House GOP revives abortion issue, irks Obama

By Paige Winfield Cunningham
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The Washington Times
Wednesday, October 12, 2011

After a six-month respite from fights over federal funding of abortion, House Republicans are revisiting the battle with a bill aimed at severing all ties between President Obama’s health care law and insuring, performing or obtaining abortions.

A vote on a proposal that would amend the Affordable Care Act to bar federally subsidized insurance plans from covering abortion services is expected Thursday, though it is unlikely to go anywhere in the Senate or get approval from the White House, which sharply denounced the vote Wednesday as a political stunt.

The bill also says insurers and providers cannot be required to participate in abortion-related services.

“The Protect Life Act is a crucial measure that not only returns to the status quo on federal funding for abortion, it also protects health care entities from discrimination that is already occurring under health reform,â€