U.S./ Pro-Lifers and “Repeal and Replace”

Federal subsidization of insurance coverage for abortion services was among the most contentious issues in the healthcare debate. Pro-life groups stood firm in their opposition to such funding, to the point of opposing the entire legislative package unless it was fully and definitely removed from the bill. Moreover, they worked tirelessly as the legislation was under consideration to advance language that would have made it absolutely clear that direct federal funding of elective abortions would not be a part of the reformed system.

In the end, those efforts came up short because the pro-lifers’ supposed congressional allies on the Democratic side abandoned them when it mattered most. The result is that the new law does provide taxpayer funding of elective abortions, for the first time in many years.

But passage of the new law did not end the debate, on abortion coverage or health care more generally. As was evident in the 2010 midterm election, a plurality of Americans remains strongly opposed to the bill that passed. Scores of the new law’s most ardent supporters were swept out of office by the voters. Now, a strong movement is building to repeal what was passed and replace it with a reform program more consistent with American values. The push for “repeal and replace” will almost certainly be among the most prominent themes of the new Republican House come January.

However, Richard Stith, a pro-life law professor at Valparaiso University, is urging his fellow pro-lifers to stay off the “repeal and replace” bandwagon. In an article for First Things online, he has suggested that a more promising approach for pro-lifers is amending the new law with clear pro-life language.

His logic goes something like this. In the healthcare marketplace of today (before the new law’s provisions take effect), private insurance, including plans organized by employers, more often than not covers elective abortions. Under the new law, the government will start running a larger share of the insurance marketplace in 2014, and subsidize it explicitly with tax dollars. That means more Americans who are now in today’s private insurance market will get their coverage in the future through a system organized by the government.