Akin Wrong About Abortion Restrictions in Senate Health Care Legislation

In a new statement posted on his official website, Rep. Todd Akin warns that if the Senate-passed health care legislation becomes law, "it will create a system where unelected 'health care' bureaucrats can decide to use your taxes to pay for abortions."

This isn't true.  The Senate legislation -- with abortion language written by anti-choice Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- would require people who want coverage for abortions to write two checks to their insurance provider, and the plans would keep the money in a separate account from taxpayer funds.  The Associated Press analyzed the legislation last week, as did PolitiFact.com.

The Senate language on abortion was written by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who is an abortion opponent. While the language [Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.] penned for the House version would prohibit insurance companies in the exchange from offering abortion services, Nelson's plan would allow companies to offer abortion services. But Nelson sought to ensure those services would be paid through patient premiums, not federal subsidies.

In order to accomplish that, the Senate bill requires that all enrollees in plans that offer abortion services "without regard to the enrollee’s age, sex, or family status" pay a separate amount to cover the actuarial value of abortion services for the entire population covered by the plan...

The current debate, such as it is, focuses on the differences between the Stupak and Nelson language.  Either way, there's no evidence to support Akin's claim that the bills under consideration would "create a system where unelected 'health care' bureaucrats can decide to use your taxes to pay for abortions."

Also: Why does Akin put "health care" in scare quotes?