When made in Q&A after an address at Planned Parenthood and in response to a question from the Planned Parenthood executive director of Arizona, I don’t think there can be any doubt what he meant.

I don’t think the audience was in any doubt as to what he meant.

And the list of “essential services” which are required to be covered by all “qualified plans” will be determined by the Secretary of Health & Human Services.

There was an attempt in the house committee to amend HR3200 to specifically prohibit the Secretary from requiring that coverage for abortions be included among “essential services.” That amendment initially passed, then was reconsidered after some arm-twisting by Chairman Waxman and was removed from the bill.

Why go to all that trouble unless the intent is for the Secretary to include abortion coverage in the list of essential services?

Of course, the word “abortion” won’t be used, instead the euphemism will be “access to a full range of reproductive healthcare services” which will be administratively defined to include abortion.

The Secretary of Health & Human Services, btw, is Kathleen Sebelius, former governor of Kansas, who vetoed legislation regulating abortion in 2003, 2005, 2006, and again in 2008. She’s not exactly pro-life.

You seem intent on declaring what Obama wants, even when that directly conflicts with both what he says and what the legislation says. It’s obvious you have no interest in rational analysis of policy.

There is a useful debate to be had. I’m disappointed that you are choosing not to participate.

Your position is that “reproductive healthcare” does NOT equate with abortion because it includes “fertility treatments, IVF, and abortion.”

And you think its outrageous of me to suggest that the inclusion of “reproductive healthcare” as an essential benefit will mean that the government will require all “qualified plans” to cover abortion?

Q.E.D.

by the way – the Hyde Amendment is only an appropriations amendment. It must be readopted with each budget year. It will be no obstacle to mandating that all “qualified healthcare plans” must cover the full range of reproductive healthcare -> which will mean, as you have so helpfully pointed out above, that all “qualified healthcare plans” will be required to cover abortion.

Which was the point of my original post.

Of course qualified plans must cover “essential services”. That’s the whole point. And the bill goes to great detail to say just how you determine whether or not something is essential. And *NOWHERE* does it give *ANY* indication that this includes abortion.

Your willful disregard for reality in service a political agenda is genuinely disappointing.

HR 3200 requires that all private plans must cover essential healthcare services in order to be considered “qualified plans.” (see section 121).

You keep forgetting that some of us have read the bill.

The Capp amendment to the health-care bill makes explicit that public money can’t be used to fund abortions. Obama has said that while he is pro-choice, he does not think public money should be spent on abortions. This seems like a(nother) case of conservatives getting what they want but still complaining about it.

The contention that every insurance plan must cover abortion is just as nonsensical as the suggestion that “death panels” will be pulling the plug on patients. If you’re going to make just wild claims, please point at where in the actual legislation the provision exists.

The lack of honesty throughout this debate is seriously undermining the credibility of the “conservative” movement.