WASHINGTON, D.C. – The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act makes permanent government-wide restrictions on taxpayer subsidies for abortion, said Congressman Chris Smith, Co-Chair of the Congressional Pro-life Caucus.

Congressman Chris Smith Photo credit: Karen Cross

“Abortion is not health care,” Smith said. “Polls show that taxpayers strongly oppose publicly funded abortion--67 percent, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. For decades, a patchwork of short-term policies have prevented abortion funding in many programs authorized by Congress, but it is time for a single, government-wide permanent protection against taxpayer funding spent for elective abortion. This legislation would establish a comprehensive policy prohibiting public funding for elective abortion in all federal programs.”

The bill has exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

“The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act permanently bans federal funding of abortion and protects conscience rights of individuals and institutions by empowering the courts with the authority to prevent and redress actual or threatened violations of conscience,” Smith said. “President Obama has said he wants abortion to be rare. This bill does that. Even the Guttmacher Institute, the former research arm of Planned Parenthood, says that taxpayer funding bans are a proven abortion reduction method. According to Guttmacher, studies show that when abortion is not publicly funded, abortions in the covered population are reduced by roughly 25 percent.”

In January, Smith introduced H.R. 3 with Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL). The bill is set to be the topic of a hearing today in the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, demonstrating a strong commitment by Subcommittee Chairman Trent Franks and House leadership, including Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor, to advance the bill.

“Today’s hearing early in the session puts the focus on important legislation to protect women and children from the horrors of abortion,” Smith said. “I look forward to the timely passage of HR. 3 by the full House.”

Gallup polls and other polls have shown that more Americans consider themselves pro-life than pro-abortion.

Over the past 15 years, the number of Americans identifying themselves as pro-life has grown from 33 percent to 47 percent in 2010, and the number of Americans identifying themselves as “pro-choice” has fallen from 56 percent to 45 percent.