Republicans in the House and Senate reintroduced a bill to ban taxpayer money from funding abortions.
The bill includes a range of abortion funding prohibitions imposed on federal employees and federally funded health-care plans.
The 12-page bill was filed in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and in the U.S. House by Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ. It has multiple cosponsors.
The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025 would make permanent the Hyde Amendment, which imposes federal funding restrictions for abortion. Currently, Congress must vote every year to include Hyde Amendment restrictions in appropriations bills for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies.
The Hyde Amendment, named after former U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-IL, first passed in 1976, overriding a presidential veto, and was first implemented in 1980. It was revised in the early 1990s to include exceptions for funding abortion to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape and incest.
Wicker says he filed the bill because he believes “using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions is wrong” and because “millions of Americans share my belief that unborn life should be protected in the womb.”
The bill also saves lives, Smith, who co-chairs the Pro-Life Caucus, argues.
“Lives are saved when federal taxpayer dollars are not available to pay for abortion and the demise of unborn babies. Americans are often shocked to learn that abortion methods include decapitating and dismembering a child’s fragile body or using drugs like mifepristone to starve the child to death before forcibly expelling him or her from the safety of the womb. The majority of Americans do do not want their tax dollars used to pay for abortion.” he said.
The bill goes beyond making permanent the Hyde Amendment.
In addition to permanently banning federal taxpayer money from funding abortion in appropriations bills, it also would prohibit federal health insurance plans from covering abortion with funds authorized or appropriated by federal law.
It also would codify the Smith Amendment, named after Rep. Smith, which prohibits federal employees’ health care plans from funding abortion.
It also would prohibit federal health facilities, like the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs hospitals, from performing abortions, including prohibiting federal employees from performing abortions while employed by the federal government.
It also would amend the federal tax code to prohibit elective abortions from being used as a tax-deductible medical expense.
It also prohibits Affordable Care Act premium assistance subsidies, which are provided in the form of refundable, advanceable tax credits, from being used to pay for health insurance plans that include abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is at risk.
The bill is one of many pro-life bills expected to be refiled by Republicans after previous bills filed went nowhere under the Democratic-controlled Senate and under the Biden administration.
Republicans in Congress earlier this month refiled a bill to protect babies born alive from failed abortions and impose penalties for those who don’t provide proper care including fines and imprisonment, The Center Square reported.
