House Bans Federal Funding of Abortion Training
Medical schools, community health centers, and other health training facilities would not be able to teach doctors how to perform abortions if the schools want access to a $250 million federal grant program under legislation written by U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., (shown left) and passed by the House.
The Foxx Amendment pertains to one of the many new programs created by the health care restructuring law enacted in 2010 — the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (PPACA), often referred to as “ObamaCare.” The program provided guaranteed funding for grants to teaching health centers for graduate-level training in certain “primary care” fields of medicine, including obstetrics and gynecology.
The amendment passed 234-182 on Wednesday despite the objections of some Democrats that it would prevent health centers from teaching a basic medical technique that can be critical to saving a woman's life during emergencies.
"This amendment would jeopardize both education and women's health care by obliterating funding for a necessary full range of medical training by health care professionals," said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. in the Associated Press.
Foxx said that she thinks taxpayers should not "foot the bill for elective abortions or to train abortion doctors."
"If organizations want to provide elective abortions or train abortion doctors," she said. "They need to find someone other than taxpayers to write the checks. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for subsidizing the abortion industry."
There were strong objection to this bill from NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
"Virginia Foxx's amendment undermines women's ability to be served by physicians who are adequately trained," said Melissa Reed, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Health Systems in Raleigh to the Winston-Salem Journal. "Medical schools rely on support so that they can provide training to young people from a variety of economic backgrounds. Abortion is basic health care for women, and it's vitally important that medical doctors have this training."
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