By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-01-24 20:11:12 | Updated at 2025-01-26 06:14:50
1 day ago
CV NEWS FEED // Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) reintroduced legislation Jan. 22 aimed at permanently prohibiting taxpayer dollars from funding abortions.
The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025 would codify the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding policy that currently requires annual congressional approval to restrict federal funding for abortions.
“The majority of Americans do not want their tax dollars used to pay for abortion,” Smith said in the news release announcing the bill. “Abortion violence must be replaced with compassion and empathy for women and for defenseless unborn baby girls and boys.”
If passed, the legislation would also ensure that federal health insurance plans cannot include abortion coverage, prohibit abortions in federal health facilities such as the Department of Defense and VA hospitals, and prevent federal employees from performing abortions as part of their duties.
“Lives are saved when federal taxpayer dollars are not available to pay for abortion and the demise of unborn babies,” Smith said. “Americans are often shocked to learn that abortion methods include decapitating and dismembering a child’s fragile body or using drugs like mifepristone to starve the child to death before forcibly expelling him or her from the safety of the womb.”
The bill would also amend tax laws to stop elective abortions from being tax-deductible and restrict Affordable Care Act subsidies from covering health insurance plans that include abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk.
“Millions of Americans share my belief that unborn life should be protected in the womb,” Wicker said in the news release. “Using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions is wrong.”
The bill has garnered significant support from pro-life leaders. Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life Action, praised the bill, stating in the news release that it promotes “life-saving, pro-women, and pro-family policies.”
Marilyn Musgrave, vice president of government affairs at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, stressed the importance of maintaining protections like the Hyde Amendment regardless of political changes in Washington.
“No matter which party holds power in Washington,” she said, “Americans should never be forced to fund the violence of abortion with their tax dollars.”
