A day after voting against a Republican-led initiative to overturn President Obama’s health care reform law, Democratic U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District has co-sponsored a bill to prevent the reforms from funding abortions.
The measure would resurrect the language of the Stupak-Pitts amendment, a compromise proposed by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in 2009 that would have banned the health care reforms from funding elective abortions.
The abortion-ban amendment was included in the initial U.S. House version, but the Senate later stripped it from the legislation and passed a final compromise that didn’t include the abortion limits. Obama signed an executive order ostensibly barring the reforms from funding abortion, but pro-life groups say it didn’t go far enough.
Shuler is the only Democrat from the Tar Heel State’s congressional delegation to co-sponsor the new abortion-funding ban. Fellow Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District voted Jan. 19 to scrap the entire health care law and start over from scratch.
Attempts to reach Shuler and McIntyre for comment were unsuccessful.
Freshman Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-2nd, said the bill is necessary because the health care reforms, as they currently stand, would end up funding abortions.
“Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, it isn’t fair to those taxpayers who are pro-life that some of their taxes go towards abortions,” Ellmers said. “So it’s definitely something that needs to be addressed, that has to be addressed.”
Republicans also introduced a second bill that would codify and extend the Hyde Amendment. That amendment, first passed by Congress in 1976 and renewed each year, prohibits the federal government from funding abortion through government-run health care programs such as Medicare. The new bill would ban taxpayer-funded abortion across all federal government programs.
Six North Carolina representatives are co-sponsoring the legislation, including Shuler and McIntyre.
LuAnn Canipe, a spokeswoman for North Carolina Democratic Rep. Brad Miller’s office, said the 13th district congressman hadn’t seen the bills yet, but “strongly believes that it is the right of all women to have access to comprehensive reproductive and family planning education, including contraceptive and related reproductive health care services.”
Rep.Virginia Foxx, R-5th, said that barring taxpayer-funded abortion is part of protecting unborn children.
“I’m proud to co-sponsor legislation like this is that codifies the Hyde Amendment and removes any uncertainty — taxpayers should not foot the bill for the terrible practice of abortion,” she said.
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.