House of Representatives Votes to Pass H.R. 7, an Anti-Abortion Bill That Harms Low-Income Women
In the second blow against abortion access in as many days, the House of Representatives voted Tuesday afternoon to pass H.R. 7 — an anti-abortion bill that would make the Hyde Amendment permanent, and further restrict abortion access for low-income women, federal government employees, military women stationed overseas, and women in the Peace Corps.
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The bill, which passed by a vote of 238–183, codifies the Hyde Amendment, a rule passed in 1976 that prohibits any taxpayer money from being used to fund abortions. What H.R. 7 will do, in effect, is cut off taxpayer funding to insurance plans that choose to cover abortion, even though those funds have been prohibited for use on abortion care ever since the Hyde Amendment was passed four decades ago. That’s why the bill’s title, “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017,” is misleading — it’s already illegal in the United States for federal tax dollars to be used to fund abortions.
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