Here’s the letter we sent to Congress on Wednesday
The Honorable John Thune, Senate Majority Leader S-230, The Capitol Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable John Barrasso, Senate Majority Whip, 307 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Tom Cotton, Chair, Senate Republican Conference, 326 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito Chair, Republican Policy Committee, 170 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable James Lankford, Vice Chair, Senate Republican Conference, 731 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Lindsey Graham Chairman, Senate Budget Committee, 211 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, 1233 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Steve Scalise, House Majority Leader, 266 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Tom Emmer, House Majority Whip, 326 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Lisa McClain Chair, House Republican Conference, 562 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Kevin Hern, Chair, Republican Policy Committee, 171 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-3601
The Honorable Jodey Arrington Chairman, House Budget Committee 1111 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
March 13th, 2026
Dear Majority Leader Thune, Speaker Johnson, and Members of Leadership,
With the conclusion of efforts to provide funding to ensure America’s physical safety, Congress must immediately turn its attention to the fiscal, moral, and conscientious concerns of the American people by addressing the impending expiration of the moratorium on taxpayer subsidization of the abortion industry.
The legacy-defining moratorium included in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill will expire on July 4, 2026.
Extending the moratorium is fiscally responsible. It also fulfills the longstanding agreement a bipartisan Congress made with the American people in 1976 with the passage of the Hyde Amendment—Americans will not be made complicit in the provision of abortion, whether directly or indirectly. Additionally, it begins to address the $6.9 trillion of economic loss resulting from abortion, as estimated by the Joint Economic Committee in 2019.
Planned Parenthood is a prime example of how the abortion industry fills its coffers through taxpayer dollars. According to their 2024-2025 annual report, Planned Parenthood alone received $832 million in taxpayer funding, primarily through federal health programs. Since the moratorium, at least twenty abortion facilities have closed, yet the current trend line is an increase in the number of abortions. Returning more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to an organization that just increased its year-over- year abortion numbers by 8%, and to other providers like it, will only further entrench the abortion industry in American society and politics and return the federal government to being the largest subsidizer of abortion providers.
Additionally, allowing abortion businesses to once again fill their pockets with federal dollars will lead to more women being harmed. In 2025, The New York Times published an article noting the horrendous conditions of abortion clinics and their substandard care of women.1 The Times found that “[m]any operate with aging equipment and poorly trained staff” and that “care has suffered.”2 The article also acknowledged the “scores of allegations . . . that accuse Planned Parenthood of poor care,” including a botched abortion that led to an emergency room visit, the improper implanting of a birth control device that caused nerve damage, the stillbirth of a four-month old baby that resulted after a clinician inserted an IUD in a pregnant woman, etc.3
One former employee revealed “that clinics were operating like ‘a conveyor belt’ for patients” with “employees sometimes administer[ing] expired pain medication or the wrong medications,” and that “it was not uncommon for patients to be taken to the wrong room and prepped for the wrong procedure.”4 One clinic even allowed sewage from a backed-up toilet to seep “into the abortion recovery room for two days,” leading to “[e]mployees shov[ing] exam pads under the bathroom door to block the leak,” and “[p]atients vomit[ing] from the stench.”5 Women deserve better than to be subjected to these kinds of conditions.
Conversely, pro-life pregnancy centers provide women with compassionate and authentic care throughout their pregnancies and postpartum, offering their services at low or no cost. Not only do these centers empower women and families to choose life, but they also provide essential resources and community support to help women thrive. In 2024, alone, pregnancy centers provided over $452 million in free goods and services to underserved women and families.6 This included ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, STD/STI testing, parenting education programs, post-abortion support programs, diapers, wipes, new car seats, strollers, cribs, formula, and more.7
A recent study published in the journal Contraception found that pregnancy centers were more likely than abortion clinics to provide same-day appointments and free pregnancy testing, highlighting that pregnancy centers’ services are more accessible to women.8 Federal policy should be promoting the great work of pregnancy centers and organizations that invest in strengthening American families rather than funding abortion businesses that harm women and end the lives of millions of preborn children.
It is unconscionable that taxpayer funds be disbursed to an industry whose core business is terminating the life of unborn children.
July 4, 2026, marks a key moment in American history. We cannot in good conscience celebrate 250 years of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by simultaneously federally funding the largest abortion providers in the country in order to facilitate their deadly and destructive businesses.
