Sebelius: Everyone will pay into abortion-coverage fund
posted at 10:12 am on December 22, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
What constitutes the notion of “public funds”? If the government forces us to pay into a fund, and then controls the distribution of those funds, are those funds not “public”? Morgen at Verum Serum catches a portion of an interview between HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and BlogHer interviewer Morra Aarons-Mele yesterday, in which Sebelius praises the abortion-funding language in the Reid bill, as it maintains a flow of funds for abortion coverage that everyone — and she means everyone — supplies:
SEBELIUS: And I would say that the Senate language, which was negotiated by Senators Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray, who are very strong defenders of women’s health services and choices for women, take a big step forward from where the House left it with the Stupak amendment, and I think do a good job making sure there are choices for women, making sure there are going to be some plan options, and making sure that while public funds aren’t used, we are not isolating, discriminating against, or invading the privacy rights of women. That would be an accounting procedure, but everybody in the exchange would do the same thing, whether you’re male or female, whether you’re 75 or 25, you would all set aside a portion of your premium that would go into a fund, and it would not be earmarked for anything, it would be a separate account that everyone in the exchange would pay.
BLOGHER: It’s a bit confusing, but …
SEBELIUS: Okay. It is a bit confusing, but it’s really an accounting that would apply across the board and not just to women, and certainly not just to women who want to choose abortion coverage.
BLOGHER: Oh, that’s good, that’s good.
It’s only confusing if you bought Ben Nelson’s dodge that Reid had changed the abortion-funding language in any significant way. If the government forces it citizens to pay into premium exchanges and then controls the distribution of that money, then it becomes a public fund in any interpretation. That’s especially true if its intent is to be a slush fund for bureaucrats to apply to whatever purpose they see fit.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
How do we not participate in the abortion funding. I cannot do it. It violates my conscience before God.
PrincipledPilgrim on December 22, 2009 at 10:15 AM
FIFY.
OmahaConservative on December 22, 2009 at 10:15 AM
‘Nuff said
vcferlita on December 22, 2009 at 10:15 AM
screwed up
so screwed up
wholesale slaughter
blatantblue on December 22, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Ah, so a fund for killing babies is now brushed over as an accounting trick. Classy.
CP on December 22, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Tax Revolt.
atheling on December 22, 2009 at 10:18 AM
What will be the tipping point for an assault on Capitol Hill?
SouthernGent on December 22, 2009 at 10:18 AM
I won’t buy into it if it passes.
BTW another example of how touting “fiscal conservatives not social conservatives” can’t work.
Chris_Balsz on December 22, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Smoke, mirrors, and lies!
GFW on December 22, 2009 at 10:19 AM
You know if SCOTUS can find a womans “right” to an abortion in the constitution, they most certainly can’t be faulted for finding “funding” for that right in there also.
Johnnyreb on December 22, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Imagine how the media and Democrats would react if Republicans held congressional majorities and were bribing individual Senators.
perroviejo on December 22, 2009 at 10:19 AM
I can’t believe they would do something like this with a human life. Yea I can believe it, but it makes me sick.
Brat4life on December 22, 2009 at 10:20 AM
So Tiller the killer’s patron says that we will ALL be helping pay for abortions?
Not I Kathleen.
No you can’t.
annoyinglittletwerp on December 22, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Yeah, but only a marginal teabagging 72% are against funding abortion with public funds.
LibTired on December 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Become self employed and stick your money into tax shelters. I dunno what the tax free income limit is over there, but don’t go over it. Also, consider moving to an abortion free country (like ireland) if you want to spend your money. Keep your US citizenship though so you can vote and hopefully remove these lecherous parasites from government eventually.
Darth Executor on December 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM
PrincipledPilgrim on December 22, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I guess we go to jail.
Otis B on December 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Whatever the tipping point, we can be sure we’re moving towards it.
darwin on December 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM
These are not the droids you’re looking for.
pseudonominus on December 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM
That’s just crazy talk. Next she’ll be telling us this bill covers illegal aliens.
marklmail on December 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Godless, fascist tyrants. If not, somebody please tell me why not.
rplat on December 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM
You aren’t alone. I’ve begun thinking about this seriously…about my family…if/when we opt out for conscience-sake.
