Tax Lawyer's Blog

This is why sin taxes are stupid.

The White House and Congressional Democrats seem to be in a panic these days to find new and creative ways to fund healthcare reform.

One idea that has been advanced has been the imposition of a special tax on plastic surgery.

In response to this proposal, some conservatives have floated the idea of imposing a special tax on abortions (except for those deemed medically necessary to save the life of the mother).

With Democrats in control of the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate, we of course know that there will never be a tax levied on the left’s favorite medical procedure.

Nevertheless, it’s  amusing to watch liberals contort themselves in an effort to distinguish the justification of a surtax on one elective surgical procedure versus another. 

Democrats will tell you that the idea behind a tax on plastic surgery isn’t to punish those who choose to undergo cosmetic procedures, but rather to raise additional revenues needed for the government to be able to provide affordable access to healthcare to the 40 million taxpayers who are currently don’t have it.

So if we aren’t imposing the extra tax on plastic surgery to reduce their frequency, why wouldn’t the same reasoning apply to abortions?

I expect that Democrats will respond by saying that abortion is a constitutional right and, therefore, undue restrictions cannot be placed on its access.

If that is true, why is it that special taxes on the purchase of firearms and ammunition have been found to be constitutional?

Is the constitutional right to abortion somehow more sacred than the constitutional right to bear arms?

Other Posts:

• Targeted Taxes on Getting Abortions, Buying Guns and Exercising Other Constitutional Rights- Eugene Volokh
• Taxing Abortion – Paul Caron
• Abortion Tax- Ed McGonigal

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