Pro-Lifers Urged to Oppose US Health Care Reform

'Obama and Sebelius will be certain to appoint an advisory committee that supports abortion coverage in universal health care.'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Zenit.org) - Some 70 pro-life organizations hosted a live webcast to mobilize Americans to protest the health care reform package proposed by President Barack Obama.

The webcast, though it was organized in just a few days and held last Thursday, brought more than 36,000 viewers. Nineteen experts gave few-minute presentations on a weak aspect of the reform package.

E. Christian Brugger, of the Culture of Life Foundation, gave a 10-point summary of the main tenets of the presentation.

The major flaw in Obama's proposal, he explained, is not in what it says, but what it omits.

"Abortion is presently not mentioned in the bill. The bill does not specify what will and will not be covered," Brugger noted in his first two points.

He goes on to explain that the bill mandates that a "health care advisory committee" will have the authority to define the "essential benefits of coverage," that is, what will and will not be covered by taxpayer funds.

Therein lies the major flaw in the bill, given that this committee will be appointed by the Obama administration; they will not be elected officials.

The person most likely to head up choosing the appointees is the woman appointed by Obama as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, the former governor of Kansas who vetoed any pro-life legislation that arrived to her desk.

"Obama and Sebelius will be certain to appoint an advisory committee that supports abortion coverage in universal health care," Brugger affirmed. "Therefore, federally funded abortion will almost certainly become a mandated form of 'essential health care' if the bill passes in its present form.

"Every taxpayer will be forced to fund abortions. Presently enacted restrictions on abortion at the state level will be overridden. Hospitals and providers will be coerced into cooperating with abortions.

"FOCA [the Freedom of Choice Act] won't need to be passed because its cornerstones will be included in our nationalized health care."

The pro-life organizers urged listeners to take a five-step action plan in opposing the bill. They recommended prayer and spreading the word through social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter. They also encouraged listeners to contact legislators via email and post, and to reach them at their Washington offices.