Liberal groups target Boehner on abortion bill

A collection of liberal groups is pushing House Republicans to shunt aside a bill that would prohibit tax breaks for private healthcare plans that cover abortions.

In a Friday release, NARAL Pro-Choice America, EMILY’s List and MoveOn.Org said they would deliver signatures to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) from opponents to the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act on April 15 – Tax Day. 

The release also cited an article from Mother Jones, a liberal publication, that declared that if the measure became law, women who had an abortion could be audited and forced to prove that the procedure was covered under the measure’s exception for rape, incest or protecting the life of the mother or that her healthcare coverage did not cover abortions. 

“Talk about putting government in our bedrooms!” Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, said in a statement. “The bait and switch Boehner and his allies have pulled on Americans continues with this latest major intrusion into the private medical decisions of women and their families — at a time when Americans want Washington focused on jobs, not prying into our private lives.”

Boehner has called the abortion measure, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), a priority. The bill, which has been signed onto by more than half of the House, is expected to eventually make its way through that chamber.

“Our members feel very strongly about the sanctity of human life,” Boehner said in a January news conference, adding: “I think the will of the people is that we enact this clear-cut prohibition on the use of taxpayer funds for elective abortions.”

A spokesman for Boehner did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the liberal groups’ release. 

For their part, Democrats have said that by pushing measures like Smith’s, the GOP is misinterpreting last year’s midterms by not concentrating more on the economy.