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Bramble/UDOH
Pronounce Taxpayer-Funded Death Sentence for Unborn!
(Alert for 6/13/04
— Last updated on 7/7/04)
Update for
7/18/04: In response
to a
Citizens' Letter
demanding a public
hearing on its recent
abortion "ruling," the Utah Department
of Health has
scheduled a hearing
TOMORROW, July 19 (Monday) at 4:30 PM.
The meeting will ironically be held at the Department of
Health, Children with Special Health Care Clinic, 44 N.
Medical Dr. (same street as Primary Children's Hospital up by
the University of Utah), Conference Room A-B-C.
See a map.
Will you stand against the
state's efforts to again use your tax dollars to destroy
children? Or will you, like many German citizens during WWII,
ignore and excuse the government-sponsored death camps of our
time? If you don't come and help stop this "ruling", the
"special health care needs" of the unborn will be the life
that they are denied.
"The
sovereign authority in any country is the power
of making laws..." — Thomas Paine, Rights of Man
 Summary:
Sen. Curt Bramble has collaborated with the Utah Department of
Health (UDOH) to gut Utah's new law prohibiting taxpayer
funding of abortion on demand. A new UDOH bureaucratic
"emergency ruling" attempts to redefine statute and again
force taxpayers to fund all types of abortion on demand. Why
the "emergency"? Perhaps in part because, according to
Planned Parenthood’s 2003 IRS Form 990, UDOH is one of its top
5 paid independent contractors! See what you can do to
prevent your government from forcing you to pay for murder.
Topics:
1. Ruling Creates
Giant "Public Funds" Loophole for Abortion Providers
2. UDOH "Prevents Premature Death" by Abortion?
3. UDOH One of the Top 5 Contractors for Planned
Parenthood
4. The Fourth Branch of Government: Unelected
Bureaucracy
5. TAKE ACTION!
1. Ruling Creates Giant "Public Funds" Loophole for Abortion
Providers
Senator Curt Bramble has
collaborated with Utah Department of Health (UDOH)
bureaucrats to gut
Senate Bill 68, the very bill he eagerly promised citizens
he would champion in the 2004 legislative session. As we
pointed out in our
previous
alert, Senate Bill 68, does not prohibit abortion. It only
makes it less convenient and easy by protecting taxpayers from
being forced to directly or indirectly fund the procedures.
The
UDOH has implemented
an "emergency ruling" without any apparent public input or
notice (read the
statute regarding the nature of emergency rules). These
administrative rules
have the effect of law. There appear to be no absolute
checks and balances on this bureaucratic power save a court
challenge or the direct action of the legislature (in this
case, an emergency session).
The UDOH claims to be seeking
public input, but has yet to post the "ruling" on its Website.
It did, however, send a "final draft of the rule" to the Utah
Hospital Association, the Utah Medical Association, and Utah
hospitals — granting them more time to prepare to begin
abortions on demand again. See the
UDOH’s press release for more information.
The Bramble/UDOH "ruling"
includes the following definition of public funds:
"'Public funds' means money
provided by the state, its institutions or its political
subdivisions. 'Public funds' does not include (i) clinical
revenue generated from nongovermental payors,; (ii) gift or
donor provided funds [perhaps via government employee health
insurance "donations"?]; (iii) investment income [a creative
accounting loophole?]; or (iv) federal funds appropriated by
the legislature [this could certainly include indirect, or
hidden, appropriations]."
On the surface, this definition
of "public funds" appears to only be in force with regard to
the specific "abortion billing codes" cited in (1)(a) and (1)(b)of
the "ruling". According to Bramble and the UDOH, these codes
only apply to "grave fetal defects" (Accountability Utah is
still investigating this claim). Another portion of this
ruling, however, provides a plausible escape for abortion
providers to break the law and claim that they were attempting
to comply with this new ruling:
"Each provider who submits a
certification is responsible to be informed of the abortion
funding restrictions found in Utah Code section 76-7-326 and
to assess whether it receives public funds for any abortion
that is not excepted in subsections (a), (b), or (c) of Utah
Code subsection 76-7-326(2)." (emphasis added)
And which definition of "public
funds" should abortion providers concern themselves with when
they read state statute 76-7-326(2)? You guessed it: the
definition offered in this "emergency ruling". In other words,
if abortion providers use government "gifts or donor provided
funds", government "investment income", or "federal funds
appropriated by the legislature" in some direct or roundabout
fashion, this bureaucratic rule implies that it is ok to go
ahead and perform any type of abortion they desire.
Notice the crafty and deceptive
wording in the
UDOH press release:
"'The hospitals approached us
in mid-May and asked us to create this rule to help them
determine if they were in compliance,' said Dr. Scott
Williams, Executive Director, UDOH. 'We worked with them on
the language and came up with a process that will allow them
to certify that their use of public and private funds for
abortions is consistent with the new law. This rule will
allow Utah hospitals and doctors to resume the termination
of pregnancies complicated by grave fetal defects, if they
choose to.'"
In reality, these exceptions are
so large, Planned Parenthood could drive a truck through them.
