WASHINGTON — For weeks, President Bar ack Obama has tried to combat claims that his health care overhaul would mean tax dollars going toward abortions, calling the assertion a “myth.” Today, his argument is to receive new support: A group of black church leaders who oppose abortion is set to endorse the president’s health plan.
The clergy — led by Bishop Charles Blake, a Los Angeles minister who heads the massive Church of God in Christ — are scheduled to announce their support for the legislation in a news conference today. And they will offer a full embrace of the government-run insurance option that white evangelical leaders and many Republicans have said opens the door to taxpayer-funded abortions.
Legislation proposed by House Democrats would require public health care money to be in separate accounts so that only private funds could be used for abortions. Conservatives call that an “accounting scheme.” The black leaders on Thursday are expected to use careful language — echoing Obama’s abortion-funding pledge.
“In accord with our commitment to Christian teaching, we wholeheartedly affirm the president’s position that medical costs related to the abortion of fetuses shall not be covered by health care plans funded by this initiative,” Blake will say today, according to an advance copy of his remarks.
A leading abortion opponent who has fought against Obama’s health care plan suggested Wednesday that the black ministers might not wind up in the White House’s camp. Douglas Johnson, legislative director for National Right to Life, said the clergy instead should be pressing for amendments that ensure no government money goes toward abortions.
The predominantly black Church of God in Christ is one of the world’s largest Pentecostal denominations, with an estimated 6 million members. Its leadership has been heavily courted over the years by Republicans.
