Pro-life advocates are seizing on a deepening congressional standoff over Obamacare subsidies to push for long-sought restrictions that would block federal dollars from funding abortions.
They are warning that Democratic demands could lock in taxpayer support for the abortions indefinitely.
The federal government shutdown, now in its 14th day, has pitted Republicans against Democrats in a battle over extending enhanced premium tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, set to expire at year’s end. More than 90% of the roughly 24 million Americans enrolled in Obamacare plans rely on the subsidies, originally enacted as a COVID relief measure in 2021.
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Leading pro-life groups, long critical of Obamacare’s structure, view the impasse as a pivotal chance to enforce Hyde Amendment protections — which bar federal funding for abortions except in very rare cases — on the program’s subsidies. They argue the current system skirts those rules, effectively funneling taxpayer money to plans that cover elective abortions that kill babies.
“Democrats wrote Obamacare intentionally this way, specifically to avoid the Hyde Amendment, so that they could squeeze an abortion coverage in these plans and make sure that taxpayer dollars were propping these plans up,” said Kelsey Pritchard, a policy expert for SBA Pro-Life America.
In early September, SBA Pro-Life America joined 88 other pro-life organizations (including LifeNews.com) in a letter to lawmakers, urging opposition to any subsidy extension without Hyde compliance. The group plans to track votes on the issue for its annual Pro-Life Scorecard, which grades lawmakers on abortion-related measures.
The standoff escalated as Democrats rejected multiple Republican proposals for a short-term spending bill, or continuing resolution, to avert the shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused Democrats of prioritizing partisan goals over essential services, noting the closure’s toll on 2 million federal civilian employees and 1.3 million active-duty service members who will miss paychecks.
“Although the Schumer shutdown is hitting many hard-working federal employees who deserve better treatment, it’s encouraging to hear that the administration is making preparation to meet the Democrats’ unprecedented intransigence with a stubborn refusal to be bullied,” said Quena González, senior director of government affairs for the Family Research Council. “There is too much at stake in this debate to fold. Family Research Council is carefully tracking the Democrats’ central demand — to make the COVID-era subsidies for the ‘Affordable’ Care Act permanent — because those subsidies force taxpayers to pay for gender transitions and abortion.”
On Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation to prohibit Obamacare exchange plans from covering abortions or gender transition treatments for minors, embedding Hyde language directly into federal coverage terms.
“It’s time to ban abortion and gender-transition procedures for minors on the healthcare exchanges. No more loopholes,” Hawley said in a statement.
In 12 states, all Obamacare plans must cover abortions, amplifying the issue.
Johnson tied the subsidies to Obamacare’s broader failures, noting premiums have risen 60% since 2010.
“[N]ever forget when the government subsidizes something, it means it’s not working,” he said. “Obamacare did not achieve what they promised everyone that it would. It was supposed to bring down the cost of care. It’s done the opposite.”
