Mr. LIPINSKI. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership on this issue.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Protect Life Act, a bill which will apply the decades-old Hyde amendment policy prohibiting taxpayer funding of elective abortion to the Affordable Care Act.

While the discussion in our Nation continues concerning laws governing abortions, there has been a general consensus to prohibit the use of taxpayer money to pay for elective abortion or insurance coverage of abortion. This has long been embodied in the Hyde amendment that annually has been included in an appropriations bill which most of us on both sides of the aisle have voted for.

The Protect Life Act simply applies the Hyde amendment to the Affordable Care Act, just as the House did in 2009 with the Stupak-Pitts amendment during our initial consideration of the Affordable Care Act. At that time, 63 of my Democratic colleagues joined me in voting for that amendment. However, the final bill that became law did not include that language, and the President's Executive order does not implement the Hyde amendment.

The order does not include Hyde prohibitions on taxpayer funding for insurance coverage of abortion, and it can be struck down by courts or overturned by any administration at any time. In addition, what happened last year with State high-risk health plans covering abortion demonstrates the vulnerability that the Executive order has and the need for clarity.

Madam Speaker, today we have the opportunity to provide that clarity and do what a large majority of Americans want and what Congress has done for more than three decades; that is, prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion. So today I urge my colleagues to support the Protect Life Act.