Black, Members of Congress introduce "Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act'

Statement

With the exchanges of the "Affordable Care Act" (AKA "Obamacare") activated this month, it has become evident that it is nearly impossible for individuals to try to determine which exchange plans on their state or federal exchange, if any, exclude abortion.

U.S. Reps. Diane Black (TN-06) and Chris Smith (NJ-04) unveiled their legislation, H.R. 3279, the "Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act" --cosponsored by 70 other Members of the House--to ensure full disclosure of abortion coverage, requiring prominent and transparent disclosure of abortion coverage for each plan offered on an exchange. This is crucial information for millions of Americans since the many plans that include elective abortion are required by law to impose a monthly mandatory abortion surcharge. Many Americans object to paying a surcharge into a fund to be used solely for the purpose of aborting unborn babies.

The inauguration of the Obamacare exchanges reveals that many health insurance plans throughout the nation will include abortion on demand--even late term abortions. In October 2009, President Obama said in a speech to a joint session of Congress that, "under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion…." A week after the Obamacare rollout, many are now discovering that--contrary to solemn promises made by the President himself--Obamacare violates the Hyde Amendment by funding plans that include abortion.

"The Obamacare exchange launch has been an unmitigated disaster," said Congressman Diane Black. "One of the most troubling problems is that many consumers are unclear as to what exactly will be covered by the plans they purchase online. Clearly Americans who are pro-life would object to paying for a health care plan that included abortion coverage and then be forced to pay an abortion surcharge into a fund that is meant to be used solely for the purposes of destroying human life. And this is equally problematic for the millions of Americans who simply don't believe the federal government should be subsidizing abortions. The Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act would simply require that all plans on the exchanges disclose whether or not the plan includes abortion coverage. This is not a partisan issue--this is commonsense."

"The new law requires premium payers to be assessed an abortion surcharge every month to pay for abortions," said Rep. Smith. "But many pro-life Americans may unwittingly purchase pro-abortion plans because of a marketing secrecy clause embedded in Obamacare which stipulates that the surcharge be minimally disclosed only at the time of enrollment. In other words, bury it in the fine print. This is a Right to Know bill. Americans have a right to know upfront and with full transparency when they are purchasing a plan that subsidizes the killing of unborn children. Even the most ardent advocate of abortion should embrace full disclosure."

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