ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, October 12, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An undercover audio investigation has been released in which a New Mexico abortion clinic worker tells a potential client that an $8-9,000 elective abortion at 27 weeks gestation would be fully covered by taxpayer Medicaid dollars.
As debate over tax funding of abortions in Obamacare is scheduled in Washington, D.C. for Thursday, Operation Rescue and Project Defending Life say their investigation shows that millions of state tax dollars are already paying for abortions each year. Operation Rescue released a short video containing excerpts from an undercover recording showing that Medicaid not only pays for abortions, but completely covers gruesome third-trimester abortions for no medical reason.
At least half of Medicaid, a joint government program funded completely by tax dollars, comes from federal taxes in any given state. State-collected tax funding makes up the difference, which depends on the state’s poverty level. According to the Hyde Amendment, federal Medicaid dollars are to be barred from funding abortions except in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother, but this does not apply to state funds.
Join a Facebook page to end abortion here.
The caller in the investigation identified herself as having a healthy pregnancy in the 26th week of gestation to a Southwestern Women’s Options employee named Sue. She told Sue that the reason she wanted an abortion was because her husband had just lost his job.
Operation Rescue has identified 15 states where Medicaid funds pay for abortions. Those states are Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.
The undercover caller phoned abortion clinics in 12 of those states and in every case was told that Medicaid would pay for abortions.
“It’s shocking that our tax dollars would pay $9,000 for a third-trimester abortion simply because of a lost job. The vast majority of the American people strongly object to their tax money being used in this way,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
State tax money frequently funds abortions to the tune of millions of dollars annually. For example, according to Operation Rescue, California’s Medicaid program paid out over $23.6 million to cover abortions in 2007 alone.
Pro-life leaders also say that abortion clinics have been known to strategically target Medicaid funding as a way of increasing business: one abortion fund website coaches women how to obtain free abortions through Medicaid, Operation Rescue notes.
“If we are serious about stopping tax-funded abortions, then we need end it in every government program at the state and federal levels,” said Newman. “We encourage everyone to contact their U.S. Congressman this week and demand a complete end to publicly funded abortions.”