The bill reads “pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition shall not receive less favorable treatment than other physical conditions.” Abortion supporters view pregnancy as a medical condition that is cured by abortion. Abortion would be no different from an appendectomy. Thus HR 5 would overturn the Hyde Amendment that prevents federal money from funding abortion. It would also require doctors and nurses to participate in abortions even if doing so violates their beliefs, including their freedom of conscience.
There is a bipartisan tradition of naming bills such that no reasonable person would oppose them. For instance, changes to our tax system came with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Who’s against jobs? And how could anyone have voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (i.e., “Obamacare”)?
Well, here we go again. The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would result in transformative cultural change with the congenially named Equality Act (HR 5). What decent person would oppose equality?
A decent person who values the right to life, that’s who. Given the current legal climate, even those who are moderate on the right to life issue should oppose the Equality Act.
The bill reads “pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition shall not receive less favorable treatment than other physical conditions.” Abortion supporters view pregnancy as a medical condition that is cured by abortion. Abortion would be no different from an appendectomy. Thus HR 5 would overturn the Hyde Amendment that prevents federal money from funding abortion. It would also require doctors and nurses to participate in abortions even if doing so violates their beliefs, including their freedom of conscience.
Insurance plans would have to pay for abortions because treating pregnancy like any other condition would require it. Therefore all of us would be paying for abortions through taxes to fund Medicaid and when buying health insurance.
If mandatory funding of abortion is not enough to concern moderates, HR 5 in the current legal and political climate should definitely concern them. The U.S. Supreme Court has just let stand a ruling that Indiana’s prohibition of abortion for sex selection, race, or disability is unconstitutional.
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