To the editor:
Cardinal Justin Rigali, chair of the U.S. Catholic Conference on Pro-Life Activities, said it best in his August 11 letter to members of the House of Representatives regarding abortion mandates in proposed health care reform bills in Congress.
House Bill H.R. 3200 “delegates to the Secretary of Health and Human Services the power to make unlimited abortion a mandated benefit . . . nationwide.”
The Hyde Amendment, which has long prohibited the use of taxpayer dollars, does not cover the new abortion subsidies created by H.R. 3200. “Federal taxpayer funds will subsidize the operating budget and provider networks that expand access to abortions.”
Absent an amendment to specifically exclude abortion from any of the health care measures, the federal government, using our tax dollars, will fund unlimited abortion.
It is critical that every person concerned about saving unborn children from abortion and protecting their mothers from a lifetime of emotional pain contact their Congressperson and urge him or her to support an amendment to exclude abortion from H.R. 3200:
Rep. Ron Kind (608-782-2558), Rep. Paul Ryan (608-752-4050), or Rep. Tammy Baldwin (608-258-9800), U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Barbara L. Lyons, Milwaukee
Executive Director, Wisconsin Right to Life