Fred Capogreco is, regrettably, misinformed regarding the abortion-related components of the health care bill. The House bill would create two big new programs that raise abortion-related concerns -- a national government-run insurnace plan (the "public plan") and a subsidy program to help tens of millions of Americans buy health insurance. As the bill is currently drafted, both of these programs would include elective abortions. In the Senate there are two different bills, which between them have the same pro-abortion components, and more.
Mr. Capogreco mentions FactCheck.org, affiliated with the Annenberg Public Policy Center, but he apparently has not read FactCheck's most thorough look at this issue, published August 21 under the title, "Abortion: Which Side is Fabricating?" in which FactCheck said: "Despite what Obama said, the House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans." FactCheck.org also wrote: "Obama has said in the past that 'reproductive services' would be covered by his public plan, so it’s likely that any new federal insurance plan would cover abortion unless Congress expressly prohibits that. Low- and moderate-income persons who would choose the 'public plan' would qualify for federal subsidies to purchase it. Private plans that cover abortion also could be purchased with the help of federal subsidies." The FactCheck analysis is here: http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/abor...
The other entity that Mr. Capogreco mentioned, Catholics United, functions mainly to "fly cover" for the Obama Administration -- it has no credibility on pro-life issues.
Mr. Capogreco can be forgiven for being misinformed, because advocates for the bill have tried to conceal what they are up to with a campaign of misinformation. Regrettably, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) has been a "front man" for this misinformation campaign. Mr. Ryan was one of the architects of the language, now part of the bill, that explicitly authorizes the proposed government insurance plan to cover elective abortions -- and of course, the abortions would be paid for with federal funds, which are the only kind of funds that the government can spend. Over the past year and more, Mr. Ryan has worked hard to undercut the efforts of the real pro-life lawmakers, of both political parties. Mr. Ryan's activities in this regard have been so outrageous that the National Right to Life Committee has set up a special webpage devoted to exposing Mr. Ryan's real agenda, titled, "Congressman Tim Ryan, Pro-Life Impersonator," here: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Douglas Johnson Legislative Director National Right to Life Committee Washington, D.C. http://www.nrlc.org Legfederal -- at -- aol, dot, com
Tim Ryan has certainly worked hard on health care reform -- worked hard to undercut the efforts of the real pro-life lawmakers, in both parties, who are trying to remove the provisions that would result in the federal government subsidizing abortion and insurance that covers abortion. Ryan impersonates a pro-life congressman on TV, but he peddles legislative language that pleases Planned Parenthod. He has also been trying to repeal a longstanding ban on the use of congressionally appropriated funds to pay for elective abortions in the District of Columbia, a federal jurisdiction. You can read all about it on the special National Right to Life webpage on "Tim Ryan, Pro-life Impersonator," here: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Douglas Johnson Legislative Director National Right to Life Committee Washington, D.C. http://www.nrlc.org
But Congressman Tim Ryan HAS shown leadership! He has become a leader in carrying water for the pro-abortion lobby in Washington, all the while telling his constituents that he is "pro-life."
Pro-life members of the U.S. House of Representatives, such as Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), have been hard at work trying to remove sweeping pro-abortion provisions from the pending Obama-backed health-care bill (H.R. 3200). Congressman Ryan has been working just as hard to keep the pro-abortion language in the bill. (The independent center FactCheck.org said that under the language Ryan has been promoting, abortion is likely to be covered by the proposed "public option," and in addition, "Private plans that cover abortion also could be purchased with the help of federal subsidies." The FactCheck.org analysis is here: http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/abor... )
Ryan now plays a special role in advancing pro-abortion interests in Washington: His job is to appear on various TV shows and websites, falsely identify himself as a pro-life congressman, and then promote whatever phony language the pro-abortion lobby wants as a wonderful "compromise."
Ryan also has to make time for his pro-abortion work on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where on July 7 he joined forces with the other pro-abortion members of the committee to approve a repeal a longstanding ban on the use of congressionally appropriated funds to pay for abortion on demand in the District of Columbia.
