Congressional budget reconciliation proved an effective vehicle to achieve a first-of-its-kind victory for taxpayers in restricting the eligibility of large abortion providers to receive Medicaid reimbursements. Even so, these defunding provisions are set to expire July 4 if House Republicans do not commit to a second reconciliation.
Leadership on Capitol Hill is limited to reconciliation as the sole path to further defunding, at least for now. The House may be able to pass defunding-focused legislation, but the same cannot be said of the Senate. Under Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to invoke cloture, ending the debate and bringing the bill forward to a vote. While a simple majority would then be enough to pass the bill following cloture, it is not enough to make the bill viable.
Reconciliation, however, is an exception. Falling under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, debate on reconciliation bills is limited to 20 hours before being forced to a simple majority vote. There is no opportunity to filibuster a reconciliation to death, and, with a Republican majority, Democrats were unable to reject the defunding provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Considering the popularity of provisions to protect the conscience for public taxpayers, such as the Hyde Amendment, congressional Republicans should be eager to advance defunding as a reconciliation priority before the midterm elections. The annual 2026 Knights of Columbus-Marist polling on taxpayer funding of abortion showed that the majority of people “oppose” or “strongly oppose” taxpayer funding of abortion. This trend holds when just looking at responses from those identifying as politically independent.
It’s almost too late for Congress to prevent federal Medicaid dollars from flowing back to the nation’s largest abortion providers. House Republicans initiated the reconciliation process last February and were hard-pressed to land a final bill on President Donald Trump’s desk in time for his July 4 deadline. Congress is up against the clock, given they have not even begun the process yet.
Reconciliation must begin immediately.
Extending the defunding provision for another year is the minimum acceptable outcome, though taxpayers deserve more. Reconciliation rules allow for abortion providers to be barred from federal Medicaid reimbursements for, at most, a decade — and that’s exactly what the public should insist is delivered by their federal representatives.
Last year, the unelected Senate parliamentarian reduced the original ten-year prohibition on Medicaid reimbursements to abortion providers included in the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to one year. Section 313 of the Budget Act, known as the “Byrd bath” for its namesake, former Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, is intended to prevent nonbudget items from evading Senate cloture, but the Senate parliamentarian interpreted the rule to force a reduction of the prohibition to one year — hence the need to defund abortion providers yet again this year, and every year hereafter for the foreseeable future.
More than $700 million will continue to be driven into the coffers of abortion providers each year if defunding is not extended. Even if you support access to abortion, participating in or funding it is undeniably a conscience issue. Congress should not dictate the unanimous conscience of the United States, even though all policymaking is derived from an underlying moral code.
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This fall, if Republicans do not maintain a majority in both the House and Senate, reconciliation will no longer be an option. Democrats will block any chance of moving forward with federal defunding of abortion providers and upholding the right of taxpayers to conscientiously object to its funding. Rather, Democrats would be likely to move forward with further funding of abortion providers, further abusing the power of the purse.
If reconciliation is not pursued, abortion providers are likely to have federal funds restored until after the 2028 elections, if not another two years. Republicans cannot take for granted the majority they have now, nor the obligation they shoulder to act in the best interest of their taxpaying constituents.
John Mize serves as the CEO of Americans United for Life.