The President has finally presented his own version of a health care reform bill.  Well, not so much as a bill as a proposal, but without detailed legislative language or enough specifics to allow the experts to figure out how much it will cost.  Maybe we should call it a framework for a bill.

Actually, the President’s framework amounts to little more than a warmed-over version of the bill that was rushed through the Senate to a vote last Christmas Eve.  And, as such, it has all the essential flaws as that bill had.

All along, the bishops have been insisting that a health care reform bill must retain the longstanding requirement that federal funds are not used for elective abortions or plans that include them, and that any bill must adequately protect conscience rights of individuals and institutions.

So, it’s not hard to see how the President’s framework falls short:

In September, the President made the following statement to a joint session of Congress:

under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions

Even by his own standards, the President’s framework for a health care bill has failed.  Instead, it would lead to an unprecedented expansion of abortion in our nation and massive federal funding for elective abortions.

It must be defeated.