Press Release

Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. today voted against H.R. 7, the misleadingly titled No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. This radical assault on women's health would deny millions of women the comprehensive health care they need and deserve, and also raise taxes on small businesses and families. Bera made the following comment:

"As a doctor, I'm outraged by this radical attack on women's health care. Personal health care choices should be made between a woman and her doctor, not Washington politicians. Instead of this divisive assault on women, Republicans and Democrats need to focus on what really matters to Americans: creating jobs, building an economy that works for the middle class, and reducing our debt."

H.R. 7 would allow the government to dictate how women with private insurance can spend their own money. It denies small businesses tax credits to help pay for worker's health care if they offer insurance plans that include coverage for safe and legal abortion care. Almost 90 percent of private insurance plans cover abortion services, and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that this change would force these businesses to stop offering these plans. The bill also denies tax credits to families who enroll in plans that cover abortion services in health insurance marketplaces such as Covered California.

As a physician, husband, and as a father of a daughter, Bera has long championed women's access to health care. One of the first bills Bera introduced was the Women's Preventive Health Campaign Awareness Act, which would launch a national campaign to raise awareness on the importance of yearly women's doctor's exams. Providing women with access to birth control and family planning services is a crucial part of this. Just this week, Bera also became an original cosponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act, which would overrule misguided state laws that undermine women's access to safe, legal abortion care and harm women's health.

Bera has represented Sacramento County in Congress since 2013. Born and raised in California, Bera is a physician and the only Indian American currently serving in Congress. He's fighting to rebuild an economy that works for middle class families and to reduce our country's debt in a responsible way. One of Bera's first acts in Congress was to help lead the effort to pass the No Budget No Pay Act, which says if members of Congress don't pass a budget, they don't get paid. As a leader of the No Labels' Problem Solvers, he's working with people from both parties to find bipartisan solutions to our nation's challenges. He and his wife Janine live in Elk Grove with their daughter Sydra. For more updates on Bera follow @RepBera on Twitter, like Congressman Bera on Facebook, or visit https://www.bera.house.gov.