Representative Mike Kelly Votes in Support of the Protect Life Act

Representative Mike Kelly Votes in Support of the Protect Life Act

Washington, D.C. —Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) issued the following statement on his vote today in support of the Protect Life Act (H.R. 358), which Rep. Kelly co-sponsored and which the House passed with bi-partisan support by a vote of 251 to 172:

“The 2,000-page health care reform law known as Obamacare has loopholes in it that could result in the use of taxpayer dollars to subsidize abortion. We know this is true because in a last-ditch effort to get reluctant pro-life Democrats to support President Obama’s signature health care legislation, the president agreed to sign an Executive Order prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion. However, the problem with the Executive Order is that it has no teeth; the order can be rescinded by this or any future president with the mere stroke of a pen.

“With a majority of Americans against the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions, we need to make a ban against public funding of abortion the law of the land, not just a revocable order that was issued to placate politicians more concerned with winning political favor than protecting the rights of the unborn or defending the will of the American people.

“The Protect Life Act will not only amend Obamacare to statutorily prevent federal funding of abortion or abortion coverage, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is at stake;  it will also strengthen conscience protections for health care professionals who are morally opposed to abortion.

“America’s belief in the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is what makes our nation the greatest in the world. As long as I represent the Third District of Pennsylvania, I will continue to defend these unalienable rights, and work to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially the unborn.”

Background

In addition to H.R. 358, Rep. Kelly has co-sponsored the following pieces of pro-life legislation:

• H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act, which would make permanent the various funding restrictions that must be approved each year in the annual spending bills—including the prohibition on the use of foreign aid to pay for abortions, the prohibition on federal employee health programs including abortions, and conscience protections for doctors, nurses, and other health care workers;
• H.R. 217, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which prohibits organizations that perform abortions from receiving federal family planning dollars;
• H.R. 374, the Life at Conception Act, which specifies that life begins at conception and gives unborn children all the rights and protections currently given to those living outside the womb.

Note: Representative Kelly has voted to repeal Obamacare in its entirety and to defund and prevent the implementation of several components of the health care law. A full list of Rep. Kelly’s votes can be found at: /repeal-and-defund-obamacare.

Additionally, Rep. Kelly recently sent a letter to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, demanding that she rescind a mandate within Obamacare that requires all insurance plans to cover contraceptives, including some controversial forms of emergency contraception that share chemical properties with the RU-486 abortion drug.

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