Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives and the pro-life agenda is set to take center stage during the opening weeks of this session. As a condition for securing enough votes for himself to become speaker, Kevin McCarthy agreed that pro-life legislation would be one of the top priorities in the House. One of the first pro-life bills to be voted on is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act which would prohibit the use of federal funds for abortion or for health insurance coverage for abortion. This bill would make the Hyde Amendment permanent and remove the abortion funding through Obamacare.
The pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life told LifeNews is supports the bill.
“The Democratic Party led by President Biden not only aims to repeal the longstanding Hyde Amendment and related federal policies, but also is actively working to undermine and ignore them. With bipartisan support for over 40 years, the Hyde Amendment has saved almost 2.5 million lives. A 2022 longitudinal cohort study by Studnicki et al. examined Medicaid records in the 17 states that use their own taxpayer funds to subsidize abortion and found that abortion of a first pregnancy in this program is associated with increased abortion rates in subsequent pregnancies – abortion, in short, begets more abortion, compounding impacts of the procedure.”
Before the implementation of the Hyde Amendment, it is estimated that Medicaid paid for about 300,000 elective abortions annually. The Amendment is estimated to have saved over 2.5 million lives.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser also voiced her support for the new pro-life majority in Congress, saying, “The new GOP House majority is kicking off the Congress with bills to rein in the radical abortion lobby. After four years of pro-abortion Democrat control under Biden and Pelosi, the change could not be more welcome” “Democrats in Congress have consistently pushed a harmful agenda of abortion on demand until birth, paid for by taxpayers, and even infanticide,” she added.
Another pro-life bill set to be voted on in the coming weeks is the Born-Alive Abortion Supporters Protection Act, which would ensure that infants born alive after an abortion receive the same protection of law and degree of care as any newborn. The enthusiasm of House Republicans to get behind pro-life legislation so early is an encouraging sign for the future.
