H.R. 7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
Posted on January 27, 2014 in Life, Public Policy by Nathan Cherry
Autumn Christensen with the Congressional Pro Life Caucus reminded pro-life defenders that H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, will be coming up in the House of Representatives very soon, perhaps this week. This very important piece of legislation would ensure that no tax dollars are spent to fund abortion.
Unfortunately, not only is abortion funded through our tax dollars at the federal level but, in some states, such as my home state of West Virginia, taxes are used to fund abortion at the state level. So this legislation would help protect the conscience rights of people opposed to abortion. A memo from the Congressional Pro Life Caucus says:
“At the March for Life yesterday, 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.
I urge you to let your representatives know that you support H.R. 7 and want to see them support it as well. No person opposed to abortion should be forced to support an industry that is responsible for killing millions of unborn children every year.
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)