Thread: Republicans pass anti-abortion funding bill in US House of Representatives

Republicans pass anti-abortion funding bill in US House of Representatives

JANUARY 25, 201710:30AM

EMBOLDENED by a Republican in the White House, the Republican-led House has backed legislation that would permanently bar federal funds for any abortion coverage.

The measure, which passed the House of Representatives 238-183, would also block tax credits for some people and businesses buying abortion coverage under former President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Republicans passed a similar bill in 2015 under veto threat from Obama and the legislation went nowhere.

Days into the new all-Republican monopoly in Washington, Republicans are moving aggressively on anti-abortion legislation as well as targeting elements of the health care law.

The Republican Party figures the bill would have a better chance under new President Donald Trump, a Republican and an abortion opponent.


Surrounded by the men of his cabinet, US President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House banning foreign NGOs that help with abortion. Picture: AFPSource:AFP


But it would have to first get through the Senate, where it would need 60 votes and face considerable Democratic opposition.

The House vote was timed to come just after the January 22 anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalised abortion in the United States and ahead of a march against abortion on Friday.

“Pro-life Americans struggle for the day when abortion violence will be replaced by compassion and empathy for women and respect for weak and vulnerable children in the womb,” said Representative Christopher Smith, R-N.J., who sponsored the original bill.

If signed into law, the bill would permanently ban the use of federal money for nearly all abortions — a prohibition that’s already in effect but which Congress must renew each year.

It would also go further.

The bill would bar individuals and many employers from collecting tax credits for insurance plans covering abortion that they pay for privately and purchase through exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act.


Abortion rights activists in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. Picture: APSource:AP



Anti-abortion activists rally outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Picture: AFPSource:AFP


Democrats said that the legislation would unfairly target low-income women.

“This bill is about taking women who can’t afford an abortion, and not allowing them to use taxpayer money to get it,” said Representative Steve Cohen.

The legislation comes a day after Trump reinstituted a ban on providing federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortions.

That ban has been a political volleyball, instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984.

Most recently, President Barack Obama ended the ban in 2009.

President Trump has massively expanded the ban to all organisations receiving US global health assistance.

Trump’s memorandum reinstituting the policy directs top US officials for the first time to extend the anti-abortion requirements “to global health assistance furnished by all departments or agencies.”

Suzanne Ehlers is president of Population Action International, which lobbies for women’s reproductive health. She told The Associated Press on groups in 60 countries receiving $9 billion in health assistance are now covered by the ban.

She said Americans should be “outraged” at what she called an attempt “to cut off lifesaving basic health services to the poorest women anywhere in the world.”

http://www.news.com.au/world/republi...6a573f123f0654

Trump reinstates ban on fed money for abortion

Texas lawmaker who introduced bill criminalizing abortion: Women should be more ‘personally responsible’ for sex


Dylan Stableford Senior editor
Yahoo News January 25, 2017
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Tony Tinderholt (house.state.tx.us)
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A Texas lawmaker who wants to criminalize abortion says he believes women ought to be “more personally responsible” for their sexual behavior.

“Right now, it’s real easy,” Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, told the Texas Observer this week. “Right now, they don’t make it important to be personally responsible because they know that they have a backup of, ‘Oh, I can just go get an abortion.’ Now, we both know that consenting adults don’t always think smartly sometimes. But consenting adults need to also consider the repercussions of the sexual relationship that they’re gonna have, which is a child.”

Earlier this month, Tinderholt introduced a bill that would ban abortions in Texas at any stage and direct state officials to ignore “any conflicting federal” laws, including the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.

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New Bill Aims to Make Abortion a Felony in Texas, by @lyannealexia: https://www.texasobserver.org/new-bill-aims-make-abortion-felony-texas/ … #txlege
1:00 PM - 13 Jan 2017



New Bill Aims To Make Abortion a Felony in Texas

Republicans are emerging from behind a thin veil of "women's health" with a bill that would criminalize abortion. Experts say it is unconstitutional.
texasobserver.org

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“A living human child, from the moment of fertilization upon the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum, is entitled to the same rights, powers, and privileges as are secured or granted by the laws of this state to any other human child,” the bill states.

And pregnancies resulting from rape or incest would not be exempt under Tinderholt’s proposal.

“I don’t think that there should be any exceptions to murder, no matter what,” he said. “So if this child was out of the womb and it was a child that was born out of rape or incest, no one would be OK with killing a child. I look at it like that child is a child in the womb, just like it’s out.”


Supporters of abortion rights wait for rulings at the U.S. Supreme Court last June. (Pete Marovich/Getty Images)
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Both legal observers and abortion-rights advocates say the bill is unconstitutional and would take the Longhorn State back in time.

“This bill is an outright ban on abortion and would punish people who get abortions and the doctors who provide them,” Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, said in a statement. “This cruel bill is the most extreme measure we’ve seen at the Texas Legislature. It takes away a pregnant person’s legal rights and could open up to investigation and prosecution of anyone who has a miscarriage or who seeks an abortion. When politicians criminalize safe medical procedures, they put patients’ health and safety at risk.”

Tinderholt did not immediately return a request seeking further comment.

The legislation is in line with the official party platform Texas Republicans published last year.

“We call upon the Texas Legislature to enact legislation stopping the murder of unborn children,” the Texas GOP platform states, “and to ignore and refuse to enforce any and all federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, and court rulings, which would deprive an unborn child of the right to life.”

The platform also defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and homosexuality as “a chosen behavior,” and it calls for the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

In response, Texas Democrats in both the state House and Senate had planned to file a resolution this week declaring that “abortion is healthcare and should be treated as such.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-gop...170549535.html

I would like to ask these men "why they are not personally responsible" for THEIR sex.

Just because they do not carry the baby...does not let them off the hook, it is your sperm. They do not want them, do not want to pay for them or be in their lives. Go get a vasectomy.

How about the women who seek to get the abortion...instead, have the baby and hand the baby over to it's FATHER. We will see what men have to say about this then. Let them all take custody of their children...and the women walk away.