The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation wants to set the record straight about claims by Barack Obama that his health-care reform plan does not cover taxpayer-funded abortions.

The group issued the following release in response to statements Obama made during a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday:

President Barack Obama is misleading the American public by claiming that no federal dollars will be used to pay for abortions under his health care reform plan.

"It's time to stop playing word games," said Michael Ciccocioppo, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the state’s largest pro-life organization. "The House plan which Obama backs would authorize the federal insurance plan to pay for abortions. It would also mean federal subsidies for private abortion insurance. Federal funding of abortion is clearly part of the House health care plan," Ciccocioppo added.

For decades, the Hyde Amendment, named for the late pro-life Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois, has prevented federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother. However, the Hyde Amendment would not apply to the health care plan, since the amendment only applies to funds appropriated through the annual Health and Human Services appropriations bill. Health care reform would not be paid for out of that appropriations bill, so the Hyde Amendment would not be applicable.

"Unless abortion is specifically excluded from the health care reform plan, federal funding of abortions will occur—something that national public opinion polls show that the vast majority of Americans oppose," Ciccocioppo said.

For a complete explanation of why health care reform in its current form results in federal funding of abortion, visit http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/NRLCmemoFederalFundsnotPrivateFunds.html