Here’s How GOP Lawmakers Are Trying To Restrict Abortion Through Spending Bills

Topline

House Republicans are using a set of must-pass 2024 spending bills to push for restrictions on abortion and reproductive rights, the latest effort by GOP lawmakers to go after abortion access—setting up a potential clash with the White House as the chamber begins voting this week and President Joe Biden threatens to use his veto power in response.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks with the media after a meeting of the House … [+] Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on July 18.

CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Key Facts

Proposed spending bills from a number of House committees contain provisions that restrict abortion rights or funding in support of it, Politico first noted Monday, earning cheers from anti-abortion rights organizations who released a statement expressing their “gratitude” for the slew of anti-abortion measures.

Agriculture Spending Bill: The bill for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Food and Drug Association, as proposed in the House, would get rid of FDA guidance from January that allows pharmacies to dispense the abortion drug mifepristone, as well as guidance from 2021 allowing abortion pills to be sent by mail.

Military And Veterans: The spending bill for military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs would abolish a policy the Biden Administration implemented that expands abortion coverage for veterans.

Financial Services: A spending bill for financial services and government spending restricts federal employees’ health coverage from being used on abortion, as well as any federal funding or funding allocated to Washington, D.C., and defunds a D.C. program that prohibits discriminating against employees on the basis of their reproductive health decisions.

Labor And Health: The spending bill for the Departments of Labor, Education and Health and Human Services prohibits the Health Secretary from withholding Medicare funds because a state or other entity refuses to allow abortions, and strips funding from medical research using fetal tissue from abortions, prohibits federal funding from being given to organizations that provide abortions and blocks Medicaid from covering the procedure.

Commerce And Justice: The spending bill for the Departments of Commerce and Justice bars federal funds from being used on people in federal prisons obtaining abortions, defunds the DOJ’s Reproductive Rights Task Force and bars the department from using funds to sue state or local governments over their abortion laws.

State Department: The State Department’s spending bill prohibits any foreign aid from being given to organizations that support or perform abortions, including global health assistance to foreign nongovernmental organizations, and bans abortion coverage for the Peace Corps.

Defense: The defense spending bill would strip funding from a Department of Defense policy that expanded reproductive health care access to members of the military.

Homeland Security: The Homeland Security spending bill would bar the use of any federal funding on abortion, such as for immigrants in federal detention centers.

Tangent

The provisions on abortion are part of a broader array of controversial measures in the spending bills that Republicans have inserted. Other measures include bans on federal funding for gender-affirming care, defunding diversity initiatives, allowing employers to deny healthcare coverage for contraception based on religious beliefs, defunding a program on teen pregnancy and prohibiting federal funds from being used to promote gun control, among numerous other provisions.

What To Watch For

The agriculture and military spending bills are set to go up for a vote before the House this week, Politico reports, where the bills’ anti-abortion and other partisan measures could threaten what would typically be considered easier bills to pass. The appropriations bills’ most controversial provisions are fragile—as only four Republicans would need to oppose them for them to fail, and moderate lawmakers might not be inclined to support them—and Democrats plan to fiercely oppose them. However, Politico notes that Democrats are also fearful some could get through. Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) told the outlet that Democrats don’t have a firm line on what measures they’d be willing to accept, and could be inclined to allow some measures as they seek to avoid a government shutdown over any disputes. Any measures are also likely to face opposition in the Senate, however, which has narrow Democratic control, and Biden has already promised to veto the agriculture and military bills in their current form if they make it to his desk with the more controversial measures in place.

Chief Critic

The White House slammed the agriculture and military bills in statements released Monday, criticizing how the draft bills in the House “include numerous new, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences including harming access to reproductive healthcare, threatening the health and safety of [LGBTQ Americans], endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and preventing the Administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.” “If the President were presented with [the agriculture bill], he would veto it,” the White House said, repeating the same about the military and veterans bill in a separate statement.

Key Background

Republicans across the country have moved to restrict abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022, leading to a wave of state bans on the procedure and other restrictions. While some lawmakers in Congress have championed a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks, which Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced in September, the fact that Americans are largely in support of legal abortion has dissuaded GOP lawmakers from moving forward with a nationwide ban due to the potential political cost, CNN noted in April. Lawmakers have instead preferred more incremental measures like those put forth in the spending bills to a blanket abortion ban, and the spending bill provisions come after Republicans started the House’s term in January passing measures aimed at condemning violence against anti-abortion organizations and mandating health coverage to infants “born alive” after failed abortions.