Anti Abortion Bill Has Sparked Uncommon Party Unity, Say House Dems

By Anna Cameron

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee took a final stand against H.R.3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act, Wednesday during a media conference call with reporters. 

The GOP backed legislation, which Democrats have rebuked as an ‘assault on women’s health,’ is scheduled for a markup by the Republican-chaired House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

“We will be attempting to point [out] the many ways that this measure cuts deeply into personal choices and constitutionally protected health care decisions,” said ranking member John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.)

Though ten Democrats have supported H.R.3, the Congressmen spoke optimistically about the cohesion apparent among party members. 

“The vast majority of Democrats agree that this a massive overstep, that it is [an] extreme bill,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). “To say that out of 190-odd Democrats, you may get ten…who vote the wrong way, is an incredible amount of agreement for a party that historically doesn’t always march in lockstep.”

“This is about as much unity [as] we can get,” added Conyers.

“Even the members that signed on to the bill that were Democrats made it clear to the sponsors that the…rape and incest language…if [it] were not taken out, they were voting no on the bill,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) confirmed. 

The House Judiciary Committee markup is slated for 10:00 am Thursday. 

Dems Call Cuts To Taxpayer-Funded Abortions 'Undemocratic'

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.”