WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Over 100 pro-life groups appealed to Congress to stand strong against demands to continue abortion funding under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare.
In an October 22 letter spearheaded by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, more than 100 pro-life American organizations praised Congress for their pro-life stance, encouraging Republican members to oppose abortion funding disguised as Obamacare subsidies.
“Any funding for Obamacare, however, whether through cost-sharing reductions or premium tax credits, is forced taxpayer funding of abortion, unless such funds are definitively limited to coverage that excludes elective abortion,” the letter warned.
For decades, the Hyde Amendment has been included every year in federal budgets with little objection. It forbids most taxpayer dollars from directly funding abortions except for cases of rape, incest, or threat to a mother’s life. Newly published data has revealed that the amendment has saved more than 2.5 million lives since its adoption in 1976.
However, Obamacare managed to circumvent the amendment by permitting subsidies for health insurance plans that cover elective abortion.
“Democrats falsely claim that Section 13031 applies Hyde to Obamacare,” the letter explained. “This is not the case. Section 1303 established separate payment and separate accounting requirements to justify taxpayer funding for plans that cover abortion.”
“This ‘accounting gimmick,’ colloquially known as the ‘abortion surcharge,’ allows health insurance plans on Obamacare exchanges to cover elective abortion and still receive taxpayer funds; so long as they collect the surcharge,” the letter warned.
Since October 1, Congress has been shut down thanks to a partisan deadlock that has triggered the longest government shutdown since 2018-2019. Currently, Democrats are insisting that any deal must include extensions of Obamacare subsidies that were set to expire at the end of this year.
The letter warned Congress members against supporting the expansion, without specific amendments to remove abortion funding.
“As pro-life leaders, we urge you to raise your voice to unequivocally oppose any consideration of extending the COVID-era subsidies without Hyde protections,” the pro-life groups appealed. “The pro-life Congress must not be a party to Obama’s abortion funding scheme.”
The signatories of the letter include the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs, American Principles Project, Americans United for Life, Catholic Vote, Eagle Forum, Family Research Council, Jewish Pro-Life Foundation, Liberty Counsel Action, Pro-Life Action League, and dozens more.
Within weeks of returning to office, President Donald Trump began enforcing the Hyde Amendment (which forbids most federal funds from directly supporting elective abortions), reinstated the Mexico City Policy (which forbids non-governmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars for elective abortions abroad), and cut millions in pro-abortion subsidies by freezing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spending. In March, the administration froze Title X “family planning” grants to nonprofits it said violated its executive orders on immigration and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including Planned Parenthood affiliates in nine states.
In July, Trump signed into law his controversial “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (BBB), a wide-ranging policy package that includes a one-year ban on federal tax dollars going through Medicaid to any that provides abortions for reasons other than rape, incest, or supposed threats to the mother’s life, although that provision is currently held up by a legal challenges.
Other Republicans have proposed stand-alone measures to fully cut off Planned Parenthood’s government funding: the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, which permanently bans federal funds from being used for abortion; and the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which disqualifies Planned Parenthood and its affiliates specifically. But they would require 60 votes to make it through the Senate.
