By Anna Cameron
House Democrats voiced their fierce opposition to the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” Wednesday, a piece of legislation introduced by House Republicans that would cut off taxpayer-funded abortions.
“We have witnessed in the past few weeks an uprising in Egypt, in Tunisia, and all over the world, where people are [fighting] for democracy. We in the United states are the epitome of democracy, and yet what are we trying to do here?” questioned Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.). “We are trying to take away the rights of women. That is the most undemocratic move that I can think of.”
The “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” seeks to expand upon the Hyde amendment by also prohibiting indirect funding that has the potential to impact abortion services. The bill denies tax credits and subsidies to any individual or business that purchases insurance covering full reproductive health services, even when abortion is paid for with personal funds. In addition, it would change the definition of rape for purposes of exemption, as well as the exemption age for incest.
“The idea that we would decide, in a piece of legislation, that women who have insurance, who are working, who may never use the rider for an abortion, will not be able to pay for one, even with their own money, Slaughter said. “Obviously the intent there is to drive away the ability of insurance companies to provide those riders, [but] we will not stand for it.”
House Democrats chastised Republicans for pushing insignificant and unrelated legislation like H.R.3 rather than working to lower unemployment and boost the economy.
“Instead of working together in a bipartisan way to find jobs for Americans, …two of the first three bills [Republicans] have introduced have been bills designed to divide us,” said DeGetter. “[Republican bills] have been extreme measures that have been designed to take away citizen’s rights to get full health care coverage.”