I believe that all human life is sacred, begins at conception, and should be protected by law. Taxpayer money should never be used to subsidize abortion, such as with Obamacare and Planned Parenthood. Congress has an obligation to defund all abortion subsidies.
I am committed to advancing pro-life legislation in the House of Representatives. Here is one of the bills I have co-sponsored with my colleagues this Congress:
H.R. 816, the Life at Conception Act, would implement equal protection under the 14th amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.
In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in Harris v. McRae that women do not have a constitutional right to have an abortion at the public’s expense. This ruling upheld the “Hyde Amendment,” which restricts federal funding for abortion under Medicaid and other Health and Human Services programs.
Unfortunately, the Hyde Amendment and similar pro-life legislation have failed to close all of the legislative loopholes. Taxpayers are still forced to subsidize abortions in certain instances. Indeed, the Affordable Care Act permits federally subsidized abortion. By authorizing and appropriating funds that bypass the Hyde Amendment, the Affordable Care Act forces American taxpayers to subsidize healthcare plans that include abortion coverage.
I recognize the right of every American to keep their taxpayer dollars from funding abortions. I have co-sponsored two bills to close these loopholes:
H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, would prohibit federal funds from being used for abortion or health coverage that includes coverage of abortion. With my support, H.R. 7 passed the House of Representatives on January 22, 2015.
H.R. 217, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, would prohibit the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) from providing federal family planning assistance to an entity unless the entity certifies that it will not perform or provide funds to any other entity that performs abortions.
Planned Parenthood is the number one abortion provider in the United States. Recently, a series of undercover videos showed top Planned Parenthood executives explaining how their organization not only profits from the intentional destruction of unborn children, but also sells children’s organs to fetal tissue brokers. Planned Parenthood continues to operate with no regard for the life of the unborn. I support defunding Planned Parenthood and a full investigation into the alleged practices uncovered by the videos. Planned Parenthood should not get one penny from taxpayers.
I have both introduced and co-sponsored legislation regarding Planned Parenthood in the 114th Congress:
H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, would place a one-year moratorium on Federal funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. while increasing funding for community health centers. With my support, H.R. 3134 passed the House of Representatives on September 18, 2015.
H.R. 3245 – Government Refusal of Abortion in Contracting and Enterprise (GRACE) Act. I introduced this bill on July 28, 2015. H.R. 3245 would prohibit federal contracts with any entity that donates or matches employee donations to Planned Parenthood.
I am committed to protecting the sanctity of life and defending the rights of millions of Americans who are morally opposed to taking the life of the unborn.
