More than 40 U.S. senators have signed on to a letter opposing the inclusion of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion provisions in must-pass spending bills.
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The letter, addressed to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, a Democrat, and Vice Chair Susan Collins, a Republican, comes as the Senate is about to consider the National Defense Authorization Act. The bill, as passed by the House of Representatives, has a provision denying health care coverage under TriCare, the military’s insurance plan, for gender-affirming care for trans people under 18, which would affect children of service members.
The letter is led by Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Cory Booker of New Jersey, all Democrats. The signatories are all Democrats or independents who caucus with the Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, are copied on it.
“We write to urge you to keep the FY25 appropriations bills free of any new poison pill policy riders,” the letter begins. “Partisan, discriminatory, and harmful policy riders have no place in must-pass legislation such as appropriations bills. In the recent past, the Senate has had success passing bipartisan bills in committee because these bills did not contain new poison pill riders. Unfortunately, in FY25, the House has included more than 55 new anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ riders in its appropriations bills, which we urge you to reject from any final FY25 appropriations bills.”
There are 12 appropriations bills, plus the NDAA, which is considered a policy bill rather than an appropriations bill. It sets funding goals, while appropriations bills actually provide the money. A rider is an attachment to a bill that isn’t relevant to the bill’s primary purpose. The Senate, with a Democratic majority for now, managed to reject such riders last year, but Republicans, especially in the House, keep trying.
Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision in 2022, which overturnedRoe v. Wade and its national guarantee of abortion rights, “our country has experienced a reproductive health care crisis,” the senators write. Thirteen states have banned abortion entirely and seven have banned it at various stages of pregnancy, affecting one-third of the nation’s women as well as trans and nonbinary people, and disproportionately affecting low-income people, people of color, and those living in rural areas.
Republicans have continued to attach anti-abortion riders to appropriations bills, the senators note. “These new riders include a measure to stop the implementation of the Biden administration’s executive orders to protect access to abortion care in the wake of Dobbs, a provision that would interfere with essential postgraduate medical training in abortion care, and a provision that would restrict access to abortion and fertility care for servicemembers, veterans, and their families,” the letter states.
Also, at a time when “more than 574 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced across 42 state legislatures … House Republicans have introduced more than 50 anti-LGBTQ+ provisions across all 12 appropriations bills,” the letter continues. “This includes provisions in every appropriations bill that would allow people and organizations, including those that receive taxpayer funds, to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and several provisions that would prevent the administration from enforcing executive orders and laws to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination. Half of the House’s appropriations bills also contain dangerous riders that severely restrict access to gender-affirming care, which would deprive transgender people of critical, medically necessary, evidence-based, and often life-saving healthcare. Among those who would be impacted by these riders are the more than 134,000 transgender veterans who rely on the Veterans’ Affairs Administration for their healthcare.”
“Dangerous poison pill provisions like those included in the FY25 House appropriations bills will severely undermine Congress’ ability to push forward must-pass legislation and keep the government open and working for the American people,” the letter concludes. “As such, we urge you to reject these extremist riders from the final FY25 appropriations bills.”