A government report that health plans sold under Obamacare cover early termination of pregnancies puts the lie to President Barack Obama's promise — backed by federal law — that Affordable Care Act coverage would not extend to abortions, a furious Rep. Chris Smith told Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
The finding by the non-partisan Government Accountabilty Office (GAO) — that abortion is covered by dozens of health plans nationwide — "is worse than what we could've ever imagined, and it adds another big lie to the president's record and legacy," the New Jersey Republican and Congressional Pro-Life Caucus chairman told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner.
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on
DIRECTV Ch. 349 and
DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system –
Click Here Now
The GAO audited policies that qualify for federal subsidies under Obamacare, and found that
more than 1,000 offer abortion coverage — including nearly all of the plans in California and New York, and every single plan sold in Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Smith's own state of New Jersey.
The audit was first reported on by
The Washington Times, which quoted a congressional aide as saying that the Obamacare-backed abortion coverage is legal for the time being while a workaround is implemented.
Smith said the findings flatly contradict President Barack Obama's assurances that the Affordable Care Act would not underwrite abortion coverage and would abide by the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid funds to pay for abortions.
"He said it repeatedly, including his Joint Session of Congress…. He said, 'Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion.' He also said in an executive order that he would abide by the Hyde Amendment," said Smith.
"So it is another big lie, just like, 'If you like your plan, you can keep it,' " Smith said, alluding to the uproar that followed millions of surprise cancellations of health policies that didn't comply with Obamacare rules.
Smith said that the administration's reversal on abortion should trouble even those who consider themselves Democrats or pro-choice.
"I believe in the sanctity of life; the president does not," said Smith. "With that said, he promised it was the prerequisite. He was iron clad, as we saw it. That got him the votes from several pro-life Democrats who believed him."
Smith recalled that some lawmakers were skeptical at the time of the president's guarantee: "We thought it was not trustworthy."
But he said they hoped for the best.
"The bottom line is that in every aspect of this law, it has not performed as advertised," said Smith. "it is throwing people out of good policies that they wanted. … It has to be repealed and I'm talking about the whole bill. People are not only getting shocked, but they're finding out that the quality of healthcare has now been compromised."
He rejected the idea of partial fixes.
"Those who think a piecemeal approach will work — there's so much to this, it's like Pandora's Box. Every time you open it up you find it's even worse than you thought it was.
"People are fighting with their pharmaceuticals [coverage]: They're getting hit with huge [cost] increases in life-saving drugs, and that goes for my own family," he said. "It is all because of this increasingly flawed health care law that was written without hearings about the content.
"There were hearings in the House about the issue of healthcare reform," Smith continued, "not about the legislative text. I've never seen that happen … where such a huge transformation … has been passed without going through every provision."