The U.S. House of Representatives passed a permanent ban on taxpayer
funding for abortion across all federal programs, including those
created by last year’s health care legislation.
“Want to reduce abortions? End public funding,” said legislation
author Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.). “There is no doubt whatsoever that
ending public funding for abortions saves lives.”
The ban faces opposition in the Senate and is not expected to overcome a veto threat from the White House.
Smith spoke on the House floor May 4 and said the bill would “end taxpayer complicity in abortion violence.”
“No taxpayer should be coerced to pay, subsidize or facilitate the
dismemberment, chemical poisoning, starvation or suctioning to death of a
child and the harming of a woman.”
The bill passed by a margin of 251 to 175, with unanimous Republican support and 16 Democrats.
H.R. 3, titled “The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” has 227
co-sponsors, including 11 Democrats. With few exceptions, the bill
intends to end any U.S. government financial support of abortion through
direct funding, tax credits or other subsidies. It also protects the
conscience rights of individuals and institutions which object to
performing abortions.
Present restrictions on abortion funding, such as the Hyde Amendment,
govern only specific areas of funding and often must be renewed
annually.
The U.S. Catholic bishops have advocated the passage of H.R. 3.
However, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate. Backers of the
legislation could force a Senate vote by pairing it with a vote on
raising the federal debt ceiling, the Washington Post reports.
President Obama’s senior advisors would recommend a veto of the bill if it arrives at his desk.
The Obama administration “strongly opposes” the legislation because
it “intrudes on women’s reproductive freedom and access to health care,”
increases the tax burden on many Americans, and “unnecessarily
restricts” private insurance choices, the White House said in a May 2
statement.
Opponents of the bill have also claimed it could result in IRS audits of rape and incest victims who seek abortions.
Smith said his bill would ensure that “Obamacare,” the health care
legislation passed in 2010, would no longer allow tax credits for the
purchase of insurance plans that include abortion or subsidies for
abortion “except in the rare cases of rape, incest or life of the
mother.”
The congressman said there was “great” need to protect pro-life
institutions such as Catholic hospitals from discrimination by
government authorities that attempt to coerce them to perform, have
complicity in, or pay for abortion.
Smith said his legislation should become law because America is “more
pro-life than ever.”
This trend was evident in people such as former
Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director Abby Johnson, who now
opposes abortion.
He said the country should protect the unborn child from “the
insidious violence of abortion” and protect women from the trauma of
procuring an abortion.