Louisiana Passes
Opt-Out Bill Voiding ObamaCare’s Abortion Mandate
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
The Louisiana State House successfully has passed a measure that will
make “the Bayou State” the fourth in the nation to opt-out of the
abortion mandates of the recently enacted national health care reform.
Democrats and Republicans in the state Senate approved HB 1247,
the
Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act, authored by Representative Frank
Hoffman (R-West Monroe), by an overwhelming majority of 28 – 3 on
Monday.
H.R. 1247 prohibits abortion coverage by health insurers in the
state-run health insurance exchange that is scheduled to go into effect
in 2014 as part of President Barack Obama’s health care reform law. A
provision of the national law, the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act, gives states the explicit right to ban health insurance
companies receiving public subsidies under the state health exchange,
from providing abortion coverage.
The Louisiana measure has just one exception for insurance companies,
permitting abortion in cases where mother’s life is in danger from “a
physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury” including “a
life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the
pregnancy itself.” The law does not permit the killing of unborn
children conceived in situations of rape and incest.
The Senate made some changes to the House bill, and therefore the
state’s House of Representatives is expected to hold a vote within the
next few days to approve the amended bill.
The bill’s original form as passed by the House would have banned all
health insurance providers in Louisiana from offering policies and
plans that would pay for abortions. However the Senate committee
amended the bill to apply to only those health insurers participating
in the state exchanges mandated by the federal health care reform.
In a telephone interview, Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director of
Louisiana Right to Life Federation, said that while the Senate Health
and Welfare Committee, which amended the House bill, did not allow them
to ban private health insurers from providing coverage for abortions,
he was not aware of any insurers that cover abortions in Louisiana
anyway.
“It won’t change much right now, but we certainly would have preferred
that and the abortion opt out,” he said. “But the committee did not
allow us to do that.”
Clapper said that the Bioethics Defense Fund did the heavy lifting of
drafting the opt-out legislation, but the model opt-out legislation
from the National Right to Life Committee gave them the idea of also
banning abortion coverage by private insurers.
After the Senate’s changes have been approved by the House, the bill
will be sent to the desk of Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is expected to sign
the measure.
In a separate statement, Clapper praised the Louisiana legislature for
taking the opt-out bill over “its final major hurdle,” saying that
state lawmakers representing the will of the people of Louisiana, “have
resoundingly sent a message to our nation that abortion is not health
care."
"Once HB 1247 has been stamped by the House and signed by the Governor,
we will be at least the 4th state to opt out of abortion subsidies
since the President signed his national health care reform bill into
law three short months ago on March 23rd,” said Clapper. “We have
helped initiate a growing state-by-state movement declaring that health
care reform should not be used to expand abortion."
Lawmakers in Arizona, Mississippi, and Tennessee have enacted similar
opt-out language for their respective states. Missouri legislators have
also passed their own opt-out bill, which is awaiting their governor’s
signature. Opt-out language was passed by lawmakers in Oklahoma and
Florida, but then vetoed by their respective governors.
Oklahoma’s Gov. Brad Henry delayed his veto of his state’s opt-out bill
to the point where the legislature had no time to mount another veto
override effort and conclude pressing budgetary matters before the end
of the legislative session. Gov. Charlie Crist, who scrubbed the
pro-life section of his independent campaign for governor, also vetoed
opt-out legislation that also would have required women to receive an
ultrasound before going in for an abortion.
Contact: Peter J. Smith
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 14,2010
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