This bill has passed in the House though president Obama has told that he would veto it.
Yet 235 Republicans and 16 Democrats voted for an act which would expand the scope of the Hyde amendment to private choices as well as make it permanent:
The truth of the matter is that H.R. 3 breaks sharply with longstanding federal abortion policy in ways that could significantly impact people's health insurance and set a precedent that jeopardizes federal funding for many faith-based organizations. Proponents of the legislation claim it will permanently codify the Hyde Amendment, which is renewed annually and prohibits federal funding of abortion services except in the case of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother. But H.R. 3 would also create financial penalties for individuals whose insurance plans cover abortion services (something the majority of insurance plans currently do, and have done without arousing controversy during pro-choice and pro-life Presidential administrations in the past). The bill would discontinue all tax subsidies to private health insurance plans that cover abortion, even if abortion coverage is entirely paid for by private funds, and it would impose tax penalties on those that pay for abortion coverage. In other words, it would create incentives for health insurers to not cover abortion services at all. Pro-life leaders who support this tax increase and departure from the status quo should say so.
Isn't the language of the extreme forced birthers fun, by the way? An example:
“Today we seek to end taxpayer complicity in abortion violence,” Smith said Wednesday at a Capitol news conference. “No taxpayer should be coerced to pay, subsidize or facilitate the dismemberment, chemical poisoning, starvation or suctioning to death of a child and the harming of a woman.”Remember Chris Smith? He is the guy who tried to alter the definition of rape in the early drafts of this bill. He is extremely concerned about the rights of zygote-Americans. The rest of us? Not so much.
The bill would do away with tax breaks for insurance providers that cover abortion and would permanently codify the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for abortions in all federal programs. The amendment is typically renewed annually by Congress.
Democrats and abortion rights advocates have contended that federal law already bans taxpayer money from directly paying for abortion services, and that H.R. 3 would amount to a tax increase on individuals and insurance providers that cover abortion.
And how interesting that my taxes can be used for the actual killing of people abroad or that donations causes I regard as evil are tax deductible in many states.