On February 25, the Obama “new” plan will be presented to Congress as the way to forge ahead.  The “new” plan appears to be the “old” Senate version with some additions.  The Senate and the House of Representatives will then conspire to use the so-called Reconciliation Process – normally only allowed in budget matters – to ram through the hugely unpopular and cost “reform” plan with an additional dollar cost of one sixth of the entire existing budget.

            Total number of pages of plan:      2600

            When released:       Monday morning, Feb 22^nd

            When to be presented:       Thursday evening, Feb 25^th

            How prepared:       In secret negotiations among party Democrats.

            Excluded:       Republicans and the general public.  Although presidential candidate Obama promised on six different occasions that the process would be transparent with the debates shown on C-PAC for everyone to follow, this package has been concocted behind closed doors on Capital Hill.

Main themes:

·         Government control must be extended whenever possible;

·         The Roe vs Wade culture must be promoted;

·         The economic “middle” class must bear the financial burden

_   _   _   _

Real health care respects life.  Abortion is not health care.

            The “new” plan rejects the above truths.  It is clear that for President Obama the opposite is a fundamental ideology:  As many abortions as possible to be paid for by the taxpayer.  Surrounded by a cabinet and special counsellors selected specifically for their atheist, pro abortion, anti-family views, the President now presents his sacrificial offering as follows:

A.                  Full federal financial funding for abortions (despite solid polling figures showing 67-70% of Americans opposed to health care funding of abortions).  This decision flatly gives the boot to his promise in September 2009, at a nationally televised speech to Congress, when he stated:

“One more understanding I want to clear _ _ _ under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.”

            Abortion funding will additionally be channelled via the 1250 Community Health Centers.  In the manager’s amendment (of 383 pages), Senate Leader Harry Reid added to the health bill, HR 3590, a provision which gives $7 billion for abortion (Section 10503).  Thus Obama will subsidize private health insurance that covers abortion (through the premium–subsidy tax credits program).  Obama proposes to increase the $7 billion to $11 billion, without any restrictions on abortions.

            A further widening for abortion funding comes through grants for such titles as “reproductive services” accepted by Obama personnel as covering abortions.

            In short, the Obama plan allows direct federal funding for abortion on demand thorugh Community Health Services; it would institute federal subsidies for private health plans; and it would authorize federal mandates that would require even non-subsidized plans to cover abortion.

B.                  Euthanasia or “health care rationing” is also a feature.

            Obama intends to take away from senior citizens their current right to add their own money to the government Medicare contribution to get health insurance less likely to deny treatment through tightly controlled managed care which provides less and less treatment.  Obama, meanwhile, proposes to cut the government’s contribution to Medicare by hundreds of billions of dollars, forcing many doctors and health care providers to abandon the plan because of insufficient remuneration for their work.

            State commissioners of the new health insurance exchanges created by the bill will be appointed by the Obama bureaucracy with its now inbuilt penchant for pro-abortion, pro-feminist, pro-homosexual personnel.

C.            Freedom of Conscience for health personnel was targeted as unacceptable by Obama at the beginning of his presidency (Feb 2009).  Both plans (Senate and House) still provided that no health plan will tolerate “discrimination” against opponents of abortion.  However, President Obama has now signed the Hate Crimes Bill which will override those clauses.

            For pro-life Democrats the new Obama bill is even worse than the hopelessly pro-abortion senate bill which they already loathed.

Sources:                       

            Life News.com, Steven Erefelt, editor; Feb. 22, 2010

            National Right to Life Committee, Douglas Johnson,

            Legislative Director; February 22, 2010

Religious opposition:

Needles to say, the Catholic bishops of America speaking for some 62 million or more of their own faithful as well as for tens of millions of believers whether of the Christian religion or other religions are utterly opposed to the disrespect for life and conscience aspect of the Obama plan.

            Their representatives were actively involved in both the Pelosi (House of Representatives) and the Reid (Senate) plans.

            On January 20, their Secretariat of Pro-life Activities issued a 13 page paper entitled “Issues of Life and Conscience in Health Care Reform: a comparison of the House and Senate Bills.”

            For their materials on health care, see www.usccb.org/healthcare

            It now remains to be seen whether the Bishops’ defence of life and freedom of conscience will have any bearing on the American voter, including Catholic ones, in October 2010.