Dear Chairwoman Granger, Chairmen Carter, Harris, Calvert, Joyce, Womack, and Diaz-Balart, and all Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee,
On behalf of the many millions of members in all 50 states that our collective organizations represent, we would like to express our gratitude for the ways this committee is working to protect the unborn and women and girls. As is commonly said, government funding shows government priorities. We asked Appropriators to prioritize life, and we are grateful for how you have done so already. We urge you to continue to promote and protect policies that defend unborn children and their mothers from the brutality of abortion. Sixty percent of Americans agree: abortion should not be subsidized by the American taxpayer.
In Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, Appropriators stood against the Biden administration’s illegal interim final rule that violates longstanding law. Despite the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 clearly prohibiting taxpayer funding for abortions through the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Biden administration has begun funding elective abortions, turning veterans hospitals into abortion clinics. The MilCon/VA bill was amended in markup to prohibit funding to implement this policy.
In Defense, Appropriators similarly prohibited funding to implement the Biden administration’s illegal Department of Defense memorandum that directs taxpayer funding towards abortion travel for service members and their dependents. The memorandum and the ensuing implementation violate law that since 1984 has prohibited taxpayer funding of abortion, which includes any expenses necessitated by abortion, including travel.
In Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, the committee prioritized the health and safety of women and girls by prohibiting dangerous mail-order abortion, because the rates of adverse events and traumatic complications is far higher without in-person screening. And in Homeland Security, the committee added commonsense Hyde protections to prohibit abortion funding for DHS detainees. Abortion is not health care and should not be incentivized through government funding.
Further, when the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS), and the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bills are marked up in the full committee, we will support the strong pro-life language in these bills. In addition to retaining the legacy riders, the SFOPs bill includes language eliminating the funding for the Gender Equity and Equality Fund and ensuring that funding for foreign aid does not go to nongovernmental organizations that promote abortion overseas. The FSGG bill also protects legacy riders and adds new language including requiring oversight on the District of Columbia’s enforcement of the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban. It also prevents implementation of D.C.’s Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA) that could force organizations to make employment decisions that conflict with their organizational mission, related to life and abortion.
We look forward to working with you to defend these provisions as the bills continue through the appropriations process.
Sincerely,
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee
National Right to Life Committee
Family Research Council
March for Life Education and Defense Fund
Students for Life Action
Americans United for Life
Family Policy Alliance
CatholicVote
American Principles Project
Ethics and Public Policy Center
Eagle Forum
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
Advancing American Freedom
Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
America First Policy Institute
ACLJ Action
The Institute for Women’s Health
A PDF of the letter is available.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA