of federal tax dollars to the Planned Parenthood Federation and its many affiliates across the country.  The Senate had voted in December by a margin of 52-47 to also defund Planned Parenthood for the duration of the fiscal year.

Congressmen Sam Graves, Billy Long, Blaine Luetkemeyer, and Jason Smith, and Congresswomen Vicky Hartzler and Ann Wagner voted for the moratorium on Planned Parenthood funding.  Congressmen William (Lacy) Clay and Emmanuel Cleaver voted to continue sending taxpayer dollars to the nation's leading abortion provider.

Congresswoman Hartzler was a leading figure in the push to end taxpayer support of Planned Parenthood.  "In the wake of the videos showing the...disturbing practices of Planned Parenthood officials in the harvesting and selling of baby body parts, calls have been stronger than ever for Congress to stop sending Americans' tax dollars to this organization, which shows a blatant disregard for human life."

"This bill redirects [that funding] to community health centers which serve eight times more women than Planned Parenthood, and provide much more comprehensive care,"  Hartzler added.  In the most recent fiscal year, Planned Parenthood affiliates collected more than $553 million in federal and state grants, appropriations, and reimbursements.

Congresswoman Ann Wagner also spoke eloquently on the floor of the House concerning the importance of the vote.  "This vote is a victory for women's health, and also serves as a cry to end the monstrous actions of an organization that continually attacks our precious, vulnerable children."

"While I have long fought to stop this atrocious practice, I was especially shocked this summer by videos of Planned Parenthood's cold indifference to the barbaric murder of society's most vulnerable members," Wagner continued.  "These are truly some of the most horrifying and heartbreaking videos I have ever seen.  I will proudly cast my vote for life--for these innocent angels."

Congresswoman Wagner also urged Missourians not to be "distracted by political rhetoric."  "We are strengthening our support for women's health.  There are 45 health clinics for every Planned Parenthood facility in the state, clinics that treat women without performing abortions."

As expected, President Barack Obama vetoed the measure, holding fast to his shameless allegiance to and alliance with the abortion industry.  Unfortunately, Congress lacks the votes to override his veto.  However, it is now clear that with a pro-life President, Congress could enact legislation to defund Planned Parenthood, not just for a year, but on an enduring basis.

Pro-family leaders sharply condemned the President's cruel and callous action.  "Mr. President, you alone now bear the responsibility for sending taxpayer dollars to a group that has engaged in the selling of baby body parts," said Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council.

"The American people have spoken loud and clear about this moral injustice," Perkins continued.  "But unfortunately, yet again, this message has fallen on [your] deaf ears.  Congress has blazed a trail for moving this kind of legislation forward when America finally has a President who understands the value of every person, born and unborn."
"This historic vote reflects the many issues of a scandal-plagued organization with a long track record of potentially fraudulent billing practices, being caught in undercover videos trafficking in aborted babies' body parts, and failing to report the sexual abuse of young girls," says attorney Casey Mattox of the Alliance Defending Freedom.  "It is past time to end the government's immoral partnership with Planned Parenthood that has been forced on the American people."

LiveAction President Lila Rose said it is no surprise that President Obama vetoed the bill, considering the fact that Planned Parenthood spent more than $12 million on behalf of his re-election in 2012.  "It is past time for the President to acknowledge the extensive evidence that Planned Parenthood covers up sex trafficking and the sexual abuse of minors, misleads women about the complications of abortion procedures, harvests baby parts, and promotes race and sex-selective abortions."

Planned Parenthood abortion clinics destroyed the lives of 323,000 preborn children in 2014, more than a third of all abortions performed in the United States.  The Planned Parenthood Federation and its affiliates generated revenues of nearly $1.3 billion in that same time period.  Funding from taxpayers provides more than 40% of the organization's income.   The organization's political action committee has already committed to spend $20 million to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President.

At the same time, the President of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, makes nearly $600,000 a year.  The average salary of the CEO's of regional Planned Parenthood affiliates is approximately $345,000.  Planned Parenthood markets itself as a non-profit group providing "reproductive health care" to disadvantaged women.  Planned Parenthood's operating practices make it clear that it is anything but that.

You can let your representative in Congress know how you feel about their vote on the bill to defund Planned Parenthood.  You can do so by using this link:
Your Congressman

Joe's Signature