Abortion

Plan Texts: •The United States Supreme Court should overrule Harris v. McRae (448 U.S. 297 (1980)) by holding that restrictions on the provision of Medicaid funding for abortion violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. •Plan: The United States Supreme Court should rule that equal protection requires funding for abortions •The United States Supreme Court should rule that equal protection requires Medicaid funding for abortion at any time. •Text: The United States federal government should remove restrictions that prevent Medicaid funding from going to abortions. Fights over abortion cause congressional bickering - it could kill Obama's health care plan. News Leader 7/24/09 (Abortion can't derail plan, http://www.newsleader.com... PO) As though President Barack Obama's proposal for an affordable, reasonable health care program for Americans wasn't complicated enough, the possibility his proposal might use federal dollars to pay for abortions has added fuel to the fire. And when the topic of abortion gets tossed into any political discussion, it's a potent fuel indeed. This time, however, abortion could be the deal breaker that holds the best chance for health care reform this nation has ever seen. Forget that the Roe v. Wade decision answered the legal question three decades ago. The partisan tug-of-war over a woman's right to abort a pregnancy is a highly emotional and politically divisive struggle. As the health care reform issue gains ground, conservative Democrats are tipping the issue, concerned the ambiguity of whether abortions would be required or even allowed under the public health plan. It could be enough to tip the debate and cost Obama his health care reform proposal. That would be a shame. Conservatives of either stripe won't trust what the White House says about what could be. Obama and his supporters in Congress must come up with a compromise that seals the deal and satisfies both sides of the question. This country needs a better system of caring for citizens. Medicaid and Medicare already are broken. Families and individuals struggle to pay for insurance and, even with insurance, one medical catastrophe can break a budget. We have enough battlegrounds for abortion rights. We can't afford for it to be the hill health care reform dies on. Obama's support of abortion policy is detrimental in the political scheme Polls and Mexico City Policy prove Life News 7/24/09 (by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor, July 24, 2009, http://www.lifenews.com..., PO) Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The approval ratings for pro-abortion President Barack Obama have fallen below 50 percent for the first time, according to a new Rasmussen poll. The new survey follows a new poll from Gallup showing Obama's approval ratings at their lowest since he took over the White House in January. Rasmussen's new survey, released today, shows 49 percent of voters say they at least somewhat approve of his performance while 51 percent disapprove. "Today marks the first time his overall approval rating has ever fallen below 50% among likely voters nationwide," pollster Scott Rasmussen reports.Voters with the strongest feelings either way more intensely disapprove of Obama's record thus far, with 30 percent saying they strongly approve and 38 percent saying they strongly disapprove. The poll shows a strong partisan divide with 83 percent of Democrats saying they approve of Obama's performance to date and 80 percent of Republicans saying they disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major party, just 37% offer a positive assessment. The president earns approval from 51% of women and 47% of men. The Rasmussen poll also found that 53 percent now oppose the Congressional health care package that, currently, would force taxpayer funding of abortions and insurance coverage mandates for abortion. That's up eight points over the past month. Meanwhile, Gallup released a new poll showing 55 percent of Americans approve of Obama's job performance while 39 percent disapprove. That is the highest level of opposition and the lowest level of support since Gallup began tracking Obama's job approval on January 21. Obama has received mixed reviews on his actions on pro-life issues. Although mainstream media reports made it appear most Americans back Obama's decision to make Americans pay for new research destroying human, life, just 52 percent support the president, according to a March Rasmussen poll. During his first week in office, Obama reversed the Bush policy on foreign abortions known as the Mexico City Policy. That prohibited forcing taxpayers to finance foreign groups that promote or perform abortions in other nations. A Gallup poll showed a majority of Americans disagreed with that decision.It showed 58 percent of Americans opposed Obama's pro-abortion decision while just 35 percent supported it and 7 percent had no opinion. Breaking down the new poll further, Gallup asked respondents to state their opinion on seven major actions President Obama has taken since becoming president. Overturning the Mexico City Policy engendered more opposition than any of the other actions and it had the lowest level of support. Plan Unpopular/Partisan Even those who ideologically favor abortion reject it kills the agenda Alonso-Zaldivar and Werner 8/1/09 (Senator: Medicare cut for 'gov't-run' health care, By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and ERICA WERNER (AP) – 5 days ago, http://www.google.com..., accessed 8/5/09, PO) Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., presiding over the session, warned lawmakers against offering amendments that make the bill more expensive — and agreed to a Republican suggestion to limit the time allowed for debate. He said he hopes to finish the bill sometime Friday, and House leaders have promised to bring it up for a vote in the full House in September, after the congressional August break. Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed confidence the committee would approve the bill, and said the full House would follow suit in the fall. She also signaled flexibility on key issues, saying that despite her own backing for abortion rights, she would not allow the issue to torpedo legislation. Congress is largey against abortion, and the issue causes partisan fights Alarkon 7/20/09 (Push to ban federal cash for abortions, Walter Alarkon, 7/20/09, http://thehill.com..., PO) A bipartisan group of House members is pushing for language to prevent any federal funds in a healthcare reform bill from being used for abortions. The members say healthcare reform must include an explicit ban on the use of taxpayer money for abortions to prevent them from increasing as a result of the legislation. Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said he will press for such language during a markup of healthcare reform in the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week. Pitts is likely to have the support of at least three Democrats who sit on that panel, but other Democrats oppose any language explicitly banning the use of funds for abortions. Interest groups on both sides of the issue are already lobbying, meaning this abortion debate will play out as members take on the difficult task of moving the contentious healthcare bill through committee. Plan Unpopular/Partisan Abortion causes battles in congress which lead to political stalemate; Representatives are pursuing less contentious issues Hentoff 6/5/2009 (Mr. President, Here Is Common Ground on Abortion!, by Nat Hentoff , nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. He is a member of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Cato Institute, where he is a senior fellow. Added to cato.org on June 5, 2009, This article appeared in the Zanesville Times Recorder on June 5, 2009. htt