House Republicans cancelled plans to vote on a 20-week ban on abortion after Republican Congresswomen removed their names publicly as co-sponsors of the bill.
The vote on the unconstitutional 20-week ban had originally been scheduled for today, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, but instead was pulled late last night after Republican House representatives Rene Ellmers (NC) and Jackie Walorski (IN) took to the House floor and withdrew their co-sponsorship.
Ellmers and Walorski cited specifically their concern with the exception in the ban for women who had been raped, only if they had reported the crime to law enforcement. They were concerned that often women who have been raped do not report it to the police for a variety of reasons. Moreover, it became apparent to House Republican leaders that they did not have the votes necessary for passage of the 20-week ban. Women’s rights groups (including the Feminist Majority), the White House, and Democratic leadership opposed the ban vigorously.
Instead, the House Republican leaders made a late-night maneuver to withdraw the 20-week ban from a vote, and to replace it with a vote on H.R. 7, an abortion coverage bill that would prevent women from spending their own money to purchase health insurance that covers abortion care on the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges. This bill purports to prevent taxpayer funding of abortion, but in actuality it would prevents people from buying health insurance they want by withholding tax credits for purchases of such plans. H.R. 7 is also being fought vigorously by women’s rights groups.
The White House has just announced that it “strongly opposes” H.R. 7. A statement just released by the Executive Office of the President Office of Management and Budget says, “The legislation would intrude on women’s reproductive freedom and access to health care; increase the financial burden on many Americans; unnecessarily restrict the private insurance choices that consumers have today; and restrict the District of Columbia’s use of local funds, which undermines home rule. …The Administration strongly opposes legislation that unnecessarily restricts women’s reproductive freedoms and consumers’ private insurance options.”
If Congress passes the legislation, White House senior advisers would recommend President Obama veto the act.
Media Resources: The Washington Post 1/2//2015; The Executive Office of the President 1/22/2015
