Friday, December 20, 2019

Life-related policy in FY 2020 spending bills

The spending bills for FY 2020 spending bills are H.R. 1158 and H.R. 1865. Policy provisions include:

Rejects Shaheen Amendment—The final FY2020 State/Foreign Operations (SFOPS) bill maintains current law on abortion/contraception, rejecting Sen. Shaheen’s anti-life amendment—added at committee-- that increased funding for family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) by $57.55 million. These funds would have gone to pro-abortion US NGOs exempt from PLGHA - while also providing enforcement for an Obama-era regulation aimed at driving out faith-based providers.

Rejects House’s Anti-Life Riders—The final FY2020 LaborHHS, SFOPS, and Financial Services bills reject all anti-life riders in the House’s partisan appropriations bills—including undermining the Trump Administration’s Title X Protect Life rule, Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA), conscience rule, and abortion fetal tissue policy, as well as funding abortions in D.C. . These riders were specifically opposed as anti-life poison pills that violate the budget deal by 26 Senators, in a Senate Pro-Life Caucus-led letter to President Trump.

Keeps the Senate Majority and Pres. Trump’s Pro-Life Promises—The FY2020 bills make good on the Senate Pro-Life Caucus-led letter to President Trump – signed by 49 senators- on protecting life in spending bills—to which Trump responded by pledging to veto any bill that undermines Federal pro-life policy.

Anti-life report language eliminated—Anti-life report language was rejected that would have added abortion into human rights reports, undermined the State Department’s Kemp-Kasten determination for UNFPA, integrated FP/RH into women’s economic empowerment programs, and undermined USAID’s administration of family planning programs internationally.

Preserves Longstanding Pro-Life Protections—The 12 spending bills preserve all longstanding pro-life protections like the Hyde Amendment:


FY 2020 Labor/HHS

Hyde Amendment – bars funding for elective abortion and elective abortion coverage for Medicaid, Medicare, other Labor-HHS funding

Weldon Amendment – bars governmental funding recipients from discrimination based on objections to abortion

Dickey-Wicker Amendment – bars embryo-destructive research

Title X Abortion funding and political lobbying ban

Title X family participation encouragement requirements

Title X rape reporting requirements

Medicare Advantage Abortion Nondiscrimination

Embryo Adoption Activities authorization


Discretionary funding sources utilized by abortion providers:

Title X Funding - $286.479 million (same as FY19-enacted level)

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Funding - $101 million (same as FY19-enacted level)


Note: $35 million is provided for sexual risk avoidance education (same as FY19-enacted level)


FY 2020 State/Foreign Operations

Helms Amendment (two places) – bars funds for abortion as a method of family planning

Peace Corps abortion restrictions

Kemp/Kasten Amendment – allows the President to bar funding to organizations like UNFPA that participate in coercive abortion or sterilization

Siljander Amendment – bars funding for abortion-related lobbying

Livingston Amendment – nondiscrimination protections for providers of natural family planning

Tiahrt Amendment – ensures family planning programs are voluntary

Ban on funding involuntary sterilizations

Biden Amendment – bars funding for biomedical research involving abortions or involuntary sterilizations

Child Survival/Disease/HIV-AIDS Programs Notwithstanding Clause – ensures abortion and family planning restrictions apply for all child survival, disease, HIV/AIDS programs

UNFPA restrictions – restricts funding for UNFPA involvement in China and in abortion

Deviation Authority for Family Planning/Reproductive Health (FP/RH)– allows the Secretary to deviate by 5% from FP/RH amounts provided within the economic support fund, that is, by $2.5525 million.


Discretionary funding sources utilized by abortion providers:

UNFPA Funding Earmark - $32.5 million, subject to the Kemp-Kasten provision (same as FY19-enacted level)

Family Planning/Reproductive Health Funding Earmark – not less than $575 million (same as FY19-enacted level).


These amounts are allocated in the SFOPS report’s tables as: $523.95 million within global health programs and $51.05 million within the Economic Support Fund


FY 2020 Financial Services

Smith Amendment – bans elective abortion coverage in federal employee health plans

Contraception-related Conscience Protections in FEHBP

D.C. Contraceptive Mandate Intent of Congress

Dornan Amendment – bans both federal and local D.C. funds for elective abortion, including in the D.C. Medicaid program


FY 2020 Commerce/Justice/State

Department of Justice elective abortion restrictions

Prohibition on LSC grantees participating in abortion litigation


FY 2020 Agriculture

Aderholt Amendment – bars FDA from approving embryo gene editing research involving a pregnancy


FY 2020 Military Construction/Veterans Affairs

Application of Dickey-Wicker Amendment to IVF treatments

Removal of limits on embryo cryopreservation and storage for IVF treatments


FY 2020 Department of Defense

Removal of limits on embryo cryopreservation and storage for IVF treatments


Under the legislation, mandatory funding is extended at current levels ($4 billion/yr) for the Community Health Center Fund through May 22, 2020 with Hyde-like abortion restrictions. Mandatory funding is also extended through May 22, 2020 for Obamacare’s sex education program, PREP--alongside Title V sexual risk avoidance education at current levels ($75 million/yr for both programs). (Note: Planned Parenthood receives around $3 million/yr in PREP funding.)

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