Albuquerque, New Mexico – As debate over tax-funding of abortions in Obamacare is scheduled in Washington, D.C. for Thursday, an investigation conducted by Operation Rescue and Project Defending Life shows millions of tax dollars are already paying for abortions each year. Operation Rescue has released a short video containing excerpts from an undercover recording showing that Medicaid pays not only for abortions, but completely covers third-trimester abortions for no medical reason whatsoever.
The caller identified herself as having a healthy pregnancy in the 26th week of gestation to a Southwestern Women’s Options employee named Sue. She told Sue that the reason she wanted an abortion was because her husband had just lost his job.
“It’s shocking that our tax dollars would pay $9,000 for a third-trimester abortion simply because of a lost job. The vast majority of the American people strongly object to their tax money being used in this way,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
Operation Rescue has identified 15 states where Medicaid funds pay for abortions. Those states are Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.
The undercover caller phoned abortion clinics in 12 of those states and in every case was told that Medicaid would pay for abortions.
Medicaid is a joint government program that is funded completely by tax dollars. Up to fifty percent of the money comes from state taxes and the rest comes from the Federal tax coffers, depending on the state’s poverty level.
Federal Medicaid funds are not supposed to cover abortions, but do so in the cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother, exceptions that have been exploited in the past to include more abortions. But it is State money that generally funds abortions to the tune of millions of dollars annually.
For example, California’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, paid out over $23.6 million to cover abortions in 2007 alone.
Abortion clinics are well aware of Medicaid funding and jump at the chance to use it. One abortion fund website coaches women how to obtain free abortions through Medicaid and the number one way is to go through the abortion clinic for assistance.
“If we are serious about stopping tax-funded abortions, then we need end it in every government program at the State and Federal levels,” said Newman. “We encourage everyone to contact their U.S. Congressman this week and demand a complete end to publicly funded abortions.”
Contact your Congressman
Click to listen:
Full, unedited recording to SWO. (18 min. 23. Sec.)
Written Transcript
Calls from Alaska, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia.
