Nearly two dozen Democrat attorneys general sent a letter to congressional leaders on Monday demanding Republicans halt their efforts to include language barring federal taxpayer funding for abortions in the extension of Obamacare premium subsidies.
The Senate is expected to begin voting soon on extending expiring Obamacare premium subsidies, or enhanced premium tax credits, laid out in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Republicans want Hyde Amendment protections included in the bill, a provision first introduced in 1976 that bans federal taxpayer dollars from paying for abortions, with exceptions for rape and incest and for the life of the mother. However, the inclusion of the Hyde Amendment in the bill is viewed by Democrats as a “non-starter,” Fox News reported.
Democrat attorneys general called killing unborn babies in abortions “lifesaving and life-affirming” in their letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
“Abortion restrictions on marketplace plans would undermine the entire structure of the ACA marketplaces, which protects states’ sovereign ability to make decisions about the health and safety of our residents in setting requirements for those plans,” wrote the attorneys general from 20 states and Washington, D.C. “The ACA was crafted with state sovereignty at its core, allowing for flexibility and innovation across states, including when it comes to abortion.”
“Mandating or allowing coverage for abortion in marketplace plans also aligns with our states’ commitment to equality, in addition to ensuring our residents enjoy dignity and autonomy and can access the healthcare they need. In some cases, ensuring access to abortion services is required by our state constitutions,” they continued. “A prohibition on such coverage would affect hundreds of thousands of women of reproductive age who are on marketplace plans in our states, making care significantly more expensive by eliminating their ability to use federal tax credits for these plans.”
The Democrat attorneys general additionally claimed that any allegation that federal taxpayer dollars subsidize abortions covered by ACA marketplace plans in their states is “incorrect.” Instead, Democrats say any plan that reimburses for abortions in their states charges each enrollee a fee of at least $1 per month to cover such costs.
“This proposal amounts to yet another effort to implement a back-door federal abortion ban by further diminishing access to care in an already under-resourced environment,” they wrote.
A large coalition of pro-life organizations sent a letter to congressional Republicans in October demanding they apply the Hyde Amendment to the extension of Obamacare subsidies — a move they said has never been done. The Hyde Amendment language has historically been added to spending bills and was traditionally passed in bipartisan fashion. However, the ACA was enacted in 2010 without Hyde language, and Democrats have since changed their party platforms to explicitly call for the end of Hyde.
“For over 40 years, the Hyde amendment has protected the unborn by stopping taxpayers from being forced to pay for abortion and for health insurance plans that include coverage of abortion,” more than 100 pro-life organizations wrote, including Family Research Council, SBA Pro-Life America, and the Faith & Freedom Coalition. “The enactment of Obamacare in 2010 ruptured that longstanding policy by codifying the largest-ever departure from the Hyde amendment and the largest legislative expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade.”
“Among other objectionable provisions, Obamacare authorized massive federal subsidies to assist millions of Americans with purchasing health insurance plans that include abortion,” the groups explained. “Democrats at the time wrote Obamacare intentionally to avoid the Hyde amendment by bypassing the annual appropriations process to which Hyde applies. Instead of stopping funding for health insurance plans that cover elective abortion in a consistent manner with Hyde, Obamacare expressly permits subsidies for health insurance plans that cover elective abortion. Abortion coverage through these plans is funded using premium tax credits (PTCs) as well as cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs) that reduce out-of-pocket costs for subsidized enrollees.”
The organizations accused Democrats of “falsely” claiming that taxpayer dollars do not pay for abortions and claiming that Hyde somehow still applies to Obamacare.
“This is not the case. [Provisions of the ACA] established separate payment and separate accounting requirements to justify taxpayer funding for plans that cover abortion. This ‘accounting gimmick,’ colloquially known as the ‘abortion surcharge,’ allows health insurance plans on Obamacare exchanges to cover elective abortion and still receive taxpayer funds; so long as they collect the surcharge,” they wrote. “If they intended to apply the Hyde amendment they could have used the Hyde amendment. They didn’t.”
“As pro-life leaders, we urge you to raise your voice to unequivocally oppose any consideration of extending the COVID-era subsidies without Hyde protections. The pro-life Congress must not be a party to Obama’s abortion funding scheme,” they concluded.
Sen. Mike Rounds told Fox News Digital last week that Democrats are demanding the enhanced premium subsidies passed during the COVID-19 pandemic under former President Joe Biden be devoid of any pro-life protections.
“We have never, ever agreed to taxpayer funding of abortions in the Republican Party. We’re not going to start now, and they know that,” he said. “So it may very well be, unfortunately, that that might be their reason for not wanting to do anything on health care because they think it’s a really good midterm election issue.”
This week, Schumer released Senate Democrats’ version of the plan to keep the subsidies from lapsing, although Republicans have said there is no chance they will agree to Democrats’ conditions as-is. A vote is expected to occur on Thursday, according to the outlet.
“I mean, it’s obviously designed to fail,” Thune said.
Senate Republicans are still working on crafting their own proposal — a task which may not be completed before the Senate is expected to leave D.C. until the start of 2026, according to the report.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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