In advance of the vote, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of state right-to-life organizations, advised House members that the roll call on passage of the bill will be included in NRLC’s scorecard of key right-to-life votes. The NRLC letter states: “As enacted, the PPACA contains multiple provisions authorizing federal subsidies for abortion, and abortion-expanding regulatory mandates. A 2014 GAO report revealed that over 1,000 federally subsidized plans nationwide were covering elective abortion. The American Health Care Act would repeal the provisions of law that created this system, and prohibit any future federal tax credits from subsidizing the purchase of plans that cover elective abortion, thereby restoring the longstanding principles of the Hyde Amendment with respect to federally funded health coverage.”
NRLC strongly supports the language in the bill that would block, for one year, most federal payments to affiliates of Planned Parenthood. It would close the largest pipeline for federal funding of Planned Parenthood, Medicaid, and apply as well to the CHIP and the Title V and Title XX block grant programs, thus covering roughly 89% of all federal funds to Planned Parenthood. The amounts denied to Planned Parenthood in effect are reallocated to community health centers. Over one-third of all abortions in the U.S. are performed at PPFA-affiliated facilities. For additional up-to-date information on the extent of Planned Parenthood’s involvement in abortion, see here.
In addition, the American Health Care Act retains employer-paid health insurance as a fully untaxed benefit. The American Health Care Act postpones the “Cadillac tax” which is designed to create a tax disincentive to suppress private, nongovernmental health care spending beyond a governmentally imposed limit. It is critical that Americans have access to quality life-saving healthcare to preserve their lives, care that will not be rationed more each year.
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