What Happened?

If you get health coverage through Medicaid or buy a plan on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, a bill an anti-abortion group is lobbying for could change what that coverage pays for. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America reported $310,000 in lobbying costs for July through September, down from $420,000 in the spring, according to its federal lobbying report and a Legis1 review of the group’s disclosures. ​

That’s the group’s lowest quarterly total since at least the start of 2025, when it reported $600,000. It uses its own staff rather than outside firms, and federal rules round these figures to the nearest $10,000. Its summer report lists dozens of bills and issues, including the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act and its Senate version.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

Right now, a rule called the Hyde Amendment blocks most federal money from paying for abortions, but Congress has to renew it every year in spending bills. The bill would write that ban into permanent law and bar ACA tax credits from helping pay for plans that cover abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s life, its sponsors say.

The current rule already reaches millions of people. About 7.7 million women ages 15 to 49 on Medicaid live in 29 states and Washington D.C., where Hyde limits mean their coverage generally doesn’t pay for abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s report also lists state “shield laws,” which protect abortion providers from some out-of-state legal action and which the group has called “pro-abortion,” according to Legis1.

Both Sides, Now

“Using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions is wrong,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the Senate bill’s sponsor, in a joint announcement with House sponsor Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on Jan. 22, 2025.

Abortion rights groups see it the other way. The Guttmacher Institute calls the Hyde Amendment “a discriminatory policy” in its September fact sheet, saying it falls hardest on low-income women and women of color, and it wants Congress to drop the rule instead.

What Happens Next?

The House bill sits in three committees: Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, and Ways and Means. The Senate version is with the Senate Finance Committee, and both remain at the committee stage, according to Legis1. Both would have to pass the House and Senate and be signed by the president to become law, and any bill not passed by Jan. 3, 2027, would have to start over in the next Congress.

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