Pro-life advocates around the nation are urging U.S. Senators to reject HR 1834 (The Breaking the Gridlock Act) that was passed by the House earlier this month.
The bill seeks to extend expired tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for three more years. These credits, originally expanded during the COVID-19 era to help lower health insurance premiums for Americans on the ACA marketplaces. They expired last month.
On Jan. 8, by a vote of 230-196, the bill passed the House with 17 Republicans siding with Democrats to approve it. Alaska Rep. Nick Begich joined most Republican in opposition.
Democrats claim that extending Obamacare tax credits are vital for working-class families, but they also want the bill to cover elective abortions by removing longstanding Hyde Amendment restrictions that have long ban federal abortion funding, except in cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger. It is estimated that Hyde has saved more than 2.5 million unborn babies from abortion since its inception 50 years ago.
Negotiations with the House are still in the works and many pro-life advocates worry that a compromise might send millions of dollars in healthcare subsidies to abortion providers.
The Hyde Amendment essentially prohibits programs like Medicaid from funding abortions with federal dollars. Pro-life advocates, however, note that H.R. 1834 lacks these safeguards, and allows taxpayer dollars to subsidize ACA plans that include abortion coverage.
During House debate, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) stated, “Taxpayer funds should not be forced to subsidize the killing of an unborn child by dismemberment or by baby poison pills,” and noted that Hyde protections were absent from the original ACA in 2010 and its COVID-era expansions. He argued that this contradicts public opinion, citing polls showing majority of Americans oppose federally funded abortions.
While some Senate Republicans have pushed for robust Hyde-like restrictions to ensure Obamacare subsidies do not finance abortions, it is not clear that the final version will include these safeguards. Negotiations with the House are still in the works and many pro-life advocates worry that a compromise might send millions of dollars in healthcare subsidies to abortion providers.
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American Family Association President Tim Wildmon has joined many others in calling on Americans to contact their U.S. Senators to urge them to reject both Obamacare expansion and federal funding of abortion.
“Your U.S. Senators need to hear from you. No Obamacare expansion. No Hyde, no deal,” Wildmon stated in a recent alert to pro-life advocates. “Under a sell-out plan being considered by the U.S. Senate, more than $80 billion will be used to fund Obamacare expansion. Without explicit Hyde protections, at least some of these plans will pay for abortions under the “separate payment” scheme – an accounting trick first used by Democrats. It was designed to evade Hyde, not honor it.”
Wildmon said it is “ridiculous that Republicans are siding with Democrats to expand Obamacare,” but if a compromise is considered, Republicans “must demand that Hyde Amendment protections apply to ALL insurance plans on the Obamacare exchanges.”