All of this work earns Ryan the gratitude of pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood, but of course it does take a lot of time, and Ryan was probably just too busy to get back to you.
Jim Traficant's failings are a matter of public record, but on abortion policy issues, Traficant did not just call himself "pro-life" -- he actually voted that way. Tim Ryan has not cast a pro-life vote since 2006.
In order to more thoroughly document Ryan's work against the pro-life side, National Right to Life has established, for the first time ever, a special section of our website that is devoted to a single member of Congress. It is titled, "Congressman Tim Ryan: Pro-Life Impersonator." Check it out: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Douglas Johnson Legislative Director National Right to Life Committee Washington, D.C. 202-626-8820 Legfederal -- at -- aol-dot-com http://www.nrlc.org
Perhaps one of the reasons Rep. Tim Ryan does not want to hold a town meeting is that somebody might ask him why he is working so hard to undercut the efforts of the real pro-life lawmakers, in both parties, who are trying to prevent the Obama health care bills from providing massive subsidies to health plans that cover elective abortion. Ryan is promoting language (the "Capps-Ryan Amendment") that would authorize the big new federal health insurance program (the "public plan") to cover abortion on demand. Ryan is working so hard for the pro-abortion lobby these days that the National Right to Life organization has set up a special webpage (titled "Tim Ryan, Pro-Life Impersonator") just to counter his pro-abortion work. It is here: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Maybe Ryan also fears that a town meeting would allow someone to ask him why he voted, in the House Appropriations Committee on July 7, to remove a longstanding ban on government funding of abortion on demand in the District of Columbia. Ryan has claimed, in this newspaper, that he did not vote for "public funding of abortion," but his claim was bogus: That is exactly what he voted for. Ryan voted specifically to allow the D.C. city bureaucracy to fund abortion on demand. Ryan says those were not "federal" funds. This is doubletalk -- the District of Columbia is a federal jurisdiction, and the entire D.C. budget is appropriated by Congress -- as The Weekly Standard magazine noted in its recent, unflattering article on Ryan, which is here: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content...
Douglas Johnson Legislative Director National Right to Life Committee Washington, D.C. 202-626-8820 Legfederal-at-aol.com
By the way, the Slate article referred to above was in error in suggesting that National Right to Life downgraded Ryan's score partly based on "contraceptive issues." National Right to Life has no position on contraception. The votes referred to by Slate were on amendments that would not have reduced funding for federal contraceptive programs by one penny, but would have steered the money away from the groups that most aggressively promote abortion as a method of birth control.
Douglas Johnson Legislative Director National Right to Life Committee Washington, D.C. 202-626-8820 Legfederal-at-aol.com
This is an informative article, but it barely scratches the surface. On the National Right to Life site, there is an article that explains in detail how in recent weeks, Ryan has actively worked with the pro-abortion lobby, attempting to undermine the efforts of genuine pro-life lawmakers, in both parties, to prevent the Obama health care bills from providing massive subsidies to health plans that cover elective abortion -- including the huge new "public plan" that the bills would create. The article is here: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/AHCNRLNews080...
The National Right to Life site also has a detailed explanation of how Ryan was instrumental in a July 7 Appropriations Committee vote to remove a longstanding ban on government funding of abortion on demand in the District of Columbia. Ryan has claimed, in this newspaper, that he did not vote for taxpayer funding of abortion, but this is bogus: He voted specifically to allow the D.C. bureaucracy to fund abortion on demand with funds appropriated by Congress. The details are here, along with much more about Ryan's pro-abortion activities: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Douglas Johnson Legislative Director National Right to Life Committee Washington, D.C. 202-626-8820 Legfederal-at-aol.com
Post office provides view of how government-run health care would work
Fred Capogreco is, regrettably, misinformed regarding the abortion-related components of the health care bill. The House bill would create two big new programs that raise abortion-related concerns -- a national government-run insurnace plan (the "public plan") and a subsidy program to help tens of millions of Americans buy health insurance. As the bill is currently drafted, both of these programs would include elective abortions. In the Senate there are two different bills, which between them have the same pro-abortion components, and more.
