February 2, 2017

Dear Republican Member of Congress:

We are greatly encouraged by the many Republican healthcare proposals that embrace
the principle that abortion is not healthcare and should not be incentivized through federal
healthcare programs including tax credits for health insurance.
In the 1970s the government started funding abortion through the Medicaid program
because if abortion is not excluded by law, it is automatically included in healthcare programs.
When this was discovered, Congressman Henry Hyde (R-IL) successfully offered the Hyde
amendment in 1976. We rejoice in the finding of a recent authoritative study that 2.13 million
human lives nearly one in every 150 Americans have been saved because of the existence of
the Hyde Amendment limitation on abortion funding.
Currently, any bill funding healthcare must carry restrictions on abortion funding or it
will end up funding the brutal practice of abortion. That is why the Republican platform rightly
calls for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that
include abortion. The platform continues stating, We will not fund or subsidize healthcare that
includes abortion coverage.i President Trump also pledged his opposition to taxpayer funding
for abortion in his 2016 letter to Pro-life Leaders.ii
The platform pledge against funding healthcare that includes abortion coverage is
consistent with the specific policy initiatives included in major Republican healthcare reform
packages. For example:
In July 2009, Representative Tom Price (R-GA) introduced a Republican
healthcare proposal that specified that the credits in his bill could not be applied to
plans that cover abortion.iii

Also in 2009, then-Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) offered a substitute to the

House Democrats bill. The Boehner substitute, supported by all Republicans
except one, contained a permanent prohibition on taxpayer funding for abortion or
plans that cover abortion.iv Similarly all but one Republican voted for the
bipartisan Stupak-Pitts amendment prohibiting funding for plans that cover
abortion.v

The Better Way Agenda published in the summer of 2016 calls for a tax credit
for individuals and families, many of whom found themselves left behind under
Obamacare and specifies that this new payment would not be allowed to pay for
abortion coverage or services. It also says, [o]ur plan would protect federal
taxpayer dollars from being used for abortion or abortion services
 We are encouraged by this longstanding commitment by Republicans to ensure that no
Republican healthcare proposal, including those that provide tax credits for health insurance,
funds abortion or plans that cover abortion and urge you to ensure this essential pro-life policy is
included in any healthcare legislation considered to replace Obamacare.

Marjorie Dannenfelser Carol Tobias

President President
Susan B. Anthony List National Right to Life

Jeanne Mancini Penny Nance

President CEO & President
March for Life Education and Defense Fund Concerned Women for America

Clarke Forsythe Tony Perkins

Acting President and Senior Counsel President
Americans United for Life Family Research Council

Russell Moore Donna Harrison, M.D.

President Executive Director
Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious American Association of Pro-life
Liberty Commission Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Tim Wildmon Gary Bauer

President President
American Family Association American Values

David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics) Marie-Alberte Boursiquot, MD, FACP

CEO President
Christian Medical Association Catholic Medical Association

C. Preston Noell III Melissa Ortiz

President Founder & Principal
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc. Able Americans

Day Gardner Jay Sekulow

President Chief Counsel
National Black Pro-Life Union American Center for Law and Justice

Greg Schleppenbach Ralph Reed

Associate Director Founder and Chairman
Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities Faith & Freedom Coalition
United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops
Walter B. Hoye II
Founder
Issues4Life Foundation
Steven Ertelt
Editor
LifeNews.com
Roland C. Warren
President and CEO
Care Net
Astrid Bennett Gutierrez
Executive Director
The VIDA Initiative
Bradley Mattes
President
Life Issues Institute
Brian Gibson
Executive Director
Pro-Life Action Ministries
Kristan Hawkins
President
Students for Life of America
Andresen Blom
Executive Director
Hawaii Christian Coalition
Catherine Glenn Foster
President
Sound Legal Group
Eric Scheidler
Executive Director
Pro-Life Action League
Joseph A. Brinck
President
Sanctity of Life Foundation
Alexandra Snyder
Executive Director
Life Legal Defense Foundation
Monica Migliorino Miller
Director
Citizens for a Pro-Life Society
Jo Ann Gerling
Director
Coalition on Abortion Breast Cancer Link
Joe Langfeld
Interim Executive Director
Human Life Alliance
Zina Hackworth
Founder/Director
This Race Will Self-Destruct
Jim Backlin
Vice President of Legislative Affairs
Christian Coalition of America
Star Parker
President
Center for Urban Renewal & Education
(UrbanCure)
Michael J. ODea
Founder and Executive Director
Christ Medicus Foundation
Lynn Mills
Pro-Life Detroit
Connie Eller
Missouri Blacks for Life
Troy Newman
President
Operation Rescue
Fr. Frank Pavone David E. Smith
National Director, Priests for Life Executive Director
President, National Pro-life Religious Illinois Family Institute
Council
Curt Smith
Steve Koob Executive Director
Indiana Family Institute
Director
One More Soul Bob Vander Plaats
President and CEO
Jim Minnery The FAMiLY LEADER
President
Alaska Family Action Eric Teetsel
President
Cathi Herrod Family Policy Alliance of Kansas
President
Center for Arizona Policy Kent Ostrander
Executive Director
Peter Wolfgang The Family Foundation (KY)
President
Family Institute of Connecticut Action Gene Mills
President
Dale A. Bartscher Louisiana Family Forum
Executive Director
Family Heritage Alliance Action Carroll Conley
Executive Director
Paul Weber Christian Civic League of Maine
President & CEO
Family Policy Alliance Joe Ortwerth
Executive Director
John Stemberger Missouri Family Policy Council
President
Florida Family Action Jeff Laszloffy
President/CEO
Eva Andrade Montana Family Foundation
President
Hawaii Family Forum Karen Bowling
Executive Director
Duke Aiona, Jr. Nebraska Family Alliance
President
Hawaii Family Advocates Len Deo
Founder & President
Julie Lynde New Jersey Family Policy Council
Executive Director
Cornerstone Family Council Idaho
Rev. Jason J. McGuire Victoria Cobb
Executive Director President
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms The Family Foundation of Virginia

John L. Rustin Joseph Backholm

President President
North Carolina Family Policy Council Family Policy Institute of Washington

Aaron Baer Allen Whitt

President President
Citizens for Community Values Family Policy Council & Family Policy
Institute of West Virginia
David Fowler
President Julaine K. Appling
Family Action of Tennessee, Inc. President
Wisconsin Family Action

i
https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL[1]-ben_1468872234.pdf
ii
https://www.sba-list.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Trump-Letter-on-ProLife-Coalition.pdf
iii
https://www.congress.gov/111/bills/hr3400/BILLS-111hr3400ih.pdf
iv
https://www.congress.gov/111/crpt/hrpt330/CRPT-111hrpt330.pdf
v
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll884.xml