Special Report: Stop the Abortion Mandate!

We must not become a nation whose federal government pays to kill its own children and calls it healthcare.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Thursday evening I participated in a live nationwide webcast called "Stop the Abortion Mandate." It was dedicated to revealing what President Obama and many Democratic members of Congress do not want you to know: that the health care reform plan being offered up will mandate abortion coverage at taxpayer expense.

This outstanding webcast featured a stellar panel of guest speakers, including Fr. Frank Pavone, Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, Marjorie Dannenfelser, and two U.S. Congressmen - Chris Smith of New Jersey and Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania.

In the interest of speed, I will get directly to the important points, for there is not a moment to lose in taking action. This is the one we must defeat, and the time to defeat it is NOW.

First, be wise in the coming days. The White House and Democratic leadership will be busy disseminating disinformation about the health care bill that is purposely vague and deceptive. They will insist that abortion is not mentioned by name in the reform, and therefore we have nothing to worry about. Wrong. Pro-Life leaders are demanding an explicit exclusion of abortion in the health care reform because they know that otherwise abortion will be considered a "minimum required benefit." President Obama has affirmed his commitment to "reproductive health care" and said such benefits are at the center of his health care plan.

Obamacare will result in the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade. How? As it stands now, Roe gives individual states leeway in writing and enacting their own restrictions on abortion and the Supreme Court has upheld those state restrictions. These include 24-hour wait periods, parental consent for minors seeking abortions, prohibiting abortion after a certain week of pregnancy, etc. If abortion coverage is included in federally mandated health care, those state laws and restrictions will be rendered null and void. Abortion becomes an "essential health service" that cannot be restricted.

In a bitter and deadly irony, all choice will be taken away.

This taxpayer funding of abortion essentially props up the abortion industry, specifically Planned Parenthood. PP will be one of the largest recipients of federal dollars, in the name of "reproductive health care." The reality is that PP performs over 300,000 abortions each year and they already receive over $350 million in federal funding. They want more. PP is under investigation in several states for fraud and for failing to report the sexual abuse of very young girls. Planned Parenthood is more interested in protecting abusers than protecting vulnerable young girls, because they don't want anything - even the law - to get in the way of aborting babies.

American tax dollars will be spent to bail out an industry that exists to kill babies and exploit women. Period.

Several courageous pro-life members of Congress have carefully crafted an amendment to the health care reform that will specifically exclude abortion coverage, and it has been defeated repeatedly in several different House committees in the last week. Those same Representatives, like Chris Smith and Bart Stupak (MI) are continuing to try to get this amendment passed, and they need our support and our prayers. This administration is determined to force you and I to pay for the unrestricted killing of the unborn. There's just no other way to say it.

What will the ripple effects be? For starters, hospitals and medical providers could be forced to choose: either perform abortions or cease to practice. They will not have the option to decline to provide something that is considered an "essential health service" or a "minimum required benefit." Crisis Pregnancy Centers could be required to refer women to abortionists. And we all know that programs funded by federal dollars do not shrink - they grow and increase, and so will the number of abortions performed in the U.S. More babies will be murdered. It's that simple.

Do not waste a moment in taking action. This is the time. Here is what you can do:

• Visit www.StoptheAbortionMandate.com immediately.
• Email and write letters to your Representative and Senators at: www.StoptheAbortionMandate.com/email
• Call the Washington office and the local office of your Representative and Senators; instructions are at: www.StoptheAbortionMandate.com/call
• Spread the word to everyone you know. Use Facebook, Twitter, and email. www.StoptheAbortionMandate.com/share
• Write a letter to the Editor of your local newspaper. Sample letters can be found at: www.StoptheAbortionMandate.com/editor

If indeed there will be no vote before the August recess, then we have an important opportunity to contact our Representatives and demand that abortion coverage be explicitly excluded. Call, e-mail, and write letters. Do all three. Go to local town hall meetings if your Representative is in the area in August. Make it clear that you do not want healthcare that mandates abortion coverage.

The language of the bill is critical - abortion must be explicitly excluded.

Finally, do not neglect to do the single most important thing: PRAY. This is indeed a crucial hour in our history as a nation. We are standing at a profound fork in the road, and we who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ must beg His mercy on our country and plead for His intervention, lest we become a nation whose federal government pays to kill its own children and calls it healthcare. Pray without ceasing.

This abortion mandate can still be stopped. It is up to us.

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Jennifer Hartline is a Catholic Army wife and stay-at-home mother of three precious kids who writes frequently on topics of Catholic faith and daily living. She is a contributing writer for Catholic Online. She covered this historic webcast on special assignment.

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