While the bills have no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, they can give Republicans a way to show their anti-abortion bonafides without putting the difficult issue to a standalone vote.
One year after Roe v. Wade was overturned, an increasing number of House Republicans are shying away from taking steps to restrict abortion at the national level as polls show majorities of Americans favor protecting the procedure.
But the effort to restrict abortions from within funding bills could allow Republicans to send a message to voters without subjecting vulnerable swing-district members to a vote.
“They know it’s unpopular, their policy position, people believe in abortion rights and reproductive rights, and so they’re trying to do things through a more hidden process,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said.
The provisions are wide ranging.
The most high-profile example was the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which eked through the chamber Friday on a mostly party-line vote after conservative Republicans loaded it up with amendments — including one on abortion — that transformed what’s usually a broadly bipartisan bill into a conservative wish list.
The amendment in question would reverse the Pentagon’s policy to reimburse travel expenses for service members who get abortions across state lines. The policy was enacted last year in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which had for almost 50 years protected the federal right to an abortion.
The fight over abortion access for service members has been playing out for months in the Senate, where Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has single-handedly stalled military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s policy.
Aside from defense policy, appropriations bills have already advanced in the House with anti-abortion provisions included.
A House Appropriations subcommittee advanced legislation Friday to fund the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Labor. Among other provisions, it would cut all federal funding to Planned Parenthood, eliminate Title X family planning grants and stop the implementation of two Biden administration executive orders intended to increase access to abortion care.
Last month, the House Appropriations Committee advanced the Food and Drug Administration spending bill, which included a provision rolling back a policy that allows pharmacists to dispense mifepristone — one of the drugs used in medication abortion — and for it to be sent to patients by mail.
