House Republicans Kick Off 2014 With Renewed Focus on Abortion, Birth Control
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As the Senate takes up a measure to extend unemployment insurance, Republicans in the House of Representatives are looking to make 2014 another banner year for anti-abortion laws.
A panel of 12 men on the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a bill Thursday that would deny tax subsidies to women and small businesses who purchase health insurance plans that include abortion coverage. The bill only makes an exception for rape and incest victims and women who would die without abortion care, which opponents say could prompt the IRS to audit any woman who claims one of these exceptions.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has also promised to fight for a rider in the appropriations package Congress is expected to pass next week that would allow employers to refuse to cover contraception in their health insurance plans for moral reasons. And the Republican National Committee has announced it plans to delay its annual winter meeting this year so that members can attend the annual March for Life, an anti-abortion rally in Washington, D.C.
“I’m not a psychologist, but we’re dealing with behavior that, to me, appears obsessive,” Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, told HuffPost in an interview. “The jury is in from the rest of country as well — they want Congress to legislate on issues that are priorities for all Americans. But Republicans don’t hear it, because it’s an obsessive-compulsive behavior, their focus on rolling back women’s rights. They can’t stop themselves.”
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