The House and the Senate are in session this week and two major items remain a concern.
For your background, the legislation that passed the House on November 5 and was signed into law this past Monday was related to infrastructure and did not contain pro-life issues. The bi-partisan “Invest in America” infrastructure bill was supported by all Democrats, as well as 13 Republican members of the House and 19
Republicans in the Senate.
1. Continuing Resolution -- Annual Government Funding
2. Ongoing work on the so-called “Build Back Better” reconciliation social spending bill
Continuing Resolution -- Annual Government Funding
On September 30th, Congress passed and President Biden signed a continuing resolution to fund the government. This temporary measure maintaining current spending levels and abortion funding restrictions will run until December 3 and will need to be readdressed before that time. Congress is expected to be in recess all of next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. The most likely scenarios at this time would be to either reach a short-term deal
to expire the week before Christmas recess (and see if anything could be agreed on then) or opt for a longer CR through February or March. A continuing resolution means that last year’s appropriations, which contain the Hyde Amendment as well as other abortion-funding restrictions, would remain in place for the time being.
In July 2021, House Democrats passed several appropriations bills that did not include the Hyde Amendment or other longstanding, bipartisan pro-life protections and, instead, added pro-abortion provisions. Many of these
protections would also be eliminated by the nine appropriations bills released by the Senate Appropriations Committee on October 18, 2021.
Republican leadership has maintained their commitment to opposing efforts to strip out pro-life protections.
Ongoing work on the Build Back Better (BBB) reconciliation social spending bill (votes possible)
Congress is also continuing work on the massive multi-trillion-dollar social spending plan using the reconciliation process. The threshold under this process is 51 votes and thus is not subject to a filibuster.
Several House and Senate Democrats have expressed concern over the cost and scope of the package. As of the time of this writing, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects to have a cost estimate this Friday, November 19th. Depending on the cost estimates, along with a bevy of other concerns, it is possible that the House will vote on this legislation this week. On a related rule vote on November 5th, no Republicans supported the BBB. It is expected, even if passed, to undergo substantial changes in the
Senate.
A link to our analysis of the House bill/scorecard advisory letter can be found here.
The House Democrats’ multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill creates radical expansions of taxpayer funding for abortion and the abortion industry. This includes several schemes to use reconciliation to bypass the Hyde Amendment to provide abortion on demand to the Medicaid-coverage gap population in the 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid. Sen. Manchin has voiced opposition to abortion funding, while many members of the House
remain committed to funding abortion in the package. President Biden, when asked about abortion funding on Monday October 4th, told reporters "I'd sign it either way."
Below is an overview of some of the pro-life problems in the House committees’ reconciliation bill text.
The legislation would mandate abortion funding in Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) plans in states that did not expand Medicaid in 2024.
The legislation would fund abortions via reinsurance payments and cost-sharing funding to states.
The legislation would extend the Obamacare expansion from the Covid-19 American Rescue Plan Act making it permanent. This would further subsidize Obamacare exchange plans that cover abortion, and subsidize millions of individuals’ taxpayer-funded plans that cover abortion on demand.
The legislation directs billions of dollars to various public health grants without Hyde Amendment protections.
Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation's oldest and largest grassroots pro-life
organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.
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