FRC's Cathy Ruse in Congressional Testimony Urges Support for 'No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act'

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Feb 08, 2011, 04:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family Research Council Senior Fellow for Legal Studies Cathy Ruse, JD, testified this afternoon before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution in favor of the bipartisan "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" (H.R. 3) sponsored by U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL).

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Ruse, herself former Chief Counsel to the Constitution Subcommittee, made the following remarks in her testimony:

"That abortion is scandalous to many is understandable; that it is exceptionally controversial in the United States is beyond dispute. For these reasons, it is entirely appropriate that abortions not be subsidized in any way by the federal government.

"President Obama has urged Americans to find common ground on the controversial issue of abortion. Americans have come together, 67 percent of us, in what may be the only truly bi-partisan agreement possible: That whatever our differences on abortion, we can agree that the federal government should not subsidize it. This is the common ground on abortion in America. H.R. 3 would make that common ground statutory law.

"We taxpayers paid for 425 abortions in FY2008 and 220 last year. Without the Hyde Amendment and the patchwork of other appropriations riders, that number could skyrocket to as many 675,000 government-financed abortions every year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. What has been lacking is a single, simple, law prohibiting government funding of abortion across the board, wherever federal dollars are expended.

"H.R. 3 also codifies the Hyde-Weldon conscience protection amendment existing since 2004 to prevent government discrimination against healthcare providers who do not participate in abortions."

For Cathy Ruse's testimony, click here: http://www.frc.org/testimony/ruse

SOURCE Family Research Council