More than 50 pro-life groups publicly opposed a new “Medicaid for All” bill this week because it would force taxpayers to fund abortions.
In a letter to Congress, the Susan B. Anthony List, Live Action, the Family Research Council, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other pro-life groups outlined their objections to the new legislation, the Washington Examiner reports.
“We are strongly opposed to any legislation that covers elective abortion in healthcare and urge you to oppose such bills unless amended so that such funds cannot be used for plans that include abortion,” the pro-life groups wrote.
Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state and Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, the bill would create a new, government-run healthcare system that covers everyone in the United States. The bill not only would ban private health insurance, it also would force taxpayers to pay for abortions and prohibit states from defunding Planned Parenthood, Townhall reported earlier this year.
The bill would force taxpayers to pay for “comprehensive reproductive … care,” including abortions for any reason up to birth, the pro-life groups said in their letter.
They also oppose a bill supporting the current Obamacare legislation because it does not ban coverage of elective abortions, according to the report.
Many of the current presidential candidates support the “Medicaid for All” legislation. Sanders called for a similar bill during his 2016 campaign, and Kamala Harris publicly supported it, according to Townhall.
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But polls are not in Democrats’ favor. A 2019 national poll by Marist University found that a majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortions, while 39 percent support them. Similarly, a 2016 Politico/Harvard University poll found that just 36 percent of likely voters supported taxpayer funding for abortions, while 58 percent opposed it.
Similarly, a poll earlier this spring found a sharp, double-digit uptick in the number of Americans who identify as pro-life after pro-abortion Democrats began pushing abortions up to birth and infanticide this year. Among Democrats, the gap between pro-life and pro-choice identifiers was cut in half from 55 percent to 27 percent.
In 2018, Tom McClusky of March for Life Action wrote about how Sanders’ plan would force Americans to fund abortions:
Sen. Sanders’ plan is co-sponsored by 15 of his Senate colleagues (including virtually every Democrat whose name is being thrown around to run in 2020) and about half of current House Democrats have signed on to a Medicare for All bill in that Chamber as well.
Medicare for all is not your run of the mill proposal. The legislation would outlaw private insurance, which Vox points out would mean 153 million Americans would lose coverage they get from their employers as well as the freedom those plans afford. Vox also points out repealing the Hyde Amendment is “front and center” in the bill.
The Hyde Amendment has largely prevented federal Medicaid dollars from paying for abortions and for over 40 decades has garnered widespread, bipartisan support. According to the most recent Marist polling, on the subject a supermajority — 60 percent — oppose tax dollars financing abortions in the U.S., with just 36 percent in support. This includes 60 percent of women. A study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, which is the best research available, indicates that the Hyde Amendment has saved over 2 million unborn children since 1976.
The Democratic Party platform supports abortions for any reason up to birth and taxpayer-funded abortions.
