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The Washington IndependentU.S. House passes ban on tax subsidies for health insurance plans that include abortion coverage
Reps. voted TK-TK for a health care bill that includes an amendment to eliminate all taxpayer funding to insurance plans that cover abortion; the measure now moves to the Senate
The U.S. House Representatives on Wednesday approved a measure that repeals part of the year-old Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and would, among several provisions, ban tax subsidies for private health insurance plans that include abortion as a covered service; prevent citizens from deducting abortion as a medical expense unless it was the result of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother — and invites the potential for the Internal Revenue Service to investigate how women who had abortions became pregnant and how they paid for their abortions.
New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith’s No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion, or House Resolution 3, as expected, passed 251-175. What will happen when it moves to the Senate remains unclear. President Obama has issued a veto threat on the bill, but the GOP could always attach the amendment to another bill.
HR 3 would go beyond the provisions of the annually renewed Hyde Amendment (PDF), which since 1976 has prohibited federal money from funding abortion. This new law would effectively raise taxes on individuals and small businesses that choose to cover abortions in their plans and widens conscience protections for medical professionals who choose not to perform abortions — even in cases of medical emergency.
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Right before the final vote, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) proposed a motion that would protect victims of rape and incest from having to reveal their medical records to federal agencies in the event of an IRS audit, for example. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) called Speier’s motion a “red herring,” and “an amendment looking for a problem that isn’t there” (which is how many opponents characterized HR 3). The motion was voted down 235-192.
Before voting on HR 3, the House voted to repeal mandatory funding to school-based health centers. Four Republicans voted against the repeal and three Democrats voted for the repeal.
Read more:
http://washingtonindependent.com/108989/u-s-house-passes-ban-on-tax-subsidies-for-health-insurance-plans-that-include-abortion-coverage
House Continues Its War on Women with Passage of H.R.3Contrary to pledge to focus on jobs and the economy, Speaker Boehner and his allies pass extreme bill that attacks women’s freedom and privacy
Washington D.C. - Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of H.R.3, an extreme anti-choice bill, another sign of just how far House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other anti-choice politicians are willing to go to pacify their anti-choice base at the expense of women’s health and the nation’s priorities.
“Despite facing intense public backlash for bringing the government to the brink of shutdown over defunding Planned Parenthood, Speaker Boehner and his allies have resumed their War on Women with the passage of H.R.3,” Keenan said. “This bill is so extreme that it manipulates the tax code to advance anti-choice policies and could spur the IRS to audit rape and incest survivors who choose abortion care.”
Keenan said the lawmakers who voted for H.R.3 are out of touch with the country’s values and priorities.
“Members of Congress who supported this egregious assault on women will hear from outraged Americans through phone calls, protests, petitions, and most importantly, at the ballot box in 2012,” Keenan said. “NARAL Pro-Choice America will continue engaging pro-choice activists across the country to fight against the War on Women currently raging in the House. As this legislation moves to the Senate, we also will mobilize our members to urge their senators to stop this bill in its tracks.”
In response to breaking news from Mother Jones that H.R.3 could subject sexual-assault survivors to “rape audits,” NARAL Pro-Choice America joined forces with MoveOn.org and EMILY’s List to galvanize activists against H.R.3 and delivered nearly 135,000 signatures in opposition to the bill to Speaker Boehner. Thus far, NARAL Pro-Choice America’s activist network has channeled more than 400,000 messages to Congress opposing anti-choice policies. As a result of Speaker Boehner’s fixation on attacking a woman’s right to choose, NARAL Pro-Choice America’s online activist network is adding, on average, 1,000 names a day.
More:
http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/media/press-releases/2011/pr05042011_hr3-passage.html
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