House passes abortion de-funding bill

By Allison Bell

January 29, 2014 at 11:35 AM

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House Republicans have won approval to restrict public abortion funding but have attracted little Democratic support.

Members voted 227-188 Tuesday to pass H.R. 7, a bill that would create the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2014.

Reps. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., and Dan Lipinski, D-Ill are the lead sponsors.

All but two of the 223 Republicans who participated voted for the bill. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., voted against the bill, and Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., voted present.

Even though one of the sponsors was a Democrat, only six of the 193 Democrats who voted crossed party lines.

Earlier this month, Republicans attracted 33 Democratic House votes for a bill that would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to post detailed weekly updates on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act exchange program.

H.R. 7 would make several existing federal abortion funding restrictions permanent.

The bill also includes provisions that could affect PPACA exchange plans, such as a rule prohibiting any of the new PPACA "multi-state plans" from providing abortion coverage.

The Obama administration says President Obama's advisors would recommend he veto H.R. 7 if it reaches his desk.

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