More than 80 pro-life and faith-based organizations have sent a joint letter to Congress urging Republican lawmakers to resist Democrat demands for extending Obamacare subsidies they say fund abortion coverage.
The letter — led by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and signed by groups including Family Research Council, National Right to Life, and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission — warns that Democrats are attempting to make government funding for abortion coverage permanent by tying it to a continuing resolution to keep the government open.
According to the letter, Democrats “are refusing to fund the government unless Republicans agree to extend Biden’s COVID-era expanded subsidies,” which were introduced during the pandemic to broaden Affordable Care Act coverage.
The coalition contends that any funding for Obamacare through premium tax credits (PTCs) or cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) constitutes “forced taxpayer funding of abortion,” unless explicitly restricted to health plans that exclude elective abortion.
“Obamacare was written to be self-appropriating from the Treasury rather than appropriated through the Labor, Health and Human Services spending bill, and therefore, Hyde does not apply—and has never applied—to it,” the letter states.
For over four decades, the Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal funding for abortion through annual spending bills. Pro-life advocates say that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in 2010, broke from that precedent by authorizing massive federal subsidies for insurance plans that include abortion coverage.
“Democrats at the time wrote Obamacare intentionally to avoid the Hyde amendment by bypassing the annual appropriations process,” the groups argue, accusing Democrats of using what they call an “accounting gimmick” in Section 1303 of the ACA — often referred to as the “abortion surcharge.”
The signatories maintain that this provision allows insurers to cover elective abortions while still receiving taxpayer-funded subsidies. “When taxpayer dollars buy a plan that covers abortion, they are funding the abortion,” the letter asserts.
The pro-life coalition calls on Congress to block any extension of COVID-era Obamacare subsidies unless the true Hyde protections are applied.
“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 letter concludes. “The pro-life Congress must not be a party to Obama’s abortion funding scheme.”
The statement was signed by dozens of national and state organizations, including the Faith & Freedom Coalition, March for Life Action, Liberty Counsel Action, American Principles Project, and Students for Life Action.