Yes.
Diane on December 22, 2009 at 10:23 AM
60 MILLION babies have been murdered (aborted) already.
The Eugenics people are behind Obamacare.
Obamacare = LEGAL SELECTIVE EXTERMINATION
ms on December 22, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Here’s the dirty trick democrats are about to spring on us.
1) Pass the government-controlled health-care bill.
2) Demonize Republicans who come in later to try to fix it as wanting to “take health care away from the poor, while giving tax cuts to their wealthy friends.”
perroviejo on December 22, 2009 at 10:25 AM
When I refuse to pay, I just hope they send me to the Illinois prison that will also house the Gitmo vermin. That way, I can do something important for my country on the way out.
TXUS on December 22, 2009 at 10:25 AM
The most likely (not that is likely) thing to derail this multidecade debacle is abortion funding. Shine a bright light on this type of stuff. I wanna see NOW and Planned Parenthood front and center 24/7.
To whatever extent these whores, er, members of Congress profess to have any principles, this is the issue upon which they can be forced to take a stand.
trubble on December 22, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Is it too late to abort Sebelius?
noblejones on December 22, 2009 at 10:25 AM
There is going to have to be a lawsuit brought on this. Freedom of religion is in the Constitution. It means that people cannot be forced to pay for anything that violates their religious beliefs.
Just as ypur Constitutional right to free expression ends when your fist hits my face, your Constitutional right to an abortion ends when you hit my wallet.
It’s a $200 procedure, for crying out loud. Anyone can sell enough plasma to pay for an abortion if they are that desperate to kill that baby.
rockmom on December 22, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Was thinking the same thing this morning…
katy on December 22, 2009 at 10:26 AM
But there’s no government-funded abortion clause in the bill! That’s just REPUBLICAN LIES!
Red Cloud on December 22, 2009 at 10:26 AM
This is wrong on so many levels. A woman makes a choice to kill her unborn child, but she is somehow incapable of making the choice to pay for it?
The Calibur will be here soon in another intellectually dishonest attempt to equate a moral and just funding of our troops to this immoral funding of abortion.
rukiddingme on December 22, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Is there no shame from these 60 greedy animals, who is going to protect the unbourne? I for one cannot and will not be party to murdering the unbourne with my taxes.
Sandybourne on December 22, 2009 at 10:26 AM
The chit gets deeper by the minute……
joedoe on December 22, 2009 at 10:27 AM
unborn, just sooo angry !
Sandybourne on December 22, 2009 at 10:27 AM
The depth of the spitefulness in needlessly linking abortion and healthcare is what gets me. Democrats are motivated by pure hatred. Take away their hatred of the successful, the independent, the prosperous and the religious, and they have nothing.
Track-A-'Crat on December 22, 2009 at 10:28 AM
The poor have always had healthcare . . . it’s called Medicaid and it will always be there. Why can’t the bumbling Republicans ever effectively counter the ridiculous charges made by the left?
rplat on December 22, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Help. I’m not quite sure what to do. I can’t send my tax money to Wash., not if I pays for wholesale murder. How does one publically conscientiously object? I do not agree with any of the healthcare plan, but I can live with it and fight on another day. Not abortion.
manzanita and sage on December 22, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Maybe we can all get in on the Buddy Plan.
thomasaur on December 22, 2009 at 10:30 AM
So – in other words – it’s a SLUSH FUND. Doesn’t have anything to do with funding abortions. But, that’s where the money will come to fund abortions. I get it!!
AND I’M NOT PAYING IT.
