Sens. David Perdue (R-GA) and Mike Lee (R-UT) have introduced a bill that would end the IRS’s allowance of abortion as “medical care” and block the procedure’s tax deductibility as an out-of-pocket medical expense.
“The government should not offer tax benefits for a procedure that kills hundreds of thousands of unborn children each year, nor should taxpayers subsidize such a practice,” said Lee in a statement to Breitbart News.
He continued:
This undermines the truth that all human beings have dignity and worth, and that the purpose of healthcare is to heal and care for them – not kill them. Our bill would end the preferential tax treatment of abortion and clarify that this gruesome practice is not healthcare.
The text of the Abortion Is Not Healthcare Act would “amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that amounts paid for an abortion are not taken into account for purposes of the deduction for medical expenses.”
Perdue said in a statement announcing the bill the current IRS allowance to treat abortion as a healthcare expense is “absurd.”
“Ending this loophole is an important step toward promoting a culture that values life,” he added. “As a father and grandfather, I believe every child is a blessing and will continue fighting to protect the unborn.”
Others in support of the bill are Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MO), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
“As elected officials, it is our duty to protect the most vulnerable,” Daines, who chairs the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, said in a statement to Breitbart News. “Abortion is not health care — it’s destroying the life of an innocent child.”
“As chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, I’m proud to support legislation to protect life and end taxpayer subsidies for abortion under the guise of medical care,” he added.
In May 2019, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced a corresponding bill in the House.
“It is unfathomable that my Democrat colleagues in Congress continue to not only condone the practice of abortion, but allow taxpayer dollars to subsidize this abhorrent practice,” said Biggs in a press statement at the time. “As Members of Congress, we have a duty to protect life from the moment of conception.”
Biggs continued:
For years, the pro-abortion movement has marketed abortion as a form of reproductive health care. But it’s time for us to be honest with ourselves – health care is primarily a restorative function, one that helps our bodies heal from a disease or ailment. Under no circumstances should health care include the intentional taking of a life. The “Abortion Is Not Health Care Act” is a small step towards ending the federal government’s treatment of abortion as a “healing medical practice.”
The Senate bill is introduced less than two weeks after Planned Parenthood — the nation’s largest abortion provider — released its annual report that revealed the group performed a record high number of abortions during year 2018-2019, while it also received record high taxpayer funding.
In the past year, Planned Parenthood performed 345,672 abortions, an increase of nearly 13,000 more abortions and four percent over the 332,757 the group performed during year 2017-2018.
Also, in 2018-2019, the abortion business received, primarily through the Medicaid program, $616.8 million in American taxpayer funds, a 9.4 percent jump from the $563.8 million it received in year 2017-2018.
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