How to Terminate the Abortion Issue on the Health Care Reform Bill

Once again those clever politicians and their staffs have managed to confound themselves with an issue that has become entangled within their positions on Health Care Reform: namely abortion.

The crux of the problem is that the pro-life abortion opponents are dead set against allowing government funds from being used to support abortions; and pro-choice advocates are firmly entrenched on the side of ensuring that a woman’s right to choose are not restricted by the bill. As we all know, these are two irreconcilable positions/factions that cannot be mutually appeased. With the potential advent of a Health Care bill that would establish or promote health insurance plans some of which would use tax payer money to supplement or provide health care services to a portion of the population there is a move by the right to life side that abortions must be prohibited from coverage on such plans. The pro-life sides insists that there cannot be any diminishment of the current rights to choose.

So it appears that there is no way to have any kind of Government sponsored public-option or Government subsidized funding of health care plans that can accommodate both sides. This also appears to be a bigger problem and issue for the Democratic party than for the Republicans. Not true. There are any number of ways to handle this issue, including ones that would be as problematic for the Republicans as abortion is for Democrats.

The most effective way to neutralize the abortion issue for the Health Care Reform bill would be to require that abortions not be contained in the coverage of any Government sponsored or supported health care plan. [Finish reading before you jump to the wrong conclusion; no matter which side of the abortion issue you are on.] In addition to this prohibition of abortion coverage, the insurance companies and/or exchanges must offer an independent offering for a self-funded abortion coverage package. This imposes not restrictions on private plans and does not alter the non-Government funding of abortions. This approach can allow the individual freedom, free market, capitalistic society we all strive to preserve, to well, preserve.

But we ought to seriously consider adopting a Health Care Reform bill that actually does ban the use of public funds to be used to support abortions. However, in addition to the ban on abortions; the new Health Care Reform bill must impose the appropriate obligation on the Government, and thereby on us all, to be responsible for the consequences of this commitment (that is the children brought into our society under its protection). We cannot mandate that a child must be born, if we are not also going to guarantee that that child will be feed, sheltered, protected, clothed, educated, and provided with adequate resources to make their way in our society. Thus in order to ban abortions, we must include a funding source that can step up to providing the moneys that will be required to either completely cover these costs or to supplement these costs depending the parents means, or willingness to provide the funds. Perhaps a tithe on religious organizations, as they are prime movers in the societal decision to ban abortions. This should even be considered a reinforcement of the separation of church and state principles. If the religious communities are insistent that the Government adhere to this moral position on behalf of the religious groups then to properly insulate the Government from involvement in and support of religious doctrines all the funding should come from the religious communities.

Now the fact that the cost of rearing these children will almost surely be enormous, we will need to start accumulating the funds at least 10 to 20 years in advance of the prohibition. We need to be able to insure that we have adequate funds before we incur such an irrevocable obligation. This will be particularly true to the children that are born but who are not acknowledged by their parents as their responsibility. Additionally the standard of living that these children must receive will have to be demonstrably above the poverty level. And if this causes children whose parents are below the poverty level to abandon their children then the system will have to become equally responsible for them.

The abortion issue is not a problem for the Health Care Reform bill, it is a great opportunity to raise the standard of child care in America.