GoldenEagle4444 on December 22, 2009 at 10:30 AM
The one provision that gives me hope is that it looks like states can choose to prohibit abortion coverages in the exchanges, which are state-based. Although you can’t do much about this in 13 states, many many red states would be able to effectively prohibit some abortions happening now. At least, that’s what a lot of feminists are upset about right now.
alwaysfiredup on December 22, 2009 at 10:30 AM
It appears to me we are aborting the wrong people. The people who we need to abort are already born. Most of them reside in Washington DC, pretending to represent the people of their districts and states. However, here in California we are blessed with a great number of needed post natal abortions at the legislative and executive level. Look at the carbon emissions that would be saved.
Zelsdorf Ragshaft on December 22, 2009 at 10:31 AM
will there be three congressman that will change their vote?
Cao, Stupak, and ?
joepub on December 22, 2009 at 10:32 AM
How do we not participate in the abortion funding. I cannot do it. It violates my conscience before God.
PrincipledPilgrim on December 22, 2009 at 10:15 AM
//
Tax revolt, but it’s obvious people are pansies and won’t do it.
uknowmorethanme on December 22, 2009 at 10:33 AM
It appears to me we are aborting the wrong people. The people who we need to abort are already born. Most of them reside in Washington DC, pretending to represent the people of their districts and states. However, here in California we are blessed with a great number of needed post natal abortions at the legislative and executive level. Look at the carbon emissions that would be saved.
Zelsdorf Ragshaft on December 22, 2009 at 10:31 AM
//
Read Freakonomics. The right people are being aborted.
uknowmorethanme on December 22, 2009 at 10:34 AM
fixed
They have overthrown the Constitution thus it is time to overthrow them.
bill30097 on December 22, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Revolution….the country threw out the tyrants before and we might have to do it again! The founders put in the second amendment for a reason…
jwp1964 on December 22, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Translation: Where ever the word “choice” appears, replace it with “ripping a baby from the womb and sucking its brains out”.
Amazing, really just amazing, that “choice” for Liberals means your only choice is killing a baby.
crazy_legs on December 22, 2009 at 10:36 AM
They don’t want to, becaue Obama is a Republican plant.
uknowmorethanme on December 22, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Time for a multi-state 10th Amendment slap down.
Fletch54 on December 22, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Human life is not a concern of the Democrats.
Only political power.
Good Lt on December 22, 2009 at 10:38 AM
You don’t have to become self-employed to stop paying taxes. Just claim over 10 dependents on your Employee Withholding Certificate (W-4 form) and you won’t be paying any taxes.
It will take the feds a few years to catch up with you. Then you play a game with them for a few years. If we all did this, they would implode.
atheling on December 22, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Shame on you for misappropriating the term ‘trick’, as we all know that this is simply a scientific word describing a highly sophisticated data manipulation technique.
Chomsky Dance Recital on December 22, 2009 at 10:38 AM
I have four kids under 11 yrs. If I go to jail. The state takes my kids. I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I’m beginning to feel like one.
manzanita and sage on December 22, 2009 at 10:41 AM
What Boxer and Murray maybe haven’t noticed is, the urban enclaves in America where baby-killing is popular are getting smaller and smaller. Must be those “darn ultrasound machines.”
RBMN on December 22, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Enough said…
deidre on December 22, 2009 at 10:42 AM
I’ve been wondering that too.
CP on December 22, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Read Freedomnomics to get the real story.
stvnscott on December 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Next step – the new unelected medical board rules that insurance cannot pay for ultrasounds for pregnant women anymore.
rockmom on December 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Cute scenario.
So I guess the destruction of the country and our economy will just be collateral damage.
Lanceman on December 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM
It is a slush fund and the most ouutrageous idea these idiots have had to date.
ORconservative on December 22, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Guess what girls? How about we take away the minority status of women and start taxing them at a higher rate. That should even the playing field eh? Otherwise…it’s just not faaaiiirrr.
inevitable on December 22, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Okay someone needs to explain this … I’m not getting this and you can bet most people aren’t either – how about an explanation?
Here’s the deal – my medical coverage IS NOT supposed to change (unless I don’t want it to). My employer pays money to an insurance company, and I pay money to it also (via payroll deduction). NONE of that money goes to the government. I suppose the insurance company may pay for abortions under the status quo – but what can be done about that?
