Will Our Tax Dollars Pay for Abortions in the New Health Care Regime?

Will Our Tax Dollars Pay for Abortions in the New Health Care Regime? July 31, 2009

Especially in light of the material posted today on the question of the “right to life” versus the “right of abortion”–as well as the extraordinary story of Eliot, whom many parents might have aborted–it is worth keeping an eye on the machinations in Congress over whether abortion, under the proposed government health care reform, would be paid for by our tax dollars.

I would hope that even proponents of ‘abortion rights’ would understand why this is a very delicate issue.  For the pro-lifer, if abortion is paid for by his tax dollars, then his money is going to fund what he views as fundamentally morally abhorrent.  He is paying, in his eyes, for the destruction (the murder, though the word feels incendiary) of another human being.  Of course, ever since Obama reversed the Mexico City Policy, American tax dollars have been going to organizations overseas that perform abortions.

If I were to meet a pro-choicer who felt strongly about the ‘right’ of abortion, but also did not want to compel everyone to pay for abortions, I would have respect for that person.  If there are many women who wish to have abortions but cannot afford them, could it not be possible to pay for that through charities?  It would be a nice good will gesture toward pro-lifers, perhaps the sort of gestures through which compromises and common ground can be found.

Pro-choicers often come back and say, “Well, what about war?  We don’t support War X, and yet our tax dollars go to fund that.”  And that’s a fairly powerful response, I grant.


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