HotAir still misleading on federal funding of abortion

Living up to its name, HotAir embedded a ridiculous YouTube clip into a March 8 post to falsely claim that the Senate health care bill expands federal coverage of abortion beyond current law. The clip, titled "They Lie," shows an image of subsection 1303(b)(2) -- named "Abortions for Which Public Funding is Allowed" -- to prove that there is public funding for abortions. After all, the very title of the section says so!

From HotAir:

However, the sleuths at HotAir (and their "Salem colleague Greg Hengler") neglected to mention that the subsection allowing for public funding of abortions is "based on the law as in effect as of the date that is 6 months before the beginning of the plan year involved." The "law as in effect" is the Hyde Amendment, which currently prohibits federal funding for abortions, except in cases of rape or incest or when the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother. This is not a new revelation; federal funding for these specific cases of abortion has been allowed under the Hyde Amendment consistently since 1993. And as Media Matters for America has noted -- ad nauseam -- neither the Senate nor House health care bills provide federal funding for abortions beyond the Hyde Amendment.

But, to the right-wing noise machine, it seems that every little blatant distortion helps when trying to sabotage the health care debate.