Senate Democrats Block Republican Health Plan That Would Defund Abortion

Senate Democrats today blocked a Republican health plan that would defund abortion by ensuring that Obamacare subsidies are not used to fund killing babies in abortions.

Democrats blocked the Crapo Cassidy bill on a 51 to 48 vote, with 60 votes necessary for the measure to move forward for debate and a final vote.

The vote was remarkable in the sense that over 50 Republican Senators agreed to the pro-life healthcare plan that would ensure that abortions are not funded with taxpayer dollars.

Republicans are unlikely to agree to a pro-abortion healthcare plan put forward by Democrat leader Chuck Schumer. Obamacare has been responsible for funding thousands of abortions with taxpayer dollars and Republican members are not inclined to go along with continuing that abortion funding.

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Meanwhile, pro-life groups have said they will score the votes and inform millions of pro-life Americans how their lawmakers voted on abortion funding. SBA Pro-Life America announced it is scoring against the Schumer plan and praised the Hyde protections in the Cassidy-Crapo proposal.

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said:

“Sen. Schumer is aggressively driving an effort to force taxpayers to fund abortion by pushing an extension of Obamacare subsidies without Hyde protections. His plan would lock in years of taxpayer-funded abortion. We’re grateful to Leader Thune and Senate allies for standing firm and offering an alternative in the Cassidy-Crapo plan that includes strong Hyde protections.

As the debate continues in the House, we reiterate our strong opposition to any plan – Republican or Democrat – that lacks Hyde protections. We’re thankful to Speaker Johnson, Leader Scalise, Whip Emmer, and Chairwoman McClain for their leadership in standing strong against taxpayer-funded abortion. The Republican majority must stand united together to win on health care.

“The pro-life movement has been unequivocal: No Hyde, no deal. Any vote to extend Obamacare subsidies without Hyde is a vote for abortion funding – a continuation of the Obama-Biden assault on unborn children and their mothers. This is a bright red line. We will score against every such attempt, now and in the future. Failing to protect the most vulnerable is a nonstarter.”

In October, more than 100 pro-life groups sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to stop taxpayer funding of abortion through Obamacare.

The Hyde Amendment, an annual rider attached to the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, bars taxpayer funding for abortions and health insurance plans that cover them, with a documented impact of saving 2.6 million lives in Medicaid alone, according to pro-life estimates. While replicated in other federal programs through amendments like Helms, Dornan and Smith, it is not a permanent law and must be explicitly applied to new health care funding measures to prevent abortion subsidies.

Obamacare’s enactment in 2010 shattered this framework, pro-life groups contend.

Pro-life Democrats, led by then-Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan and Rep. Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania, proposed the Stupak-Pitts amendment to incorporate Hyde protections, which passed the House but was stripped by the Senate. In its place, Section 1303 of the law allows subsidies for plans covering elective abortions through what critics call an “accounting gimmick,” including a required separate payment or surcharge for abortion services.

Democrats maintain that this provision complies with Hyde by mandating insurers to collect separate payments for abortion coverage. However, SBA Pro-Life America argues there is no evidence insurers are enforcing the surcharge, and even if they were, taxpayers still subsidize the entire plan.

President Barack Obama’s executive order promising to uphold Hyde principles failed to override the law, leaving the ACA as a glaring exception to nearly 50 years of federal policy limiting abortion funding.