Dear John,
Your headline and the beginning of this story that you quote make it sound like the bill would offer free-for-all abortions, which is not the case. The jack-booted bishops and their allies came in and undid a carefully crafted compromise that did not violate the principles of the Hyde amendment but allowed people to pay for abortion coverage in an otherwise federally-funded plan. We live in a plural society. Many people do not believe that human life begins at conception. If you don’t believe in abortion, don’t have one – but let those who believe differently use their money as they wish.
I would have thought that this would be the libertarian position.
mike toner
BEE ‘72
Buffalo, NY
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[JR: The Libertarian position would be that there should be NO forced taxation. Not like that is going to happen anytime soon. We can go into other Libertarian thoughts from there. But, let's start from there. As a taxpayer, it is abhorrent to be forced to pay for killing human beings. (I don't support the war or capital punishment either.) There is no way they can get away from the fact that this uses federal funds to pay for abortions. Otherwise why does it have ANY connection to the federally funded plan. They can squirm all they want but it does. And, I don't want to pay for it. Make the taxes voluntary, and see how much they collect! Us libertarians would like nothing better if EVERYONE could spend their money anyway they want. Sorry if I've disappointed you. It's not about beliefs; it's about force.]
Toner, Mike (MC1972)
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