Americans United for Life is happy to announce the release of our 2024 Annual Federal Policy Report: 118th Congress.
Federal Policy is Pro-Life
Americans United for Life frequently reminds the public that “Federal Policy is Pro-Life,” meaning “A plethora of statutes protects women, unborn children, families, and medical professionals from the harms of abortion violence,” and furthermore, that “provisions prohibiting federal funding of abortion or the use of federal facilities for it run throughout the warp and woof of the federal statutes and administrative code.” In the 118th Congress, the first full term of Congress since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in Jackson Women’s Health Organization v. Dobbs, federal policy remained pro-life policy with Congress maintaining the numerous life-affirming laws it has passed over the decades since Roe. All this despite the fact that the 2022 elections failed to deliver a pro-life majority in the Senate and the instability in leadership that continues to plague the House of Representatives.
Moreover, efforts to protect life in the 118th Congress were met with considerable headwinds from the Biden Administration, which showed no restraint in promoting abortion through rules and regulations in almost every federal agency. Disregarding the plethora of federal laws that protect women, unborn children, families, and medical professionals from the harms of abortion violence, President Biden dispatched orders immediately following Dobbs for his cabinet to interpret an ad hoc mélange of federal laws to conjure up federal “protections” for the elective termination of human beings in the womb.
Yet the 118th Congress held the line, maintaining longstanding protections including the Hyde Amendment, the Weldon Amendment, and the Church Amendments – a counterweight to the dangerous policies implemented by the Biden Administration that put the lives of women and girls at risk. Now, with the promise of a new pro-life presidential administration, the 119th Congress is poised to do much more to defend human life – and AUL stands ready to equip Members to utilize the “power of the purse” and the levers of administrative oversight to do so.
The House of Representatives passed five life-affirming bills and several life-affirming appropriations riders in the 118th Congress. In January 2023, the House passed H.R. 26, the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, and H. Con. Res. 3, “a resolution condemning the recent attacks on pro-life facilities, groups and churches.” In January 2024, the House passed H.R. 6914, the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act, a bill that requires colleges and universities to inform pregnant students of their rights and of the resources available on campus to ensure no woman feels forced to choose between motherhood and pursuing her education. The House also passed H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, which expands the Child Tax Credit.
Numerous other promising pieces of legislation were introduced in both chambers in the 118th Congress. Detailed below are the ways Americans United for Life has been engaged at the federal level, including legislation, federal comments, amicus briefs, and more.
Read the full 2024 Annual Federal Policy Report: 118th Congress.
