Marjorie Dannenfelser is the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which seeks to promote pro-life women in politics.
She took part in a live chat at washingtonpost.com recently, and I was pleased to see the moderators chose my previously submitted question for her to answer.
I was not pleased to see the answer, however, because she did nothing but lie about the health care bills and abortion coverage.
Dallas, TX: You say that abortion is paid for in these bills, but both bills explicitly wall off Federal funds from any abortion coverage other than rape, incest, or physical endangerment of the mother. Why can't you tell the truth about these bills?
Marjorie Dannenfelser: As approved by the Senate, this bill provides for direct funding of elective abortion in community health centers, provides federal subsidies for health plans that cover such abortions, violating longstanding federal policy under the Hyde Amendment and similar laws, will force families to choose between their health needs and their consciences on abortion, by forcing all enrollees in many health plans to pay a separate fee solely for other people's abortions, and fails to apply longstanding federal policy on the conscience rights of pro-life health care providers to the new funding provided under this bill.
Marjorie Dannenfelser: The truth about this bill is that it provides for direct funding of elective abortion in community health centers, provides federal subsidies for health plans that cover such abortions, violating longstanding federal policy under the Hyde Amendment and similar laws, will force families to choose between their health needs and their consciences on abortion, by forcing all enrollees in many health plans to pay a separate fee solely for other people's abortions, and fails to apply longstanding federal policy on the conscience rights of pro-life health care providers to the new funding provided under this bill.
I've no idea why both paragraphs are virtually identical except for the very beginning. Perhaps Marjorie's cut and paste powers are challenged, as in, she cut and pasted a boilerplate reply, accidental hit Send, modified the beginning for the chat, and then hit Send again, unaware she already had.
Regardless, there's the answer. It's those kind of lies I was talking about, and Marjorie just rattled them off again. A
recent article at Politics Daily demonstrates the falsity of the first three items: funding of abortions through community health centers, Federal subsidies for coverage including abortion procedures, and the separate fees for other peoples' abortions forced on enrollees.
First, the community health centers. As the article says, "none of the 1,250 Federally Qualified Health Centers, or FQHCs, that would receive the billions in money through the reform bill offer abortion services." Hear that? None of the centers getting this money offer abortion services at all. Planned Parenthood clinics can't qualify for this money because of the comprehensive nature of the services they would have to offer. And ALL the money flows through HHS anyway, meaning that the Hyde Amendment expressly applies to this money. There's one lie that Marjorie Dannenfelser simply repeated. This really smacks of an ACORN-like attack on really good clinical services to the poor, doesn't it? Ooh, don't get me started.
Next, the Federal subsidies of abortion coverage. The Politics Daily article continues:
The Senate bill with the Nelson language says an insurance plan in the exchange can offer abortion coverage, but a woman who wants it must pay for that element of the coverage by a separate check that goes into a separate account.
Got that, Marjorie? The plan purchased with a Federal subsidy might have abortion coverage above the rape, incest, and physical endangerment exemptions that everyone makes, but that part of the policy has to be paid for out of the purchaser's pocket. Separate check, separate fund. And the "separate fee for other people's abortion" is only imposed on people who choose a plan that has the fuller version of abortion coverage. Understand, Marjorie? You only pay the extra fee (out of your own pocket) if you choose a plan that has that kind of coverage. If you choose a plan that only covers the big three that Federal funds can pay for, you don't get the fee (The PD article links to
this great debunk of the "forced abortion fees" by Jonathan Karl of ABC News).
As for the last item Marjorie cites, it's clear that her cut-and-paste powers failed her yet again. I specifically asked about the lies she's telling about Federal funds paying for abortions. Pro-life providers and their consciences don't have anything to do with Federal funds paying for abortions, and as the article points out, even the Catholic bishops recognize that these protections are still in place for objectors.
So what do you think about someone that answers your questions about lying by just simply continuing to tell the lies? That's a pretty clear answer, as I see it. Marjorie Dannenfelser knows she is lying and is going to continue to lie about this issue as long as she is given a platform to do so. Her brand of zealotry, able to lie unashamedly in service to her cause, is something that does great harm to America. Shame on her and shame on Bart Stupak for listening to this bullshit (you can hear him rattle off these same lies in every appearance he makes).
Every possible precaution against Federal funds being used to pay for abortions has been taken. But it's not enough for these crusaders. Let's shut them down and move on.
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