Rep. Bart Stupak has released a statement concerning the President's Health Care plan:
”I was pleased to see that President Obama’s health care proposal did not include several of the sweetheart deals provided to select states in the Senate bill. Unfortunately, the President's proposal encompasses the Senate language allowing public funding of abortion...
President Obama is pressing onward with his top domestic priority–Health Care Reform. The question remains: Is funding abortion also one of his top domestic priorities?
The Bound4LIFE team based in Washington, DC is organizing a special 7-day Silent Siege in preparation for the Health Care Summit scheduled for Thursday, February 25. Currently the plans are for President Obama to preside over a gathering with a select bi-partisan representation of Congress at the Blair House which is directly across the street from the White House.
Earlier this year the Lord gave us something very special - something that has become very near and dear to my heart. It became a simple yet powerful website called "First Of All." The premise is this:
"So...what does this mean?"
That has been the-most-asked-question at every single stage of the process as this health care bill moves through Congress. Every step has been a great opportunity to pray for the protection of the unborn. The legislative process is lost on most Americans leaving them confused and frustrated. If you fancy yourself an aficionado on procedure, then you should probably be in DC. Otherwise most folks are limited to what they learned watching Schoolhouse Rock.
National Healthcare System
Recently, I sent an E-Blast with Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council, calling the nation to join an urgent national webcast prayer convocation to ask God to restrain federally funded abortion in the health care system. On that E-Blast I wrote:
On Friday, December 4th, I was awakened early in the morning with a burden to pray, as I considered the consequences of abortion being mainstreamed into the national health care system if the senate health care bill is passed as it is right now.
I turned to 1 Chronicles 21 where the destroying angel had come to the threshing floor of Ornan. God, in his heart of mercy, restrained the angel of death, saying, “Enough! Restrain your hand.” The angel of death still hovered between heaven and earth with its sword drawn. Even with God’s restraint, the verdict was still in the balance as to whether or not the death march would continue. An earth being, namely David, had to agree with God’s restraint through repentance, paying the full price, and offering up the atoning blood. When David went up to the threshing floor in repentance and erected the altar and offered the sacrifice, God heeded the prayers and the angel of death sheathed its sword.
While we have known that some Christian denominations have swayed to a liberal side on issues such as abortion, even the United Methodists have now joined the ranks of publicly petitioning against the very amendment we cry out to God and to our nation’s leaders to support. This letter to the Senate appeared Monday and is a disturbing reflection of a tolerant religious spirit that is sweeping across Christianity. The amendment, once again, doesn’t even take away abortion; it simply means we don’t have to pay for it. Some people within the streams of Christianity now feel that we should not limit abortion at all:
The groups say their position is that there is a "social and moral obligation to ensure access to" abortions "at every stage in an individual’s life."
The abortion issue in our nation is often one the coincides with the selfish attitude we perpetuate in Western culture. It goes something like this: I live in America. I want the American Dream; you can’t stop me from getting what I want.
The problem with the health care reform issues is that the pro-abortion side has taken this idea to the nth degree. With their demand for choice at any cost, they have attempted to remove my choice to not pay for their choice...
President Obama is arguing that it’s necessary to pull the Stupak Amendment banning federal funding of abortions because he doesn’t think we should alter the status quo. The definition of status quo is the existing state of affairs, the ways things are. With that definition, he is arguing against himself because currently my money does not pay for the shedding of innocent blood without my having a choice. The status quo, in this case, works for me. There is a cultural definition of status quo that it appears the president likes better. It says:
“The existing order of things; present customs, practices, and power relations: ‘People with money are often content with the status quo.’ ”
I'm stumped. It wasn't but a week ago that people who opposed health care legislation, because of abortion funding, were being called ignorant, cold-hearted and unreasonable.
The attacks basically had the same tone to them. We were unreasonable because we could not set aside our difference of opinion on abortion and think of the greater good. We were told to consider not only abortion but the millions of uninsured people who are struggling without health care. We were the bad guys. How dare we oppose such legislation. Of course, that was when everything was going according to plan.
While we rejoice over the victory of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment which would create a ban on public abortion funding under the proposed national health care plan, a Planned Parenthood leader is seething. Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, sent out this letter to her mailing list Sunday afternoon. Some of the things she said struck me, not only for obvious reasons but because of the parallel we as Christians should be noting. We could actually learn a lot from them.
“At Planned Parenthood, we fought together with you until the bitter end (thank you), and once we lost the vote on women's health, we started to do what we do best — gear up for our next fight.” - Richards
The warrior attitude Richards is portraying should be our attitude as we battle in the heavenlies for the lives of the unborn. Jesus makes a striking point when the Pharisees accuse Him of being of Satan when He casts out demons. He says:
"Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ... Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Mat 12:25-26, 29-30)
We want the “goods”—the ending of abortion in America. This isn’t the time to cry, “Democrat!” “Republican!” It’s the time to cry, “JESUS!”
President Obama tells Jake Tapper that Congress needs to change abortion-related language in the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives this weekend.
"I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill," Obama said. "And we're not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions.
What the President is getting at is that the Stupak amendment went to far in preventing taxpayer funded abortions. Basically, that "very simple principle" is a bit tricky.
Bound4LIFE is coordinating along with Lou Engle for an urgent conference call tonight to pray concerning HR-3962 (known as PelosiCare). Please do whatever is necessary to participate in this call. For those of you that have corporate prayer meetings scheduled for this evening I strongly encourage you to patch this call into your meetings to join in corporately.