This is what needs to be explained … how now is my money going to be “directed” by the government to go to abortions? WTF?
HondaV65 on December 22, 2009 at 10:48 AM
There is no shame in this group of 60 but mark these words… The God I believe in will get REAL narrow minded about this.
Dire Straits on December 22, 2009 at 10:49 AM
What gets me is that there isn’t even a pretense that the filthy lying coward is forcing everybody to pay for abortions even if they are morally opposed. Even leftist trolls like Jimbo will not be able to spin this one.
highhopes on December 22, 2009 at 10:49 AM
When I am faced with being forced to violate the precepts of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, to wit:
then I begin to take seriously the precepts of the first paragraph of the same document:
in the same manner that we should continue to use the rights enshrined in the First Amendment full in the knowledge that there is a time and place for invoking the rights enshrined in the Second.
turfmann on December 22, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Its pay or jail.
It gets ugly from here on out.
sonofdy on December 22, 2009 at 10:50 AM
COME my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!
For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!
Dorvillian on December 22, 2009 at 10:51 AM
No no…your sin is obsolved with the employment of the “accounting measure” that she mentioned.
Youngs98 on December 22, 2009 at 10:51 AM
I remember reading a piece several years ago in which the author made the case that conservatism would rise because only liberals abort their children. That may give us some advantage, but I don’t think it necessarily has a large net effect on the population. One reason for this is may grandmother’s favorite saying (which I’m sure she got from somewhere else):
If you are 20 and don’t have socialist tendencies, you don’t have a heart. If you are 30 and still have socialist tendencies, you don’t have a brain.
Many of our little conservatives are never getting over their socialist tendencies, because colleges do not teach the basics anymore.
stvnscott on December 22, 2009 at 10:52 AM
Barring an extremely unlikely event this monstrosity will pass and and all the outrage here and elsewhere will never be able to get rid of it. It will be added to the list of hopeless battles, like Roe V Wade. If you work then as soon as your first withholding statement after passage you’ll be contributing. to the universal woman’s right to kill project.
Annar on December 22, 2009 at 10:55 AM
I think I’ve got it. I’m going to take money out of my right pocket and put in into my left pocket, but first I’ll move it to my coat pocket. There… problem solved.
Mojave Mark on December 22, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Wonder what Secretary Nefarious’s answer would be if I said I would like some of that common fund money to pay for plastic surgery to give me stigmata marks to honor the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh no…we MUST have separation of church and state. I really don’t want to sound like a nutty militia guy, but this crap is really getting ridiculous.
Huckabye-Romney on December 22, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Funny how this elective, not-prohibitively-expensive, lifestyle procedure (as in, “I don’t want to be inconvenienced by a baby”) is somehow considered a vitally important “healthcare” right that must be funded by taxpayers. I wonder what other elective procedures are going to be covered. Are U.S. taxpayers going to be forced to pay for hair transplants for illegal aliens too? This POS bill is so ludicrous it’s not even funny.
AZCoyote on December 22, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Winston Churchill is where she got that.
With all due respect, colleges do not teach “the basics.”
That’s what government-run, government-mandated elementary school and high school are for.
All infected primarily with leftwing Democrat teachers as well.
THAT’S why kids today are so mind-numbingly dumb and cannot comprehend basic economic principles. They’ve been taugh to FEEEEEEEEL, and not to think.
Good Lt on December 22, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Interestingly enough, a good dose of hunger, homelessness, and a government too incompetent to provide any meaningful help will teach that lesson in unambiguous and final terms.
The pendulumn swings without abatement.
BobMbx on December 22, 2009 at 10:56 AM
OT
Rasmussen: -21%
BardMan on December 22, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Under this interpretation of the right to privacy, we all deserve the best quality printing presses, because the Constitution enshrines Freedom of the Press.
unclesmrgol on December 22, 2009 at 10:57 AM
A 256th trimester abortion???? Might be an effective medical procedure in the Senate as well.
phreshone on December 22, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Me too. My guess is it will have to be a catastrophic event that triggers the implosion. Reichstag fire or something.
