In an appearance on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that President Obama supports health reform legislation that would maintain current federal funding restrictions on abortion services.

"This Week" host George Stephanopoulos asked Sebelius "what's wrong with ... making it explicit in the bill that no public funding should go toward abortions?" Sebelius replied, "Well, I think that's what the president intends to do." She continued that there is "no intent to change the language that's in the current Medicaid statute, which has been there for years and provides insurance to millions of Americans." Sebelius noted that several Roman Catholic bishops recently expressed support for Obama's "statement about what he intends in the plan, that no public funds would go to fund abortions," and that they believe that health reform "is a moral issue as well as an economic issue, and they endorse moving forward."

Pawlenty Calls for Changes to Bill

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) also appeared on the program. Stephanopoulos told Pawlenty that "many supporters of the pro-life movement, antiabortion activists, have said ... [t]hat the public option that is being considered so far in the House will actually fund abortions," despite Obama's claim that health reform would not use federal funding for abortion. Pawlenty responded, "Well, there's an easy way to resolve this. There's a dispute. So just be clear in the bill. If the president is embracing the idea that public monies and public systems won't be used to fund abortions, then we should say that" (Stephanopoulos, "This Week," ABC, 9/13).

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