WASHINGTON (Courthouse News) \u2013 1\/25\/17 – In a sweeping vote that could upset health care coverage for millions of women across the nation, House Republicans voted to permanently bar women in the United States from receiving federal assistance for abortions.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0<\/span>bill<\/a>, \u201cNo Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017,\u201d was introduced by Rep. Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican. It passed Tuesday 238 to 183.<\/p>\n It must be approved by the Senate to become law.<\/p>\n According to the bill, \u201cno funds authorized or appropriated by federal law and none of the funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated\u201d will be spent for \u201cany abortion.\u201d It also prohibits funding for federal employees and facilities.<\/p>\n The vote came just 24 hours after President Donald Trump reinstated the global gag rule removing U.S. funding from foreign aid groups which provide women\u2019s health care services, including abortions.<\/p>\n Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, issued a statement blasting the new administration for the reinstated rule.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s telling that one of Trump\u2019s first executive actions combines two of his favorite things: silencing anyone who disagrees with him and repressing women,\u201d Hogue said. \u201cJust two days after the historic Women\u2019s March and one day after the anniversary of the historic decision in\u00a0<\/span>Roe v. Wade,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>[the president\u2019s] misguided priority is to reinstate the global gag rule, a policy that silences health workers at the expense of their patients.\u201d<\/p>\n Saying that the action has officially turned his \u201canti-women rhetoric into policy,\u201d Hogue declared that President Trump \u201creally is living up the lowest of expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate statement on Wednesday, specific to the House bill, Hogue said of Congressional Republicans: \u201c[They] continue to ignore the voices of millions of Americans who marched \u2026 to demand respect and dignity for women \u2026 amidst a flurry of executive and congressional actions to make life harder for women here at home and around the globe, Republican leaders dig even deeper and passed a bill to deny many women the chance to buy insurance coverage that includes abortion, even if they pay with their own money.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s bill says that its intention is to \u201cprohibit taxpayer-funded abortions.\u201d Yet under the Hyde Amendment, federal tax dollars were not allowed to pay for abortions in the U.S. before Tuesday\u2019s vote anyway.<\/p>\n