Boehner leverages healthcare reform law to raise funds for anti-abortion group

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is calling on abortion opponents to help restrict provisions of the healthcare reform law by donating to Americans United for Life. The group helped craft legislation enabling states to ban healthcare plans from offering abortion coverage on their health insurance exchanges, and Boehner says in a fundraising message to AUL supporters that their help is needed to ensure more states pass the prohibition.

“AUL urgently needs your financial support to aggressively implement this opt-out strategy — and save lives — across the nation,” Boehner says in his message.

Five states — Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee — have already passed opt-out legislation, and more than two dozen others have introduced similar legislation.