A letter signed by more than 100 pro-life organizations urged lawmakers to end the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) so-called “COVID subsidies” that bypassed long-standing protections against taxpayer-funded abortion.
These subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year, have become a sticking point in the ongoing government funding debate.
As the government shutdown drags on with no near end in sight, members of Congress need to ask themselves what the ACA subsidies mean to them. Democratic leaders in Congress are using the extension of these subsidies as leverage to keep the government shut down. They know that Republicans have never voted for the ACA and are unlikely to do so now, especially when the law continues to funnel taxpayer dollars to insurance plans that cover elective abortion. Rather than allowing these abortion funding subsidies to expire, however, Democrats would rather see the government remain closed.
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Pro-life organizations across the nation are united in their opposition to any taxpayer dollars going to the Abortion Industry. The principle is simple. No American should be forced to fund the destruction of unborn life.
Earlier this year, that unity was on full display during the fight for passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R. 1).
The bill, signed by President Trump on July 4th, defunded providers of elective abortion, including Planned Parenthood, from federal Medicaid funding for one year if they received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023.
That legislation, in addition, strengthened pro-life protections by closing long-standing loopholes that the Hyde Amendment alone could not reach.
Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has stood as a clear moral boundary, preventing federal dollars from directly paying for abortion in all but a very few cases. Yet the ACA was written to sidestep those protections, allowing taxpayer money to subsidize insurance plans that cover abortion. The COVID-era expansion of those subsidies only made the problem worse, pushing abortion funding deeper into the federal budget.
National Right to Life proudly joined more than 100 other organizations in signing this letter to Congress. Members and their staff must understand what is at stake.
These ACA subsidies were intentionally structured to avoid the Hyde Amendment and exist outside the regular appropriations process. If allowed to continue, they would become yet another permanent funding stream for the abortion industry.
As December approaches, lawmakers face a choice: will they protect the integrity of the federal budget and the conscience rights of millions of Americans, or will they once again allow taxpayer dollars to fund abortion?
The pro-life movement is united in its answer. Congress must let these subsidies expire and ensure that no federal dollar ever goes to fund the destruction of innocent human life.
LifeNews Note: Madison LaClare is the Director of Federal Government Affairs for National Right to Life.
