FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2014

Contact: Mallory Quigley, 703-380-6674

Defends Ads on Abortion Funding in Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, DC – This morning the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Susan B. Anthony List v. Steve Driehaus. SBA List is petitioning the high court to allow their First Amendment challenge to Ohio’s “false statement” law to proceed on the grounds that the statute empowers a state agency to determine what constitutes true or false political speech. In 2010, SBA List attempted to erect billboards to expose then Rep. Steve Driehaus for supporting taxpayer funded abortion by voting for the Affordable Care Act. SBA List was prevented from doing so because of the Ohio law, and was threatened with prosecution if it engaged in similar speech about Driehaus or other candidates in Ohio.

“Because Congress and the White House failed to include the Stupak amendment in the ACA as it passed, the law is full of abortion funding loopholes,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Since 2009, the SBA List has joined the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops, other pro-life groups and members of Congress in pointing out the clandestine abortion funding problems in the Affordable Care Act. These abortion provisions blatantly contradict President Obama’s 2009 promise that ‘under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion.’”

“This lawsuit originated when we sought to criticize those who voted for Obamacare and the expansion of taxpayer funded abortion it entailed. We have full confidence in the veracity of our claims and hope to see our First Amendment rights affirmed by the Court. In 2014 and beyond, we must be permitted to expose the truth about Obamacare and those who support it.”

In 2010, Cardinal Francis George, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), said, “The statute appropriates billions of dollars in new funding without explicitly prohibiting the use of these funds for abortion, and it provides federal subsidies for health plans covering elective abortions… Stranger still, the statute forces all those who choose federally subsidized plans that cover abortion to pay for other peoples’ abortions with their own funds. If this new law is intended to prevent people from being complicit in the abortions of others, it is at war with itself.” The USCCB was supportive of the Affordable Care Act but unsatisfied with the executive order. Click here for a list of additional quotes from notable parties regarding taxpayer funding of abortion in the ACA.

The ACA provides new federal tax subsidies that will finance elective abortion coverage for millions of women who did not have such insurance, expands state Medicaid program coverage of elective abortion for millions of women in dozens of states, and uses federal funds to finance elective abortion coverage for members of Congress and their staff.

Twenty-one amicus briefs have been filed on behalf of the Susan B. Anthony List.

The Susan B. Anthony List, and its affiliated Political Action Committees, the SBA List Candidate Fund and Women Speak Out PAC, are dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women. The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.

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