Mr. Capogreco mentions FactCheck.org, affiliated with the Annenberg Public Policy Center, but he apparently has not read FactCheck's most thorough look at this issue, published August 21 under the title, "Abortion: Which Side is Fabricating?" in which FactCheck said: "Despite what Obama said, the House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans." FactCheck.org also wrote: "Obama has said in the past that 'reproductive services' would be covered by his public plan, so it’s likely that any new federal insurance plan would cover abortion unless Congress expressly prohibits that. Low- and moderate-income persons who would choose the 'public plan' would qualify for federal subsidies to purchase it. Private plans that cover abortion also could be purchased with the help of federal subsidies." The FactCheck analysis is here: http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/abor...
The other entity that Mr. Capogreco mentioned, Catholics United, functions mainly to "fly cover" for the Obama Administration -- it has no credibility on pro-life issues.
Mr. Capogreco can be forgiven for being misinformed, because advocates for the bill have tried to conceal what they are up to with a campaign of misinformation. Regrettably, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) has been a "front man" for this misinformation campaign. Mr. Ryan was one of the architects of the language, now part of the bill, that explicitly authorizes the proposed government insurance plan to cover elective abortions -- and of course, the abortions would be paid for with federal funds, which are the only kind of funds that the government can spend. Over the past year and more, Mr. Ryan has worked hard to undercut the efforts of the real pro-life lawmakers, of both political parties. Mr. Ryan's activities in this regard have been so outrageous that the National Right to Life Committee has set up a special webpage devoted to exposing Mr. Ryan's real agenda, titled, "Congressman Tim Ryan, Pro-Life Impersonator," here: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Douglas Johnson
Legislative Director
National Right to Life Committee
Washington, D.C.
http://www.nrlc.org
Legfederal -- at -- aol, dot, com
October 4, 2009 at 4:44 p.m. permalink suggest removal
Spirited, but calm
Tim Ryan has certainly worked hard on health care reform -- worked hard to undercut the efforts of the real pro-life lawmakers, in both parties, who are trying to remove the provisions that would result in the federal government subsidizing abortion and insurance that covers abortion. Ryan impersonates a pro-life congressman on TV, but he peddles legislative language that pleases Planned Parenthod. He has also been trying to repeal a longstanding ban on the use of congressionally appropriated funds to pay for elective abortions in the District of Columbia, a federal jurisdiction. You can read all about it on the special National Right to Life webpage on "Tim Ryan, Pro-life Impersonator," here:
http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Douglas Johnson
Legislative Director
National Right to Life Committee
Washington, D.C.
http://www.nrlc.org
September 15, 2009 at 7:27 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Traficant still enjoys support in the Valley
But Congressman Tim Ryan HAS shown leadership! He has become a leader in carrying water for the pro-abortion lobby in Washington, all the while telling his constituents that he is "pro-life."
Pro-life members of the U.S. House of Representatives, such as Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), have been hard at work trying to remove sweeping pro-abortion provisions from the pending Obama-backed health-care bill (H.R. 3200). Congressman Ryan has been working just as hard to keep the pro-abortion language in the bill. (The independent center FactCheck.org said that under the language Ryan has been promoting, abortion is likely to be covered by the proposed "public option," and in addition, "Private plans that cover abortion also could be purchased with the help of federal subsidies." The FactCheck.org analysis is here: http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/abor... )
Ryan now plays a special role in advancing pro-abortion interests in Washington: His job is to appear on various TV shows and websites, falsely identify himself as a pro-life congressman, and then promote whatever phony language the pro-abortion lobby wants as a wonderful "compromise."
Ryan also has to make time for his pro-abortion work on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where on July 7 he joined forces with the other pro-abortion members of the committee to approve a repeal a longstanding ban on the use of congressionally appropriated funds to pay for abortion on demand in the District of Columbia.
All of this work earns Ryan the gratitude of pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood, but of course it does take a lot of time, and Ryan was probably just too busy to get back to you.