We urgently request that the Senate and House take up a new reconciliation package to, at minimum, extend the moratorium.
For life,
Americans United for Life, John Mize, CEO
Advancing American Freedom, Tim Chapman, President
Christian Medical & Dental Associations, Mike Chupp, M.D., CEO
Family Policy Alliance, Craig DeRoche, President & CEO
Heartbeat International, Jor-El Godsey, President
Students for Life Action, Kristan Hawkins, President
Care Net, Roland Warren, President & CEO
National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, Thomas A. Glessner, Esq., President
Preborn! Dan Steiner, Founder & Chair
Sidewalk Advocates for Life, Lauren Muzyka, President & CEO
Democrats for Life of America, Kristen Day, Executive Director
Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Gary Hollingswoeth, Interim President
Liberty Counsel, Mathew D. Staver, Esq., B.C.S., Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel Action, John Stemberger, President
Human Coalition, Jeff Bradford, President & CEO
The Abortion Survivors Network, Melissa Ohden, Founder & CEO
Jewish Pro-Life Foundation, Cecily Routman, President
American Principles Project, Terry Schilling, President
Human Life Alliance, Andy Aplikowski, Executive Director
Rehumanize International, Lauren Pope, Executive Director
Life Legal Defense Foundation, Alexandra Snyder, CEO
Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam), Austin Ruse, President
Samaritan Ministries International, Joel Noble, Director of Public Policy
Christ Medicus Foundation, Louis Brown, Jr., J.D., Executive Director
Frontline Policy Council, Cole Muzio, President
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President
Pulse Life Advocates, Maggie DeWitte, Executive Director
Anglicans for Life, Georgette Fourney, President
Pro-Life in the Public Square, John Pisciotta, Ph.D., Executive Director
Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, Mark Lee Dixon, Founder
Global Centurion, Laura J. Lederer, President
S.M.A.R.T. Women’s Healthcare, Deborah Tilden, Co-Founder
Pro-Life Action Ministries, Brian Gibson, CEO
Pro-Life Action League, Eric Schiedler, Executive Director
Family Council, Jerry Cox, President
Kansas Family Voice, Brittany Jones, President
Alabama Policy Institute, Stephanie Smith, President & CEO
New Hampshire Right to Life, Jason Hennessey, President
Hawaii Family Forum, Eva Andrade, President/CEO
Pennsylvania Family Institute, Thomas J. Shaheen, Vice President for Policy
Right to Life of Central California, John Gerardi, Executive Director
Indiana Right to Life, Mike Fichter, President & CEO
Protect Life Michigan, Trevor Polo, Executive Director
Florida Citizens Alliance Action, Ryan Kennedy, COO
Maryland Right to Life, Inc., Timonthy Kingston, President
Oregon Right to Life, Lois Anderson, Executive Director
Louisiana Family Forum, Gene Mills, President
Right to Life League, California, Jennifer Nolan, Ph.D., Executive Director
Massachusetts Family Institute, Michael King, President
Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, Maria V. Gallagher, Executive Director
Montanans for Life, Robin Sertell, Founder & President
Minnesota Family Council, Jeff Evans, President & CEO
Right to Life of Northeast Ohio, Amy Graening, Executive Director
NC Values Coalition, Tami Fitzgerald, Executive Director
Colorado Catholic Conference, Brittany Vessely, Executive Director
The Life Center, Judy Rouse, CEO
Obria Medical Clinics PNW, River Sussman, CEO
***
1 Katie Benner, Botched Care and Tired Staff: Planned Parenthood in Crisis, NY TIMES (Feb. 15, 2025), https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/us/planned-parenthood-clinics.html?. 2 Id. 3 Id. 4 Id. 5 Id. 6 See Charlotte Lozier Institute, et al., Pregnancy Centers : Rising to the Occasion with Unwavering Care, CHARLOTTE LOZIER INST. (2025), https://lozierinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/A-Legacy-of-Life- Love-2025-Rising-to-the-Occasion-with-Unwavering-Care.pdf. 7 See id. 8 Kavita Vinekar, et al., Early Pregnancy Confirmation Availability at Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Abortion Facilities in the United States, 117 CONTRACEPTION 30-35 (Jan. 2023).
