WASHINGTON (ABP) — Shortly before leaving town for their Thanksgiving break, members of Congress slipped into a spending bill a provision that supporters say limits “discrimination” against anti-abortion hospitals but that opponents say will circumvent state laws intended to guarantee access to abortion services.
The provision — which had gained the House's explicit approval but never the full Senate's — was slipped by House-Senate negotiators into a massive “omnibus” appropriations package and approved by both chambers of Congress Nov. 20.
The so-called “Abortion Non-Discrimination Act” was added to the bill at the behest of its sponsors, Reps. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) and Henry Hyde (R-Ill.). Both of the Congressmen are strong opponents of abortion rights.
It would effectively ban states from “discriminating” against health-care entities — including doctors, hospitals and insurers — that refuse to provide women with abortion services or referrals.
Federal law already explicitly protects medical students who refuse to go through abortion training. The bill's proponents said it also already protects other health-care entities from performing abortions but had been misinterpreted as applying only to individuals.
“Without this provision, pro-life hospitals could be forced to participate in the unconscionable killing of innocent human life,” said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, in a statement on the bill's passage. “Protecting the choice to not perform abortions is a huge win for right-to-life supporters and the pro-life medical community.”
But opponents of the provision said it had the potential to limit access to abortion services for millions of women — particularly those in the 20-plus states that use state money to provide abortion services to Medicaid recipients. Many health-care providers rely on Medicaid funds to provide a full range of services to patients.
The provision “allows any health-care provider or institution, religious or otherwise, to refuse to provide a much-needed reproductive health-care service,” said Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a press release. “The bill is not about religious freedom — there is no federal law that requires health-care providers to perform abortions in the first place.”
A dispute on an unrelated matter means the $388 million bill will not be sent to President Bush's desk for a signature until that spat is resolved. To assuage the complaints of abortion-rights supporters in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) agreed to a floor vote soon on a separate bill that would repeal the Weldon-Hyde provision.
However, Perkins said that the makeup of Congress — with an anti-abortion majority in the House — means that bill would not likely pass.