After failing to pass legislation imposing a 20-week abortion ban, House Republicans are at it again. This time, there are changes to the language in the bill, and it will instead ban federal funding for abortions. But true to form, the Republicans don’t stop there!
No, the House Republicans added a little extra tidbit of hypocritical legislative garbage into the bill, and it is one that would impose tax hikes on the majority of small businesses. According to reports:
“The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act would deny small businesses a tax credit they currently receive through what’s known as the SHOP exchange, a part of the Affordable Care Act, if they include abortion care in their health plans. Roughly 87 percent of private plans include abortion services as part of comprehensive coverage, meaning the bulk of small businesses would be hit with a tax hike if the bill were to become law.”
The abortion aspects of The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act would include things like?blocking federal funds for abortion for women who are in the military, women who live in Washington, D.C., and women who are poor. Unfortunately, the tax hikes on small businesses seems to be getting swept under the rug by the Republicans, and it is not getting very much attention.
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) has called the bill nonsense, saying:
“[It] penalizes small businesses that offer comprehensive health coverage to female employees. It’s just outrageous.”
Interestingly, this is the same bill that in previous years has gotten quite a bit of attention due to the language used.
“Its exemptions for rape and incest were initially limited to cases of people being “forcibly raped” and only to survivors of incest who were minors. Those narrowed restrictions were later stripped out.”
How “progressive” of the Republicans to allow abortions for women who were not just “forcibly raped,” but also for women who were just “regular raped.”
The bill, which intentionally coincides with the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, is unlikely to make it out of the Senate, thankfully. It would need 60 votes to advance it, and there are only 54 Republicans. It seems that Democrats will once again be rescuing women and small businesses from the Republicans in Congress.
