WASHINGTON — House Republicans approved a veterans' funding bill on Wednesday that would limit abortion access for troops and veterans, setting up another partisan clash with Democrats in the Senate and the White House ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government.
A controversial provision in the spending bill would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from offering abortion counseling and, in some cases, abortion procedures to veterans and their beneficiaries. It overturns a Biden administration rule that allows the VA to provide abortion care when the life or health of the mother is in danger or in cases of rape or incest.
Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., who chairs the Women Veterans Task Force in the House, called the VA rule that House Republicans are targeting "really important" for veterans, noting that “even two years ago VA physicians weren’t even allowed to counsel on abortion.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, called the GOP abortion provisions and other conservative policy measures in the military spending bill “unacceptable.”
Just four Democrats voted in favor of the bill that would fund military construction, housing and veterans affairs for the next fiscal year, highlighting the party-line split over the issue. In recent weeks, Democrats in both chambers have pushed for votes on other reproductive rights issues, including access to contraception and IVF, to put Republicans on record ahead of November’s elections.
Earlier this week the White House issued a veto threat over the GOP military spending bill that will go nowhere in the Democratic-led Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused President Joe Biden of “changing the focus of our military, undermining our readiness, and rejecting the promises made to our veterans” in vowing to reject the legislation.
It’s a repeat of last year when Republicans sought to curtail the Pentagon’s expanded support for service members and veterans seeking reproductive care. The same provision was ultimately stripped out during bipartisan negotiations to fund the government.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., accused Republicans of putting “poison pills” into mandatory bills that require bipartisan cooperation to pass.
“They’re putting policy issues where we have disagreements, like women’s contraceptives, women’s right to choose, they’re putting these things in these bills that have no reason to be there,” he said.
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., who supported the provision on the floor and in the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, defended his vote although he is running for re-election in a swing district in November.
“This isn’t an attempt to make a national abortion ban. This is just to make sure that every American taxpayer is not paying for these abortions,” Garcia told NBC News in an interview.
But he acknowledged that it is unlikely the stipulation stays in the bill at the end. “We recognize that we’ll need bipartisan support. This is one of those issues that, so far, is one of the sticking points that prevents bipartisan support,” Garcia said.
Conservatives, meanwhile, view the partisan policy riders — from provisions targeting diversity and inclusion programs to abortion restrictions — as keys to clinching their support for the legislation.
“I’m pleased with the wins in the bill,” said Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who is running for Senate.
He said it’s essential that Republicans hold firm on those provisions and noted that dropping the conservative add-ons on abortion and other matters would cause him to withhold his vote.
“If they go back to the Dem woke policies — if they fund those policies, I’ll vote against it,” Banks said.
