Last night the House passed the Health Care Reform Bill which included an amendment to restrict Federal funding of insurance plans from paying for abortions. Today there were many reports of “enraged liberals” (NY Daily News, Washington Post) over the vote by some in the Democratic Party in support of this additional amendment. Anyone participating in a plan paid for by Federal subsidies will not be permitted to obtain money for an abortion.
Why is this a shocking revelation to everyone? According to Federal News Radio: “the Hyde amendment bars federal funds for abortion _ except in cases of rape and incest or if the mother's life would be endangered. The law applies those restrictions to Medicaid, forcing states that cover abortion for low-income women to do so with their own money. Separate laws apply the restrictions to the federal employee health plan and military and other programs.” Almost everyone on the Hill, including the voting Congress, is covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, so it certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise to them that some would want to carry that restriction over into this new health care program.
Planned Parenthood has reacted as if Rowe v Wade has been overturned…like that is such a bad idea. But it HAS NOT been overturned. We, the average citizen who vote pro-life, simply won’t have to pay for abortions which we disdain. It doesn’t make us heartless; it just means that we finally won a round for our side. Many of us understand all too well.
People who know me will tell you that I am one of the last to jump on the political wagon in a public forum. But the protection of human life is one of those rare times when I feel compelled to take a stand –something I learned when my daughter took a very public stand at school last year. You see I just don’t think that my tax dollars should go to something that I find so damaging to women. Yes, women who decide that there is no other way will have to pay for an abortion – just like I did. I paid financially and emotionally. And yes, maybe it will be more difficult, but in one of the few countries in the world that still allows abortion on demand, is that such a hard thing to live with?
Most women I know will tell you they live with the scars of their abortion – some even live with physical scars. It is never an easy decision to give up your child – either through adoption or abortion. We all think about that child – especially the unborn child. Was it a boy or girl? How old would he or she be now? Did I do the right thing? Today was the day….Every woman I know who has given up a child asks herself these questions. The mother who gives up a child for adoption has some peace though in hoping that her child is being cared for. The abortion survivors, however, don’t have that peace. Many have found forgiveness in the loving arms of Jesus, but even then…we wonder…
For many of us it is simply what we have come to believe: "For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb....Your eyes say my unformed body." Psalm 139:13-16. We believe God created all life – and that life began in the womb at conception. Maybe you don’t see it that way, but could you take a minute and understand how those of us with this conviction mean it with our whole heart. Some of us have learned the hard way—by living it. Some have seen other women (and men) recover from what we consider a sin. Maybe this isn’t your truth, but it is ours. Rather than call us names and make fun of our convictions – could you look in our eyes and see the pain of loss and the love of life we have? Could you walk with us a minute and hear our stories? Could you just respect us this one time?
