Jeff Miller Slams Obamacare's Taxpayer Funded Abortions

U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., took aim at President Barack Obamas federal health-care law over abortion on Monday. In a message to constituents, Miller weighed in on his thoughts on a report noting public monies were used to provide abortions:

As a staunch pro-life supporter, I was outraged to see the recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding that the administration has failed to prevent taxpayer funds from being used to pay for abortions in insurance plans offered on Obamacare exchanges. Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has barred taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions, with limited exceptions only for cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother is endangered. I, and millions of Americans, find it unconscionable for the government to spend taxpayer money on abortions. President Obama understood how important respecting this issue was, directly promising the American people, in front of a Joint Session of Congress convened to discuss his health care proposal, Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.

In fact, statutory language was included in Obamacare to require a separate payment for abortion coverage, so that taxpayer funds would not be used to subsidize abortions, and Executive Order No. 13535 was issued to "establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that federal funds are not used for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered)." Yet, GAO found that abortions are being paid for with taxpayer funds by more than 1,000 exchange plans across the country. And this only covers the 18 insurers that GAO studied, all but one of which were not billing separately for abortion coverage.

The administration needs to fix this immediately, and the Senate should take up the House-passed bill, HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, which would further the Hyde Amendment by prohibiting taxpayer funds from being used to fund any abortion whatsoever, prohibiting taxpayer funds from being used for any health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion, and prohibiting any health plan that includes coverage of abortion from being eligible for Obamacare subsidies. This GAO report is an appalling revelation that yet another of the presidents Obamacare promises is being broken, and the American people can have little confidence that any of the presidents Obamacare promises will be upheld.