Taxpayer Funding for Abortion – Even During an Economic Crisis

At the ACLJ, we believe that funding abortions is an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars, period. Polls consistently show that the American People – including many abortion supporters – agree. Now, as we face a spending crisis that is spiraling out of control, one would think that it would be the worst time to call for more abortion funding. And yet that’s exactly what is happening in the U.S. Senate.

Majority Leader Harry Reid has filed cloture on a “minibus” appropriations bill to fund large portions of the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. Tucked inside this bill are four very troubling provisions that both lift restrictions on abortion funding and provide tens of millions of dollars for abortions around the world. Specifically, the funding bill now being considered by the Senate would:

1. Prohibit any future President from reinstating the Mexico City Policy. This policy prohibits nongovernmental organizations that perform abortions from receiving federal funding. President Obama rescinded the policy after taking office, but the current Senate language would eliminate the ability of a future pro-life President to reinstate it.
2. Allow congressionally appropriated dollars to fund abortions in the District of Columbia (D.C.). Language known as the Dornan Amendment has previously ensured that the general prohibition on taxpayer dollars being used for abortion (known as the Hyde Amendment) is applied in D.C. The bill before the Senate does not contain this protection.
3. Send $40 million dollars to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), despite the fact that UNFPA has been found to support China’s coercive one-child policy.
4. Allow funding for abortion and abortion coverage to be included in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). This means that taxpayers would be subsidizing abortions for federal employees.

In each of these instances, the U.S. House of Representatives has taken the pro-life position. It is pretty astonishing that the U.S. Senate appears ready to defend such massive funding for abortion in the midst of a fiscal crisis.

We will continue to call for strong protections for the pre-born in our federal spending policies. When the Senate takes up these issues next week, we call for Senators to work for their elimination.