Pro-life advocates gain assurance from White House

WASHINGTON — Pro-life advocates have received an important assurance from the Obama administration on one aspect of the new health care reform law.               

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a regulation clarifying that an interim program established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to cover uninsured Americans will prohibit the use of federal funds for most abortions. The White House, however, said the rule would not necessarily apply to other programs under the far-reaching and controversial measure, which was enacted in March.               

HHS released the rule July 29, putting to rest a controversy that became public when the National Right to Life Committee reported Pennsylvania’s program under the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) would cover legal abortions. New Mexico and Maryland also were reported to have devised plans under the PCIP that would cover elective abortions. The PCIP, also referred to as the “high-risk pool” program, provides coverage to the uninsured who have pre-existing conditions. Under the law, $5 billion in federal funds is authorized for states to implement such a program until “insurance exchanges” to be administered by the states go into effect in 2014.