For LIFE,
Matt Lockett
Bound4LIFE Director
"One more misunderstanding I want to clear up -- under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions." - President Barack Obama in a joint-session of Congress.
Those words, today, are meaningless. Congress, despite what President Obama promised, has but forward a bill that WILL use federal dollars to pay for abortions.
This former Planned Parenthood employee was told to get more abortions in the door in light of the poor economy. (Now that's health care you can trust!) And to think members of Congress are trying to fuel this kind of complete and utter disregard of ethics not to mention women's health care, by mandating taxpayer money to fund abortion clinics just like this one... if not this one directly!
"We're working very closely with Bart Stupak (D-MIch.) and that coalition of Democrats to write a the bill in a way that makes it absolutely clear that no public dollars can go to funding abortions as part of the health reform bill," Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the assistant to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said during an appearance on Fox News this morning.
"We're trying to codify the Hyde amendment as part of the health care reform bill," Van Hollen explained.
On Monday the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill was filed in the Senate. Take a look at the 1,502 pages, and it’s what you won’t find that is so unsettling. To date every single attempt by pro-life lawmakers to insert language that guarantees what President Obama promised has been blocked or voted down. That promise from his speech to the joint session of Congress was that there would be:
“No government funding of abortion.”
The Committee’s bill has no language that expressly prevents the inclusion of abortion under government-run health care. Disinformation and confusion persist even as polls show that the overwhelming majority of Americans DO NOT want taxpayer-funded abortion.
If the current Health Care legislation is not completely payed for out of these funds, then Hyde does NOT cover it. Again, if the money does not come from the HHS Appropriations Bill, Hyde offers us no protections. Thus tax-payer money CAN and WILL go to paying for abortions. We need legislation that explicitly says federal dollars will not pay for abortions anything less is a blank check from the Treasury Department to the Abortion Industry... of course with yours and my name on it.
As we continue in this season, of turmoil and tension, in our nation it is good to be reminded how we are to fight. There is a huge difference between being politically minded in attacking a giant like abortion and being spiritually minded. Thinking only politically will always have you watching the headlines, using only common sense, and thinking out loud constantly. It really is impossible to fight the logic driving abortion with our own man made logic. For example, activist that are “pro-life” and go protest yet use hate as their derivative for propaganda. This is beneficial to no one.
So much for President Obama's claim that federal dollars won't pay for abortion in health care reform.
The Hill - The Senate Finance Committee rejected an amendment to its health care bill Wednesday that would have required women to purchase a separate, supplemental insurance plan to cover abortion services.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) proposed the amendment with the goal of making existing laws against federal money being used to pay for abortions, and the language in the health care bill, ironclad.
"All I'm asking -- my gosh -- is for specific language in the bill that prohibits federal dollars from being used to fund abortions," Hatch said.
Weekly updates from Bound4LIFE with Executive Director Matt Lockett.
(LifeNews.com) -- The Senate Finance Committee today started its debate on the new Baucus health care bill that contains massive abortion subsidies and mandates. During the opening statements, Sen. Chuck Grassley said the bill funds abortions and that it must be amended to make sure that is not the case.
At least six pro-life amendments will be offered that address abortion funding, state laws and the conscience rights of pro-life medical professionals who do not want to be forced to perform or refer for abortions.
Some think the debate over whether or not Health Care reform will pave the way for tax-payer funded abortion to be a pointless idea. While others believe that the Hyde Amendment bans federal money from paying for abortions. This however is only partly true.
I want to quickly give the reason why we need an amendment that clearly states that no money will be used to pay for abortions in anyway.
Simply put, the Hyde Amendment will not do the trick!
The Hyde Amendment is a "rider" bill -- meaning it is "limitation amendment" of sorts. The Hyde amendment restricts funding of abortions by creating rules for the appropriation of funds within Medicaid.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Another controversy the President brought up -- he said no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and this is connected to the public option, Governor Pawlenty, because many supporters of the pro-life movement, the anti-abortion activists have said "No, that's not true" -- that the public option that is being considered right now in the House will actually fund abortions.
TIM PAWLENTY: Well, there's an easy way to resolve this. There's a dispute, so just be clear in the bill. If the President is embracing the idea that public monies in public systems won't be used to fund abortions, then we should say that.
The pro-life perspective on this has been viewed by both FactCheck.Org and The AP as having merit. So this is not something people are just making up. There's a legitimate concern about it, but it can and should be clarified.
“And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up – under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.” ~ President Obama
After all the blunt force trauma of August's town hall meetings there seemed to be a possible compromise on the horizon for a mandated public option in ObamaCare. We all heard the President say in the last week that he would be open to passing a bill that doesn't include it. But that might be changing. One wonders what special interest pressures are being exerted behind the scenes. Media outlets are now pondering if the President has been rolled on it again.
Weekly updates from Bound4LIFE with Executive Director Matt Lockett.
Weekly updates from Bound4LIFE with Executive Director Matt Lockett.
Abortion, economic crisis, war, pandemics, a nation divided-Just attend any town hall meeting while Congress is in recess and you'll agree that our elected officials in Washington, DC desperately need the prayers of the Church. Regardless of your personal political beliefs, the Bible is clear in it's universal call to prayer for those in governmental leadership.
I need to unashamedly ask for your FINANCIAL HELP RIGHT NOW. I hope you see that we're "giving it all we got" and not holding anything back right now. From blogs to internships to videos to daily sieges and much more. We feel the weight of the moment we're living in and are committed to this noble pursuit. Current financial stresses however have taken a severe toll. Just when there is huge opportunity to advance the movement, unprecedented financial pressure threatens to force us to scale back and minimize our efforts.
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