The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement Tuesday saying a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office "confirms" the bishops' suspicions about abortion coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
"Despite repeated claims by President Obama and other supporters that the ACA would not promote abortion," the statement reads, "the report identified over a thousand health plans eligible for federal premium subsidies that cover elective abortions."
The full GAO report, titled "Health Insurance Exchanges: Coverage of Non-excepted Abortion Services by Qualified Health Plans," can be read here.
In the bishops' statement, Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the USCCB, is quoted as saying: "Surveys have shown that most Americans do not want elective abortion in their health coverage, and do not want their tax dollars to fund abortions. Their wishes are not being followed, and it can be difficult or impossible for them to find out whether those wishes are respected even in their own health plan."
O'Malley's solution?
"The only adequate solution to this problem is the one the Catholic bishops advocated from the beginning of the health care reform debate in Congress: Bring the Affordable Care Act into compliance with the Hyde amendment and every other federal law on abortion funding, by excluding elective abortions from health plans subsidized with federal funds."
