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| photo credit: Giorgio Trovato / Unsplash |
The final vote in the House was 220-211. Every Republican representative voted against the legislation, but only one Democrat (Rep. Jared Golden of Maine) stood with them. Every other Democrat voted in favor of the bill.
National Right to Life pointed out several parts of the bill that allocate federal tax dollars for purposes that would include abortion:
- $219 billion to state, and $130 billion to local, governments “to mitigate the fiscal effects stemming from” COVID-19. Because Hyde Amendment language was not used, governments can use these funds to pay for abortions in the name of “responding to or mitigating the public health emergency.”
- $204 million for State Department expenses to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus domestically or internationally, which shall include maintaining Department of State operations.” The Helms Amendment was not applied to this spending, so these funds can be spent on abortion.
- $500 million is appropriated for the foreign humanitarian response, again “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.” The Helms Amendment wasn't applied to this spending either.
The Family Research Council went on to break down $450 billion in funds that can be used to pay for or subsidize abortions both in the US and overseas. Click here to read their full breakdown.
“Abortion is not health care and forcing taxpayers to prop up the abortion industry during a pandemic does not help the millions of Americans deeply impacted by COVID,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Pro-abortion Democrats are more interested in funding Planned Parenthood and abortion providers than in providing real solutions for the American people.
Tobias continued, “The vast majority of Americans do not want their tax dollars to pay for abortions, yet the COVID relief reconciliation bill passed by House Democrats betrays their constituents and provides for taxpayer funding of abortion.”
