Republican House leaders are yanking a bill banning abortion past 20 weeks of pregnancy from the floor and replacing it with legislation blocking abortion coverage from plans offered on healthcare.gov.
Republicans had planned to vote on the 20-week ban on Thursday, the same day as the annual March for Life attended by thousands of anti-abortion activists. But leadership is switching course after a number of GOP women incited a last-minute revolt against one part of the measure.
Instead the chamber will take up a bill it passed a year ago, dubbed the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” and sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.
The measure would make it illegal for individuals to use the Affordable Care Act’s insurance subsidies to buy plans through the new health exchanges that cover abortion services. Many states have already passed legislation limiting abortion coverage in exchange plans, but this measure would apply nationwide and possibly discourage insurers on the exchanges from offering abortion coverage at all.
The eleventh-hour switch is sure to anger conservatives and especially anti-abortion groups, who have united around the 20-week ban and touted it as a reasonable limit to abortion that could be supported by a wide swath of Americans.
That measure restricts a woman from getting an abortion past the midway point of pregnancy. Known as the “pain-capable” act, it’s based on the idea that a fetus can feel pain beyond that point. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., is lead sponsor in the Senate and Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., leads the House version.
Just weeks ago, few thought the bill would raise any serious dispute among Republicans. But at the House GOP retreat last week, Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., objected to a part of the bill that exempts rape survivors from the ban but requires they report the crime to law enforcement before they can get an abortion. She withdrew her sponsorship from the bill Wednesday — although she said she’d still vote for it — and rallied other GOP women to do the same.
The House is now expected to pass the Smith bill around noon on Thursday, around the same time the March for Life kicks off.
