Stupak-Pitts Amendment
The Stupak amendment to H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, 2009, by a bi-partisan vote of 240 to 194. The amendment continues the long-standing federal policy of prohibiting public funding for abortion.
Considerable discussion has taken place nationally since the passage of the amendment. Unfortunately, much of this discussion has been driven by misinformation. I would like to set the record straight: this amendment maintains current law which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortions.
Under the amendment, individuals receiving federal subsidies for health care coverage are prohibited from using those subsidies to pay for abortions or to purchase insurance policies that cover abortions. The amendment does not prevent private insurance plans from offering abortion services nor does it prohibit individuals or states from purchasing abortion coverage with non-federal matching funds. The amendment specifies that even those who receive federal subsidies may purchase a supplemental policy with private money to provide abortion coverage. I have enclosed a copy of the amendment with this letter to allow you to review the complete text.
I wish to share with you how this amendment became the only amendment allowed on the health care reform bill. The original health care reform bill was referred to three House committees with jurisdiction over health care policy. The bulk of the bill fell under the jurisdiction of the House Energy and Commerce Committee which I have served on for the past 15 years. Over these 15 years, I have always been able to find common ground with my pro-choice colleagues on life issues.
Prior to Committee consideration of the health care reform bill, I voiced strong concerns to Committee Democrats and members of the House Democratic Leadership that the proposed health care legislation not reverse current law and allow federal funding of abortion.
During the Energy and Commerce Committee consideration of the health care reform bill, Congresswoman Lois Capps offered, and narrowly passed, an amendment that established a new precedent for abortion funding by; a) mandating that at least one plan in the new health insurance exchange provide abortion coverage; b) requiring a minimum monthly charge from every enrollee in the public option be allocated for reproductive services, including abortion; and, c) allowing individuals receiving federal subsidies to purchase health insurance plans that cover abortion.
Upon passage of the Capps amendment, I offered an amendment with fellow committee member, Congressman Joe Pitts, to strike the Capps language and maintain current law barring public funding for abortion. My amendment was initially accepted by the Committee by a vote of 31 to 27. A few hours later, through a rarely used procedural maneuver, opponents forced a reconsideration of my amendment. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 29 to 30.
Therefore, the health care reform bill passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee allowed direct federal funding of abortion and allowed public dollars to purchase health insurance policies that cover abortion. As co-chairman of the Congressional Right to Life Caucus, I realized that the Capps language would be unacceptable to the majority of House members. We were encouraged, however, by President Obama in his September 9, 2009 Remarks To A Joint Session of Congress on Health Care, that no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions under his plan.
Right to Life Democratic Caucus members repeatedly cautioned Speaker Pelosi and Democratic Leadership that its members would not vote to bring the health care reform legislation to the House floor without first addressing concerns over abortion funding or allowing an up-or-down vote on the Stupak amendment. Rather than work with us in good faith, our concerns were largely ignored.
It was only after Speaker Pelosi realized that the proposed health care reform legislation would not pass the House without the votes of the pro-life Democrats that she was willing to discuss the issue with me and other Caucus members. On November 6, 2009, the day before the vote on health care reform, I spent the afternoon and evening negotiating an agreement with Speaker Pelosi that included language that would address caucus concerns and prevent the abortion issue from derailing health care reform. Unfortunately, the agreement was withdrawn when Pro-Choice Caucus members demanded an up-or-down vote on the amendment. With no agreement in place, the only way health care reform could come to the House floor for a vote was to allow a vote on the Stupak amendment.
Members on both sides of the abortion issue lined up votes on the Stupak amendment. Pro-choice members held a press conference declaring that they had enough votes to defeat the amendment. When the vote was held, 240 members or 55% of the House members, including 64 pro-life and pro-choice Democrats voted for the amendment. In the end, 41 of the 64 Democrats who voted for the Stupak amendment also voted for final passage of H.R. 3962 which enabled health care reform to pass in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The language in the Stupak amendment is completely consistent with the Hyde amendment which has been in place since 1977 and has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The law currently prohibits federal funding of abortion in all federal health programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). My amendment simply applies current law, the Hyde amendment, to H.R. 3962, health care reform.
Some have tried to argue that the Stupak amendment would effectively end health insurance coverage of abortion services in the private, as well as public, sectors. This argument, based only on speculation, is nothing more that a scare tactic. The language in the Stupak amendment is completely consistent with the Hyde amendment, which in its 33 years of existence has not inhibited private health insurers from offering abortion services.
The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) provides health insurance through a variety of companies to more than eight million Federal employees. It does not allow abortion coverage in any of its policies. The same insurance companies that offer abortion free plans to federal employees also offer plans with abortion coverage to non-federal employees. There is no reason to believe that a continuation of this policy would suddenly create hardship for the insurance industry.
Arguments that the Capps amendment mirrors the Hyde amendment are false. Hyde has never allowed private and public funds to be segregated when it comes to paying for abortion. The FEHBP is a good example of this proposal. Federal employees pay a portion of their premiums each month and the federal government pays the balance. Hyde does not allow federal employees to apply a portion of their premium contributions to abortion services. Because the insurance policies are partially paid for by the taxpayers, no coverage of abortion services is permitted. The intent behind the Stupak amendment is simple and clear: continue current law.
Since the passage of the Stupak amendment, a number of articles and editorials have appeared nationwide. I have been accused of both destroying and saving the Democratic Party and health care reform. A Hard Choice on Health Care, EJ Dionne, Jr., Washington Post, 11/12/09; False Alarm on Abortion, Phillip B. Levine, NY Times, 11/25/09; Can Stupak Save the Democrats? By the Editors, National Review, 12/22/09. Opponents of the amendment have also made wild, baseless allegations on my motives. My positions, my votes, and my motives on both abortion and health care have been consistent throughout my career. The enclosed, unsolicited editorial in the Alpena News accurately describes the motivation behind my amendment, principles and convictions. The editorial was written two days before the vote on the Stupak Amendment.
It was difficult not to support the position of party leadership and the President on this very important issue. The 64 Democrats who stayed true to their beliefs and voted their consciences are supported by the majority of the American people. Two recent polls by the Washington Post-ABC News and CNN found that 61 percent of Americans oppose public funding for abortion.
Finally, the Stupak amendment language is already found in two pieces of legislation already passed this year by the democratically controlled Congress and signed into law by President Obama. The expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program approved in February and the recently passed Labor HHS Appropriations bill both contain the substance of the Stupak amendment. In fact, the language for the Stupak amendment was taken mostly from the Labor HHS Appropriations bill, which most Democrats voted for even after the Stupak amendment passed the House. The prohibition of federal funding for abortions should not be selectively enforced.
It is my hope that the House-Senate conferees will act quickly to reconcile the differences between the two versions of the health care reform bill. Now is the time to pass health care reform and ensure quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Now is NOT the time to rewrite national policy on the federal funding of abortion.
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