The Left Demands Taxpayer Funding of Abortions for Budget Votes

As the clock ticks toward a potential government shutdown at midnight on September 30, the ACLJ is engaging in a brewing battle over the lives of the unborn.

Instead of passing a House bill to keep the government running during ongoing spending negotiations, the Left in Congress is insisting on a number of unrelated items – including the extension of temporary Obamacare subsidies. These subsidies – known as enhanced premium tax credits that go straight to insurance companies – were originally created as a COVID-era emergency measure by President Biden and were supposed to expire at the end of this year.

Now the Left wants to use them as leverage in the negotiations to keep the government open. And they want to do it without honoring our longstanding “no taxpayer funding of abortion” policies.

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For nearly five decades, the Hyde Amendment has stood as a firewall between taxpayer dollars and the abortion industry. But under current Affordable Care Act rules, that firewall is essentially non-existent. Many of the taxpayer-subsidized insurance plans on the Obamacare exchanges cover abortions while hiding behind accounting gimmicks like “separate payments” that are anything but separate in practice.

The state of Maryland has even created an abortion slush fund with these payments. It is being used to pay for women from states with strict abortion laws to travel to Maryland to take the lives of their unborn children.

Enough is enough.

The ACLJ sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (SD), urging them not to extend these tax credits unless real, enforceable Hyde protections are restored. Our letter lays out five key demands: (1) clear statutory prohibitions, (2) no loopholes, (3) strong enforcement, (4) plan transparency, and (5) consistent Hyde language.

We must not let bureaucratic backdoors and state-level slush funds undermine the pro-life convictions of the American people.

The ACLJ will continue fighting to ensure that no taxpayer is forced to violate their conscience by subsidizing abortion. Because protecting life isn’t a partisan demand. It’s a constitutional and moral duty.