Marjorie Dannenfelser, list chair Susan B. Anthony, said in a statement Monday: “Encouraged by the White House, pro-abortion Democrats in Congress will stop at nothing to expand taxpayer-paid on-demand abortion. , at home and abroad. “

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Bishops’ Conference on Monday called on Congress to reinstate bans on federal abortion funding, as the House considers appropriation bills that could fund abortions both nationally and internationally.

The House appropriations committee is expected to vote up two appropriation bills, for financial services and general government and for the State Department and foreign operations, this week. Funding bills currently omit long-standing federal policies that prevent the use of taxpayer funds to pay for elective abortions, including the Helms Amendment that prohibits direct funding of abortions abroad.

The bills come after President Joe Biden, a Catholic, failed to include the Hyde Amendment in his final budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2022. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of most elective abortions in Medicaid programs. First adopted in 1976, this decades-old policy is not, however, permanent law and must be attached as an addendum to budget bills each year to come into effect.

In a joint statement Monday, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the Pro-Life Committee of American Bishops, and Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the International Committee of Bishops for Justice and Peace, said said Congress “shouldn’t eliminate long-standing bipartisan provisions that prevent taxpayer funding for abortions.” ”

The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill “currently excludes the Dornan and Smith Amendments,” they said, referring to policies that prohibit federal funding of abortions in the District of Columbia, and federal funding. of abortion coverage in the Federal Employee Health Benefits program, respectively.

Excluding the Helms Amendment from the State and Foreign Operations Bill “would force taxpayers to fund abortions around the world, which would be contrary to the principles of integral human development,” the bishops said.

“The appropriations committee must reinsert these provisions and retain all vital Hyde-related provisions in the various appropriation bills.”

Pro-abortion groups applauded the exclusion of funding bans from bills. In a statement, Christian LoBue, Campaigns and Advocacy Manager for NARAL Pro-Choice America, said that “for too long anti-choice policies like the Helms Amendment and the Global Gag Rule have put essential care and urgently beyond the reach of pregnant women and families around the world.

The “global gag rule” is a term used by abortion advocates for Mexico City policy, an executive policy that prevents global health aid from the United States from funding international NGOs that provide or practice abortions. President Biden repealed the policy in January.

Pro-life groups have said funding bans such as the Hyde and Helms Amendments preserve the conscientious rights of taxpayers and protect unborn children.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony list, said in a statement Monday: “Encouraged by the White House, pro-abortion Democrats in Congress will stop at nothing to expand on-demand, taxpayer-paid abortion. , at home and abroad. ”

“The pressure from the Biden-Pelosi Democrats to make the United States the world’s largest exporter of abortion is deeply unpopular among Americans, offensive to pro-life nations, and allows for human rights atrocities under authoritarian regimes like that of China, ”she said.

The bishops said on Monday that ensuring that taxpayer dollars do not fund elective abortion procedures is “a consensus policy that is supported by a majority of Americans – including low-income women and women. of color ”.

The bishops called on Congress to “protect taxpayers from having to pay for the harm of abortion and instead use our tax dollars for the common good and well-being of all.”

A Knights of Columbus / Marist poll released in January found that 77% of respondents said they “oppose” or “strongly oppose” taxpayer dollars to fund abortions internationally. Almost six in ten respondents, 58%, said they oppose taxpayer-funded abortions in the United States.