Will Health Care Reform Include Taxpayer Funding for Abortion?

First, such a coverage is not a finnancial incentive. such instinces would only be covered in whichj gains could be made over abortions, ratther than merely having access to a service more than one normally would. second their are many items tax payers would not like to see their tax dollars go to but they do not hav the ability to pick and chose. the government has an obligation to develop the best plans of action possible not cater to the moral choices of individuals.

I think we all have to realize that employer-sponsored health insurance is going the way of the dodo. Bush started the ball rolling by pushing individual accounts and HSAs, and the corporations have run with it. Many companies are laying off employees, then hiring them back as “freelance,” minus benefits. Trying to get an individual health care policy is a nightmare; if you have any pre-existing condition, you’re either turned down or offered lousy coverage for beaucoup bucks. Plus, you’re forced to fill out a form listing ten years of medical history, so if some very expensive health problem happens to you, the insurance company can comb through your records with a fine-tooth, hoping to discover anything you omitted in your application so they can cancel your policy and not have to pay. I think everyone should be offered “group” insurance, employed or not, so that all are covered without having to state medical histories. The number of Americans that would sign up for the group insurance certainly would be enough to dilute risk and lower costs.

I think everyone should be mandated to pay for their insurance coverage. It is a necessary, not an option. Paying for an ipod, iphone,text messaging are the options. If people don't want to pay for health care insurance, they should be responsible for their own hospital bills.

I'm yet to see republicans plan. Rep Boehner showed their summary and the plan was supposed to follow. Where is the plan? Your whining about not having time to read through proposed bills and not time to do anything is getting old. The time the republicans spend attacking Obama's plan could be spent reading the proposed bills or writing their own plan. It's been one excuse after another.

What have the republicans been doing the last eight years and still don't have a plan for anything?

Why are you worried about taxing health care? It's either a tax on your health or a tax on your ipod or iphone. People want government to pay for their health care coverage but they don't want the debt to grow. My question is, how is that going to happen?

If it's not the republicans blocking everything for nothing, the public demand for something that they don't want to pay for.

Republicans think President Obama and some Democrats who care about try to rush health care bill through. I guess it's been so what's another 30 years. It's a good topic for Congressional and Presidential campaigns. That's what it's all about. Something is better than the health care system we have.

I would rather have a public option, pay tax, and customized my plan that meets my family's needs than paying for the plan that we don't even use most of the services we pay for. We're one of the families that believe in preventive care but we don't have a choice now on what plan we want. Insurance companies offer either a basic or a comprehensive plans. The only differenc is the co-pay.

It's amazing that the only thing republicans focus on is abortion. Most insurance companies don't pay for abortion anyway. If people will pay into public option, that's their choice as to what to add to their plans. Republicans need to go to undisclosed location until election year.

Insurance companies are vigirously lobbying the senators to block any health care reform because they are enjoying the messed up system that take money from their members and Medicare and provide very little service. They spend more money on staff to review cases so they can deny them instead or paying for what the members pay for.

Don't think insurance companies will go under. Look at how they fight to get Medicare recipients to roll over their coverage to the private insurance so they can deny the care and turn around and bill Medicare for the services they denied.

It does not matter if a person goes to Macy's or Salvation Army, if jewelry is purchased while on any sort of public assistance it is theft. I am not paying taxes to the poor for them to beautify themselves. Basic food, basic clothing, basic shelter, basic health care. That is ALL public assistance should cover if we are forced to have it at all. Cigarettes, jewelry or purfume, alcohol, junk food, electronics, cable, internet, cell phones, etc, are all privilages, not rights, and should not be purchased using our taxes. When we were kids, poor people did not drive SUVs and have cell phones-most made do and tightened their belts and tried to get off welfare as quickly as possible.

Personally I would support manditory implanted birth control for all women on any sort of public assistance. I would support it for men if it were available.

Women have the only say in whether they get pregnant (except rape, which accounts for a very small percentage of pregnancies) and what they do with the child. They have the most reliable birth control and the most choices, they have the only say in abortion, adoption and abandonment and have the most say in custody issues, especially single mothers. Thus simgle mothers are the ones who must bear the responsibility for their actions when it comes to having children on welfare. Legally the buck stops with women (a privilage women fought for), so responsibility also must rest there. If women don't want to be blamed for this, then they should start granting equal rights to men. THAT will not happen. As men have known for centuries, with rights come responsibilities. Eventually we women will figure that out.

"Jen K : "I have great health care right now, and my husband and I work hard for that privilage..."

Private insurance won't cover everybody. Sometimes they reject people because they have preexisting conditions, or they terminate their coverage if a patient get a costly disease. That could even happen to you."

And if it does we will work it out without assuming other taxpayers will foot our bill.

I do not want my tax dollars going toward the murder of the pre-born. Hyde's legacy should continue.

Geez, sorry for offending anyone with the use of the word "Welfare". My point is that there are already government programs in place for those who are unable to provide for themselves. I hate the idea that someone as healthy and able as me has the option to stay and home and be a deadbeat while I have to get off my ass every morning to support him or her through mandated taxes.

"Welfare" is not the name of any program. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Medicare and Medicaid are likely what you are referring to and, like general health care, they need reform. No one is fully covered by these programs.

