On August 12, over a hundred US lawmakers wrote a key letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, urging him to use his authority to remove federal tax deductions for abortion. Senator Mike Braun (R., Ind.) and Representative Warren Davidson (R., Ohio) led the effort, organizing the efforts of 23 Senators and 80 Representatives.
The lawmakers argue that "abortion is not health care" and thus should not be subsidized by International Revenue Service (IRS) tax revenue. The signatories additionally implore the IRS not to "treat premiums for health insurance that covers such abortions as medical care, unless in compliance with the law's separate accounting requirements for coverage of non-medical care".
After the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade, the IRS reinterpreted the statutory definition of "medical care" to include abortions. This reinterpretation of the definition "creates tax breaks for abortions through the medical expenses deduction as well as through health flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, and other tax-preferred health accounts and tax breaks that incorporate [the regulation's] definition of 'medical care.'"
The lawmakers' proposal would end medical tax breaks for abortion, unless the mother's life is in danger, and require health insurers to classify abortion separately from medical procedures. Both regulatory revisions have long been the goal of pro-life lawmakers and activists around the country.
Christian Post reported, "Every human life from the moment of conception is invaluable," Braun said. "Taking the life of an unborn child through abortion is certainly not health care and should not be treated as such."
