By Christy Barritt

Obamacare May Cover Abortions

A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is providing coverage for abortions in some states.

Officially Obamacare does not cover abortions except in the event of rape, incest, or health of the mother. However the rules and limitations of ACA coverage are not clarified and often go ignored by providers. The GAO found that 15 of 18 insurers providing qualified health plans for the ACA ignored such policies.

“All but three issuers indicated that the benefit is not subject to any restrictions, limitations, or exclusions,” noted the GAO. 

The National Right to Life Committee warned earlier that the ACA was “riddled with provisions that violate right-to-life principles.”

After turning over these initial findings to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the CMMS acknowledged that additional clarification was needed regarding these issues.

Bible-Based Movie Trend Continues

Another Christian movie hit theaters in November, this one called Wayward: The Prodigal Son.

Wayward offers a modern retelling of the story of the prodigal son. Christian filmmaker Rob Diamond is behind the film. In a press release, he said that he made Wayward “because the Biblical story has always touched a deep place in my soul. I’ve been on the receiving end of forgiveness many times for the mistakes I’ve made in my life.”

Diamond, who wanted to take a unique angle with the film, said there are a few surprises in the storyline. He also plays the father in the movie.

Also released this fall was a new movie version of the book Left Behind. The film stars Nicolas Cage and the executive producer is Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson.

Harry Potter More Influential than Bible?

A study looking at Facebook revealed that author J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series has been more influential in people’s lives than the Bible.

Pinkesh Patel and Lada Adamic compiled data from 130,000 Facebook users’ status updates to create their list. People had been challenging their friends to list 10 books that had stayed with them in some way. Patel and Adamic analyzed the posted responses. 

Harry Potter was mentioned by 21 percent of the respondents, ranking it number 1 among the top 500 books that were listed. Only 7 percent of users mentioned the Bible, which ranked it at number 6. Coming in after Harry Potter were To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Pride and Prejudice.

However, writer James Chapman did another study in 2012, which ranked the Bible as the world’s most read book.

Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons.
www.christybarritt.com