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| Joe Pitts (R-PA) |
There's a new Republican-sponsored abortion bill in the House that would allow hospitals to let a pregnant woman die rather than perform the abortion that would save her life.
The bill, known currently as H.R. 358 or the "Protect Life Act," would amend the 2010 health care reform law that would modify the way Obamacare deals with abortion coverage. Much of its language is modeled on the so-called Stupak Amendment, an anti-abortion provision pro-life Democrats attempted to insert into the reform law during the health care debate last year. But critics say a new language inserted into the bill just this week would go far beyond Stupak, allowing hospitals that receive federal funds but are opposed to abortions to turn away women in need of emergency pregnancy termination to save their lives.
The sponsor of H.R. 358, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) is a vocal member of the House's anti-abortion wing. A member of the bipartisan Pro-Life Caucus and a co-sponsor of H.R 3 -- the bill that added "forcible rape" to the lexicon this week -- Pitts is no stranger to the abortion debate.
NARAL Pro-Choice America, in a statement by its president Nancy Keenan opposing the bill, said it was the House's seventh anti-abortion vote this year. Others have included attempts to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood and funding for the Title X family planning program, a ban on Washington D.C. using its own funds to cover abortion services and a ban on teaching health centers using federal money to teach abortion procedures.
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