Otis B on December 22, 2009 at 10:58 AM
On my way to HR after lunch, effective Jan 1, I will have 10 dependents. I have had enough.
froginthesky on December 22, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Look into Samaratins Purse for your health care costs.
kringeesmom on December 22, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Hell, we have a right to own guns. When will we have a “slush fund” for guns at taxpayer’s expense?
atheling on December 22, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Trafalgar on December 22, 2009 at 11:15 AM
As fun as talking up armed resistance can be, it grates uncomfortably on me. As a point of reference, I get irritated when I see people allow the Flag to touch the ground, even unintentionally.
So, if we’re serious about doing the right thing, let’s do just that, and only that.
The Declaration of Independence gives us the moral responsibility to oppose our government.
Emphasis mine. Text written by real patriots. We should not be suggesting the overthrowing of the US Government, which is tantamount to sedition and treason. We should be talking about changing the people who run the government, thereby changing the policies.
All politics is local. It starts at the bottom, and with sacrifice. To effect major political change, local jurisdictions and states need to ween off the federal tit, thereby relieving themselves of the federal fist.
Are you willing to give up federal assistance in order to not pay for abortion on demand? Mandated behavior programs? Energy taxes?
What are you willing to give up to secure your liberty?
BobMbx on December 22, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Pay the $750 fine for not having insurance and go “naked” paying for your own health care out of pocket.
barnone on December 22, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Pay the $750 fine for not having insurance and go “naked” paying for your own health care out of pocket.
I forgot to add…
If you have a serious accident, don’t worry, emergency rooms must treat you.
If you have a serious illness, don’t worry, pre-existing conditions must be covered, so buy it AFTER your 3rd heart attack.
Then don’t worry, your premiums are now subsidised by the rest of us and your premium will be far less than your costs, so you will not be subsidising abortions. If you get healthy, then stop paying again.
barnone on December 22, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Kill the old with cuts to medicare and kill the young before they are born. That’s how they plan on reducing the population to a level that will be beneficial to mother earth. They can try to spin the funding of abortion all they want. It’s still public money and illegal according to the Hyde amendment.
Kissmygrits on December 22, 2009 at 11:22 AM
“…that was negotiated by Senators Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray, who are very strong defenders of women’s health services…”
“Women’s health services”??? So, she must be talking about stuff like in-grown toenails and hayfever, right?
Dopenstrange on December 22, 2009 at 11:29 AM
I wish to put forth my name as a delegate from Kansas for the next Continental Congress to be held at a time and place in the near future.
I’m sure that when we get done making everything clear. The good ole boys in congress will get the picture.
BruceB on December 22, 2009 at 11:29 AM
And yet Obama and Reid continue with their lies. They are so confident that no one cares that they have Sebelius contradicting them by telling the truth!
PattyJ on December 22, 2009 at 11:31 AM
It is a confusing accounting measure… to protect women,s health services.
Translated> everyone,s cash will pay for aborting children in the womb.
royzer on December 22, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Sebelius was well known for being in bed with the abortion industry while guv of Kansas — it appears nothing has changed in that regard.
KS Rex on December 22, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Appropriated funds must be used only for purposes for which they were appropriated. If they are not then there is a violation of the Antideficiency Act. So, if there is not appropriations for abortion then using other funds is a violation of law. Unfortunately, trying to find someone in this crooked, fascist administration that will enforce this law would be impossible.
rplat on December 22, 2009 at 11:37 AM
+++++ I refuse to pay into a fund that will pay for the destruction of innocent human life. If a woman wants to kill her baby, she damn well better do it on her own dime.
TXMomof3 on December 22, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Oh, OK-I get it now:It\’s not black, it\’s just very, very dark ebony. Not confusing at all!Lenin was right: the electorate are useful idiots. Wright, Ayers, Axelrod, Emanuel have to laughing their asses off with glee. What I wouldn\’t give to hear some private conversations amongst them and Andy Stern.
Amendment X on December 22, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »