Bennie Thompson on Abortion

A number of reporters mentioned U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson's recent town hall meeting where abortion opponents asked him his position on the health care bill in regards to abortion. He glazed over it saying it was no where mentioned.

WLBT:

People stepped up to the microphones to ask Thompson questions that ranged from whether abortion was contained in the bill and if illegal immigrants are covered.

The congressman said the answer to both was no.

JFP:

Skeptics of the bill voiced their questions regarding including abortion funding and the cost to taxpayers. When asked if abortion would be covered in the bill, Thompson replied: "Abortion is not mentioned anywhere in this bill." Many in the crowd shouted back at him that it is mentioned.

Clarion Ledger:

One of the most common concerns among opponents at Thompson's meeting on Monday at the M.W. Stringer Grand Lodge on Lynch Street was that abortion or death counseling for elderly would become a part of the plan.

"Can you tell me that federal dollars will not go to abortion?" Jim Chamblee asked.

As Thompson told the crowd that abortion was not mentioned in the bill, skeptical audience members nodded disapprovingly and yelled back at him, saying it was.

The Jackson Free Press rightfully criticized this answer.

When asked about abortion, he would only say that it is "nowhere mentioned in the bill."

According to http://www.factcheck.org, while the main bill does not mention abortions, the Caps Amendment adopted July 30 states that some abortions "shall" be covered by the public option plan. This amendment is modeled after the Hyde Amendment under Medicaid in which the government pays for some abortions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of a mother.

Elected officials should tamp down rhetoric, hold respectful forums and give us the complete information we need to make intelligent decisions.

More than that, Thompson's colleague in Mississippi, U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, actually makes "abortion" the cornerstone of his possible opposition to the health care bill.

Congressman Travis Childers (D-Mississippi) was among a group of 19 pro-life Democrats who wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, informing her that they would only support health care legislation that "explicitly excludes" federal funding of abortions.

"When I was a candidate, since I've been in Congress, and today, I have said and I continually say, and I will not veer from this -- federal funding for abortion is a deal-breaker for me on any health care reform bill, period," he states. "If it is included, that's automatically lost my vote on anything. I'm very firm on that."

Democrats in Mississippi can't have it both ways. Either their health care push in Congress includes abortion and Thompson tried to mislead his constituents and the press, or it does not and Childers is playing political games with the abortion issue.