No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act would protect conscience rights

Rep. Smith

The Christian Medical Association today endorsed the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," to be introduced by my friend Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, which will establish a government-wide statutory prohibition on abortion funding.
This bill would make permanent the policies that currently rely on regular re-approval including: the Hyde amendment (prohibits funding for elective abortion coverage under the annual Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Act); the Helms amendment (prohibits funding for abortion as a method of family planning overseas); the Smith FEHBP amendment (prohibits funding for elective abortion coverage for federal employees); the Doman amendment(prohibits use of congressionally appropriated funds for abortion in the District of Columbia); other policies such as the restrictions on elective abortion funding through Peace Corp and Federal prisons.
The bill also codifies the Hyde-Weldon conscience clause that is part of the Hyde amendment. The conscience clause ensures that recipients of federal funding do not discriminate against health care providers, including doctors, nurses and hospitals, because the providers do not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.