Jim Traficant's failings are a matter of public record, but on abortion policy issues, Traficant did not just call himself "pro-life" -- he actually voted that way. Tim Ryan has not cast a pro-life vote since 2006.
In order to more thoroughly document Ryan's work against the pro-life side, National Right to Life has established, for the first time ever, a special section of our website that is devoted to a single member of Congress. It is titled, "Congressman Tim Ryan: Pro-Life Impersonator." Check it out: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Douglas Johnson
Legislative Director
National Right to Life Committee
Washington, D.C.
202-626-8820
Legfederal -- at -- aol-dot-com
http://www.nrlc.org
September 4, 2009 at 4:51 a.m. permalink suggest removal
There’s no real substitute for a town hall meeting
Perhaps one of the reasons Rep. Tim Ryan does not want to hold a town meeting is that somebody might ask him why he is working so hard to undercut the efforts of the real pro-life lawmakers, in both parties, who are trying to prevent the Obama health care bills from providing massive subsidies to health plans that cover elective abortion. Ryan is promoting language (the "Capps-Ryan Amendment") that would authorize the big new federal health insurance program (the "public plan") to cover abortion on demand. Ryan is working so hard for the pro-abortion lobby these days that the National Right to Life organization has set up a special webpage (titled "Tim Ryan, Pro-Life Impersonator") just to counter his pro-abortion work. It is here: http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Maybe Ryan also fears that a town meeting would allow someone to ask him why he voted, in the House Appropriations Committee on July 7, to remove a longstanding ban on government funding of abortion on demand in the District of Columbia. Ryan has claimed, in this newspaper, that he did not vote for "public funding of abortion," but his claim was bogus: That is exactly what he voted for. Ryan voted specifically to allow the D.C. city bureaucracy to fund abortion on demand. Ryan says those were not "federal" funds. This is doubletalk -- the District of Columbia is a federal jurisdiction, and the entire D.C. budget is appropriated by Congress -- as The Weekly Standard magazine noted in its recent, unflattering article on Ryan, which is here: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content...
Douglas Johnson
Legislative Director
National Right to Life Committee
Washington, D.C.
202-626-8820
Legfederal-at-aol.com
August 14, 2009 at 8:23 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Ryan in the crosshairs of pro-life groups
By the way, the Slate article referred to above was in error in suggesting that National Right to Life downgraded Ryan's score partly based on "contraceptive issues." National Right to Life has no position on contraception. The votes referred to by Slate were on amendments that would not have reduced funding for federal contraceptive programs by one penny, but would have steered the money away from the groups that most aggressively promote abortion as a method of birth control.
Douglas Johnson
Legislative Director
National Right to Life Committee
Washington, D.C.
202-626-8820
Legfederal-at-aol.com
August 14, 2009 at 7:47 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Ryan in the crosshairs of pro-life groups
This is an informative article, but it barely scratches the surface. On the National Right to Life site, there is an article that explains in detail how in recent weeks, Ryan has actively worked with the pro-abortion lobby, attempting to undermine the efforts of genuine pro-life lawmakers, in both parties, to prevent the Obama health care bills from providing massive subsidies to health plans that cover elective abortion -- including the huge new "public plan" that the bills would create. The article is here:
http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/AHCNRLNews080...
The National Right to Life site also has a detailed explanation of how Ryan was instrumental in a July 7 Appropriations Committee vote to remove a longstanding ban on government funding of abortion on demand in the District of Columbia. Ryan has claimed, in this newspaper, that he did not vote for taxpayer funding of abortion, but this is bogus: He voted specifically to allow the D.C. bureaucracy to fund abortion on demand with funds appropriated by Congress. The details are here, along with much more about Ryan's pro-abortion activities:
http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/RyanUpdate.html
Douglas Johnson
Legislative Director
National Right to Life Committee
Washington, D.C.
202-626-8820
Legfederal-at-aol.com
August 14, 2009 at 7:41 a.m. permalink suggest removal