Today, a contributor at The Federalist wrote a deeply flawed piece about the work and recommendations of the Health Policy Consensus Group, in which The Heritage Foundation participates. Marie Fishpaw, director of domestic policy studies at The Heritage Foundation, released the following response:

“This is a disappointing and incorrect characterization of the efforts of a broad conservative health policy consensus group that includes dozens of national and state think tanks.

This health policy consensus group has worked closely with the pro-life community from the start. We are committed to providing lawmakers with health reform recommendations that are definitively pro-life, and we will work with them through the legislative process to make sure those commitments stand.

It’s important to note that a final plan has not been released. The column points to an unverified document—touted by a far-left Obamacare advocate who had never attended any coalition meetings. That document was not viewed by members of the health policy group. While it described some general ideas that the health policy consensus group had discussed, it contained substantial inaccuracies and does not represent our final proposal.

But when our plan is released, it will include strong pro-life priorities as well as recommendations that focus on providing Americans relief from Obamacare’s high costs and lack of choice while helping to heal the broken private small-group and individual insurance markets.”

Heritage Foundation Executive Vice President Kim Holmes added the following:

“As a leader in the conservative movement, Heritage strongly believes in pro-life policies that respect the dignity of human life and strengthen our families and civil societies. The conservative movement is at its best—creating sound policies that uplift all Americans—when we add and multiply in our efforts, not divide and subtract.”