The evils of taxpayer funding of abortion on demand are back
in force. Expect the death toll to begin rising again, and
Accountability Utah's "Infanticide Counter" to soon reappear
on our home page.
Back to Topics
2. UDOH "Prevents Premature Death" by Abortion?
Ironically, the
UDOH mission statement is as follows:
"The mission of the Utah
Department of Health is to protect the public's health
through preventing avoidable illness, injury, disability and
premature death, assuring access to affordable, quality
health care, and promoting healthy lifestyles."
How can an organization tasked
to "prevent premature death" write an "emergency ruling" that
opens the door to again force taxpayers to fund the premature
death of infants?
Note: If the term
"infant" seems inaccurate, see our publication,
"Why the Term 'Infanticide'".
Back to Topics
3. UDOH One of the Top 5 Contractors for Planned Parenthood
The answer involves money and
power. Due to the difficulty in obtaining financial records
for abortion clinics and hospitals that have performed
abortions, it is impossible to expose the full extent of the
incestuous financial relationships between private
organizations and government agencies.
But as we reported in our
Issue in Focus: "Why
Pro-life Efforts Fail in Utah: Exposing the Deadly Myths,"
according to
Planned Parenthood's IRS Form 990, in its fiscal year
ending June 30, 2002, Planned Parenthood received $2,690,495
in government grants and $839,229 in Medicare/Medicaid
payments. This does not include possible indirect insurance
payments and patient fees that came from other government
sources. Planned Parenthood's total revenue for that year was
only $6,666,588.
Planned Parenthood is, of course, a major promoter of
abortions.
In addition to this revenue from
government sources, the Utah Department of Health, Division
of Laboratory Services is listed as one of Planned
Parenthood's top five paid independent contractors at $152,410.
Is this abortion "ruling". that again opens up taxpayer
funding of abortion on demand, political payback?
Note: UDOH was also
featured in our recent
news
article on a special grant they gave for the "Gays Kick
Ash" campaign.
Is it really so strange, then,
that legislators and bureaucrats have never considered the
plight of the unborn to be an emergency? Again, as we reported
in our
previous alert, after the senate filibustered
anti-abortion bills in the 2003 session, citizens
appropriately and relentlessly confronted each and every
senator for his or her cowardice and contempt. Citizens also
contacted Governor Leavitt and then Governor Walker, demanding
that they hold an emergency session to correct the inaction of
the Utah Senate. Protests were held and a resolution at the
2003 GOP party convention calling for a special session was
filed (but stifled by GOP party leaders). Despite these
efforts, taxpayer-funded murder was never deemed to be an
emergency — Governors Leavitt and Walker called no special
session.
Back to Topics
4. The Fourth Branch of Government: Unelected Bureaucracy
The politics that you didn't
learn in school is that there exists a fourth branch of
government in Utah: unelected and unaccountable bureaucracy.
This "ruling" is but the latest example of a growing trend.
The University of Utah has utterly refused to obey the
concealed carry laws enacted by the state legislature. Judges
have openly defied statute by refusing to provide gun lock
boxes in courts. And now, the Board of Health, with the
collaborative assistance of Sen. Curt Bramble, is refusing to
enforce and obey the abortion law enacted by the legislature.
The question must be asked: If
an unelected bureaucracy has the power to create new laws,
what is the purpose of a legislature or governor? Why not save
the taxpayer dollars and frustration, admit that our elected
officials are both impotent and irrelevant to the unseen hand
of a leviathan bureaucracy, and retire them?
Back to Topics
5. TAKE ACTION!
The subject of murdering the
unborn is extremely unpleasant and shameful to even
contemplate. It can be temporarily soothing to block it from
the mind. But the lives of real human beings are on the
line and we owe it to ourselves to do all we can to extricate
ourselves from the funding of these heinous acts.
When we finally demand leaders
who view these acts as heinous, perhaps we can begin to more
fully educate and prevent the practice and build a society
that truly esteems and protects women and children. We
strongly recommend the following actions:
1. Implore
the intervention of Divine
Providence against this dark injustice.
2. Call (and, if possible,
fax and email) the following officials:
Please inform us of any
responses you receive at
info@accountabilityutah.org.
3. Forward this message
to your family, friends, and any activists you know. Encourage
them to voice their concerns and get involved.
4. Prepare to attend a public
hearing on this new "ruling". Citizens have requested such a public hearing
(read the letter), which is required
as per state statute. We will notify you when the
hearing is scheduled.
5. Volunteer to help flier
the districts of collaborating officials by e-mailing us
at
info@accountabilityutah.org.
6. Volunteer to participate
with Accountability Utah's new "Abortion/Infanticide
Task Force".
7. Monitor this site for
new and updated information and join our alert list by
e-mailing us at
info@accountabilityutah.org.
Back to Topics
Accountability Utah
recipe: Take our information and opinion, research their
information and opinion (if it is available), and then examine
the law and draw your own conclusions. For more information on
similar issues, see the
Infanticide section of our Issues &
Alerts page.
If you have comments or suggestions, please
email us at info@accountabilityutah.org.
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