The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last year urged the public to petition the government to refrain from the rule change, arguing that the new policy could “unfairly cut off TANF funds from pregnancy help centers.”
The bill explicitly states that the U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services “may not finalize, implement, or enforce” the new rule.
On Tuesday, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the chair of the House Rules Committee, said in introducing the bill that it would “prevent the defunding of these critical health centers.”
“It’s a direct step in safeguarding access to care and support needed as parents ready to bring a child into the world,” Cole said.
In a statement provided to CNA, Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt, a co-sponsor of the bill, pointed to a recently released report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute that said “there are 2,750 pregnancy resource centers in the United States that have provided over $358 million in 2022 alone in support for pregnant women and their children.”
“Even so, the Biden administration is hostile to this work and is actively trying to discourage it by prohibiting these pro-life centers from receiving federal funding through the TANF program,” Aderholt said.
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