Issue Position: Right to Life

Issue Position

I am proud of my pro-life voting record. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I shepherded through the partial-birth abortion ban through the House and was honored to watch President Bush sign it into law and the Supreme Court uphold it. Efforts in Congress to stop federally funded abortions both here and abroad and to prevent federal funds from being used on embryonic stem cell research have received my full support.

With the Affordable Care Act's passage, the Hyde Amendment, pro-life protections which prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortion, no longer apply. Now, under Medicaid, the Hyde Amendment prohibits taxpayer-funded abortion, but under the new health care plan, or under the exchanges that have been set up under Obamacare, taxpayer money could be used to pay for abortion. The Affordable Care Act also weakened the protections of the federal and state conscience protection laws.

I support the Protect Life Act, which restores the Hyde Amendment and conscience protection laws. I will continue to fight for the rights of the unborn and work to get this bill signed into law.

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