Abortion rights foes shift attention to Senate

By Julian Pecquet - 10/19/11 11:33 AM ET

Groups opposed to abortion rights are pressuring the Senate to act on a bill passed by the House last week that would prohibit health insurers from offering abortion coverage if any of their customers receives federal subsidies.

In a new message to supporters, Americans United for Life (AUL) cautioned that passage of the Protect Life Act is less likely in the Senate. The memo also drew attention to Democratic senators' effort to derail a House investigation into Planned Parenthood.

"Among the majority voting in the House were 15 Democrats who understood that taxpayers do not support a health care law when it funds abortion," AUL President and CEO Charmaine Yoest wrote in the memo. "It is now up to the Senate to defend the rights of taxpayers who do not want to be forced to subsidize abortion."

Democrats say the House-passed bill would make it near impossible for women to exercise their legal right to an abortion. The legislation would place "unprecedented restrictions on how a woman with private insurance can spend her own private dollars in purchasing health insurance," Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) writes in The Hill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the bill "savage" and said it would let pregnant women "die on the floor" of health providers.

Yoest's memo also takes issue with a letter that 11 Democratic senators sent recently to Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce oversight panel, urging him to back off his investigation into the nation's largest abortion provider. Stearns last month wrote to Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards asking her to provide documents demonstrating that her organization is handling its federal funding properly.

"At a time in our country when women rely on Planned Parenthood more than ever for essential health care, this invasive and baseless investigation is all the more reprehensible, and is an abuse of your oversight responsibilities," the letter states. "We urge you to immediately cease this investigation ... [It] amounts to no more than a witch hunt, and is a waste of resources at a time when the American people have asked that Congress come together and focus on job creation and economic growth."