Two Republican members of Ohio’s congressional delegation have signed on as cosponsors of a bill that would end tax deductions for abortions.
The IRS currently allows residents to deduct medical and dental expenses from their taxes if they exceed 7.5 percent of a person’s adjusted gross income. Legal abortions and birth control pills are both treated as tax-deductible expenses, but a bill introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) seeks to change that.
His bill, H.R. 2742, would amend the federal tax code to “provide that amounts paid for an abortion are not taken into account for purposes of the deduction for medical expenses.”
The bill currently has 22 Republican cosponsors, including Reps. Bob Gibbs (R-OH-07) (pictured, right) and Bob Latta (R-OH-05) (pictured, left).
“The ending of a human life should not be a part of a taxpayer’s money-saving strategy when they file their taxes each April,” Latta said in a press release. “I’m proud to support legislation to remove financial incentives for abortions, and will continue to work with the pro-life caucus to end all federal funding streams for them.”
Biggs, in a statement provided to The Daily Signal, said that the “Abortion Is Not Health Care Act” is a “small step towards ending the federal government’s treatment of abortion as a ‘healing medical practice.’”
“For years, the pro-abortion movement has marketed abortion as a form of reproductive health care,” he added. “But it’s time for us to be honest with ourselves—health care is primarily a restorative function, one that helps our bodies heal from a disease or ailment. Under no circumstances should health care include the intentional taking of a life.”
Biggs addressed his bill in a “Dear Colleague” letter sent to his colleagues last week and obtained by The Daily Signal.
“One of the fundamental duties of the federal government is to protect the life of all citizens, beginning at conception,” he wrote. “With hundreds of thousands of legal abortions performed every year in the United States, there is no reason that the federal government should continue to incentivize ending a life as a healthy form of reproductive care.”
Ohio’s Latta has also been pressuring House Democrats to vote on the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which they have refused to do on 45 occasions.
For the 45th time, House Republicans asked for a vote on the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
For the 45th time, House Democrats said no. pic.twitter.com/pmhZFqYD0i
— U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (@boblatta) May 17, 2019
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—blocking this legislation is shameful,” Latta said in a statement. “There is no difference between an ‘abortion survivor’ and a newborn. Both are infants, born alive and separate from their mothers’ bodies. And both deserve proper medical treatment. It’s astounding to me that Democrats deny this personhood. My fellow members of the pro-life caucus and I will not stop until this legislation passes and is signed into law.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
