The commercial opens with an aging couple sitting at their kitchen table, plaintive piano music playing in the background.
"They won't pay for my surgery, but we're forced to pay for abortions," says the miffed husband in the new spot produced by the pro-life Family Research Council.
It ends with this warning from the narrator: "Our greatest generation denied care. Our future generation denied life. Call your senator. Stop the government takeover of health care."
As is so often the case in the United States, another political battle has become a war waged over values as health-care reform remains the top order of business this week on Capitol Hill.
Democrats reached a fragile agreement on Wednesday with the party's rebellious rank-and-file fiscal conservatives, clearing the way for a vote in September on health-care legislation.
Six senators were also engaged in closed-door negotiations aimed at a bipartisan deal as a new Gallup poll suggested only 44 per cent of Americans believe new health-care laws would improve medical care in the United States.
Amid this uneasy environment, interest groups opposed to President Barack Obama's plans have been pulling out all the stops by injecting values into the argument, suggesting his plan will result in more abortions and seniors being encouraged to end their lives.
Republicans have been urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for an explicit exclusion of abortion services in any health-care bill, and have threatened to stall debate in the House of Representatives if it doesn't happen.
There's no mention of abortion or any other specific medical procedure in the 1,000-page bill currently before the House, prompting some pro-lifers to say it contains a hidden "abortion mandate."
"What you probably haven't heard is that the health-care bill being advanced by Democrats is the abortion industry's dream come true," James Dobson of Focus on the Family said in a recent Webcast.
"In fact, it is the most disturbing piece of pro-abortion legislation in recent memory."
A provision tucked deep within the House bill is at the heart of euthanasia fears. The legislation would provide Medicare coverage for an end-of-life consultation once every five years, and more frequent sessions if a person is suffering a life-threatening disease.
Conservatives are characterizing the consultations as something that would become a requirement under law.
"Congress would make it mandatory, absolutely require, that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counselling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner," Betsy McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor of New York State and a vocal critic of health-care reform, said in a recent interview.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, a Republican, and his colleague, Thaddeus McCotter, also issued a statement containing dire warnings about the provision, saying it "may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia."
Those remarks come despite the fact that end-of-life consultations have been embodied in federal law since 1990, and supported by both Republicans and Democrats for years.
Proponents of the provision point out that nothing is mandated in the bill - end-of-life consultations are simply something that would be provided if any American wants it.
"This measure would not only help people make the best decisions for themselves but also better ensure that their wishes are followed," John Rother of the American Association For Retired People said in a statement.
"To suggest otherwise is a gross, and even cruel, distortion."
With polls suggesting Americans are still struggling to figure out whether they want health-care reform, one Atlanta woman said Wednesday she resented the attempts by the right to inject values into the debate.
"I actually don't know how I feel about Obama's plan yet, but we aren't going to get anywhere if right-wing wingnuts start throwing wrenches in the gears based on made-up allegations about abortions for all," said Chelsea Samuel, 26, who lost her health insurance when she was laid off a few months ago.
"When they act like they're on some moral crusade to save the unborn, they lose their credibility - with me, at least. The current system that we have is completely broken and it's a shame some of our lawmakers are able to so easily ignore that."
