No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act to be voted on next week
If you missed the March for Life yesterday (to which I say “How could you!”) you missed Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va) telling the hundreds of thousands gathered that next week the House of Representatives will be voting on H.R. 7, legislation to take taxpayers out of the abortion industry.
“I am also proud to announce that next week, the House will vote once and for all to end taxpayer funding for abortions.
“The No Taxpayer Funds for Abortion Act, written by our good friend and colleague Chris Smith, will respect the morals and consciences of millions of Americans – and ultimately will save lives.
“Getting this bill through the Senate, however, and signed by the President will be a much tougher task. But I can make you this promise: the people’s House will stand for life. We will do everything in our power to make sure that our values and the sanctity of life are reflected in the law of the land.”
After the announcement pro-life staff shared the following on the legislation:
Pro-life Groups:
At the March for Life today, Rep. Eric Cantor announced that the House of Representatives will consider H.R. 7, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” next week. This legislation will make the Hyde amendment permanent and government-wide and will remove funding for insurance plans that include abortion from the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Since the exchanges created by the ACA have gone into effect, the bill required several updates. The text of H.R. 7 as it will be considered on the floor is available here. The notable changes to the bill are:
1. The provisions preventing taxpayer funding for abortion under the ACA go into effect for plan years beginning January 1, 2015.
2. Between enactment and January 1, 2015, the transparency requirements included in H.R. 3279, the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act will ensure that consumers are fully informed about abortion coverage and surcharges in plans sold on the exchanges.
3. Technical corrections are made to eliminate the accounting gimmicks and secrecy clauses in the ACA. In addition conforming language is included to ensure that no multi-state plan includes elective abortion (instead of the current language only requiring that one plan has to exclude abortion language).
4. Tax provisions not relevant to the ACA have been removed.
The following resources may also be of interest:
· March for Life statement by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) announcing House consideration
· Press Release by bill author, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)
· Technical Summary of Changes