How about we offer goverment-sponsored healthcare to every legal resident who is either under 18 years of age or works 30+ hours a week (but their employer doesn't provide coverage). This would eliminate illegals and deadbeats from taking advantage of the system and would also protect children. Everyone who is physically or mentally unable to work is already protected by Welfare.

The attitude that "this will encourage single mothers... to get a free abortion" is demeaning to all women. This belief perpetuates the faulty assumption that single mothers living below the poverty line are "free-loaders". That women are just crazy sex maniacs, turning tricks left and right because "they know" the tax dollars will pay for their abortions. No one loves abortion, don't be stupid. No one tries to get pregnant just so they can get a free abortion. No one is clipping "free abortion" coupons in the Sunday paper. I am always surprised by married or childless women who can turn their backs on single mothers, claiming that it would never happen to them. Many married women with children would need public assistance if they got divorced. In this country, we must focus on the collective well being of society. In helping others you will in turn be helping yourself.
It is evolutionarily disadvantageous for people to focus solely on individual reproductive fitness; promoting social welfare within the group benefits all members of society. What is criminal about trying to raise a child?

Abortion is a right that every woman has in this country. We pay taxes for many services, some of which "you" may never use. You pay for children to get an education even if you don't have children. You pay for the upkeep of public parks even if you never visit them. This is how society prospers. If a mother does not have the desire or financial means or WHATEVER reason she has for not wanting a child, she knows best. If tax dollars pay for women to have children, why not for abortions? And if you think abortion=murder, than try to justify paying taxes for the wars overseas.

Something to keep in mind:
A single person can work full time for $8.00 an hour and still barely break a salary of $16,000 a year (Seccombe, 2007, p.85). The poverty line for a family of four is around $20,000 a year. A mother working full time making minimum wage and trying to support 2 children is next to impossible. And the anecdotal evidence you spout off about girls with jewelry is not enough to change this truth. Public assistance is not only necessary, but should be embraced. Get over it. Go live in a remote mountain range somewhere if you cannot relate to other people.

So, according to the democrats, we can kill our children. But we can't waterboard a terrorist?

In response to "abortion rights are necessary"...

While I do not support the use of taxpayer money to fund unnecessary abortions, I also do not support mandatory abortions or sterilizations of low income women.

Most people receiving assistance work at least part time. I once knew a family where the husband was a police officer and the wife worked as a secretary. Their income was still low enough that they qualified for WIC.

It is also possible to "look" healthy without actually being healthy.

It is also possible to get rather nice looking clothes and "fake" jewelry at thrift shops and Goodwill. Where do you think all the rich people dump their unwanted clothes so they can get a deduction on their taxes?

Teens shouldn't get pregnant - but neither should they be treated like trash and forced to have an abortion. No matter how poor a US citizen or legal resident is, they have the same exact rights every other citizen or legal resident has. Those rights should not be taken away simply because they are poor.

You should keep in mind that it often can cost less for welfare to provide food and shelter assistance to teen moms than it does for them to pay for full-time child care so the teen can work a minimum wage job. Even better - state assistance for the teen and her mom usually means the baby can be cared for by grandma while the teen finishes her education. In the long run, having an education may mean the difference between this teen and her child living their entire lives in poverty - or being able to get a decent job and raising her child with little or no assistance.

My point is that while there are people who abuse the system, the vast majority do not. Assuming everyone who pulls out a food stamp card or cashes a welfare check is a worthless deadbeat is inaccurate at best - and horridly insulting at worst.

I stood next to a teenage girl in the grocery store line the other day. She was there with her baby and her mother, shopping cart piled high. All three were wearing a lot of jewelry (yes, baby too) and the teen and her mother appeared well-dressed and healthy enough to work and earn a living. When it came to pay, out came the welfare card. Another teen mother who thinks living on the dole is her "right."

I think abortion should be not only legal and freely available, but mandatory for anyone who is on public assistance. We now have second and third generation free-loaders who think the tax-payers owe them a check every month, and our government encourages the continuation of this lifestyle by providing checks to every teenager who gets pregnant and then finds abortion unacceptable. I for one am sick of these beggars stealing our money, while raising the next generation of criminals and societal dependents.

mj - you want people to take care of themselves, but you don't want them to do physical activity to make that happen - you can't have it both ways.

I was once also in darkness as this world is now but now I see, therefore until one is changed we cannot expect anything better out the lost except say forgive them for they know not what they do.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
because the thing which may be known of God is clearly revealed within them, for God revealed it to them.
For the unseen things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being realized by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, for them to be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were thankful. But they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
For they changed the truth of God into a lie, and they worshiped and served the created thing more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this cause, God gave them up to dishonorable affections. For even their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature.
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another; males with males working out shamefulness, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was fitting for their error.
And even as they did not think fit to have God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a "REPROBATE MIND", to do the things not right, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,maliciousness; being full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, evil habits, becoming whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, insolent, proud, braggarts, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, perfidious, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous order of God, that those practicing such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but have pleasure in those practicing them.

Romans 1:16-32

What an unfortunate president we have.

If this passes the Obama admin. will surely regret it.

Unwanted children that are allowed to be born often turn the parents life around and they realize how important life is and the horrible mistake they almost made....if anyone ever contemplates abortion know now, once you were in your moms womb and God has a plan for every person and unborn person right now!