Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) will replace outgoing Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) as the Democratic co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, likely leading efforts to further restrict abortion services through changes to the federal health reform law (PL 111-148), CQ Today reports. According to CQ Today, Lipinski has strong antiabortion-rights credentials and a moderate record on some social and fiscal matters. However, he also supports many of President Obama's policies and tends to vote with liberals on labor and environmental issues.
The health reform law requires that abortion coverage purchased through health insurance exchange be paid for privately and that the funds be segregated from federal funds. After signing the law, President Obama issued an executive order reaffirming that no federal funds would be used for abortion services under health reform.
However, some antiabortion-rights House Democrats -- including Lipinski -- argue that the health reform law's restrictions on abortion coverage need to be strengthened. Lipinski is one of six Democratic co-sponsors of a bill (HR 5111), introduced by Rep. Joe Pitts (D-Pa.), that mirrors the Stupak amendment, which passed in the House during the health reform debate but was not included in the final law. The Stupak amendment would have prohibited the use of federal funds for any portion of a health plan that covers abortion services, in any programs created by the law.
Lipinski also supports efforts to codify the Hyde Amendment, which is annually attached to the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill and prohibits states from using federal Medicaid funds for abortion services in most circumstances.
Pitts said that tighter restrictions on abortion coverage under health reform "should move smoothly through the House" in the new session, when the antiabortion-rights caucus is expected to grow from its current 70 members. However, efforts to advance new abortion restrictions likely will face opposition in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Moreover, Obama is unlikely to sign any such legislation into law, according to CQ Today (Ota, CQ Today, 12/4).
Rep. Driehaus Sues SBA List Over Billboard Statements
In the latest in a months-long dispute between Democratic Rep. Steve Driehaus (Ohio) and the antiabortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List, Driehaus filed a lawsuit on Friday arguing that the group misled voters about his position on abortion rights, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Driehaus, who lost re-election to Republican Steve Chabot, argues that SBA List made false claims in public statements about his vote for the health reform law. In billboard advertisements planned for during the election, SBA List claimed that Driehaus supports "taxpayer-funded abortion" because he voted for the health reform law. Driehaus said that the claim is false and that the law prohibits federal funding for abortion services. SBA List sued him for trying to prevent the billboards from going up during the election.
In his federal defamation lawsuit, Driehaus' lawyers wrote, "A lie is a lie," adding, "The First Amendment is not and never has been an invitation to concoct falsehoods aimed at depriving a person of his livelihood" (Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12/4).
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