WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., have introduced the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” S. 582.
This measure would establish a permanent, government-wide ban on using taxpayer money for abortion.
Current policies, such as the Hyde Amendment, require annual passage and don’t apply to Obamacare. President Trump has stated that he is committed to making the Hyde Amendment permanent.
The bill also requires that insurance plans define whether or not their plans cover abortion.
“Taxpayer money should not be used to fund a procedure that so many Americans find morally objectionable,” Wicker said. “The time is ripe for us to enact a permanent solution that protects American taxpayers from funding abortions. This bill would establish these protections, in addition to making sure that people are notified if they have selected an abortion-covering health-care plan under Obamacare. Until we are able to undo these harmful health-care policies, transparency of the plans is critical.”
Existing laws that would also be made permanent under S. 582 include the Smith FEHBP amendment, which prohibits funding for elective abortion coverage for federal employees, as well as the Dornan amendment, which prohibits use of congressionally appropriated funds for abortion in the District of Columbia.
There is one abortion clinic in Mississippi, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which the owner said would not be impacted by this legislation.
“No public funds, state or federal, come into this facility anyway,” said Director Diane Dervis.
In 2014, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office issued a report showing that taxpayer dollars paid for more than 1,000 health insurance plans that included elective abortion.
