Advancing Life and Liberty Through Action

Babies Are Not Bargaining Chips

Oct 31, 2025

Congressional Democrats keep voting to maintain the government shutdown, and so far, there is no end in sight. Today is Day 31, which makes it the second-longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Democrats haven’t given up their wish list that funds death — with the American taxpayer footing the bill for abortion.

In 2024, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged Congress to pass a clean CR to avert a “harmful and unnecessary government shutdown.” On September 16, 2024, he said that average Americans suffer most during a shutdown, including potential chaos for Social Security recipients, halted VA services, and military personnel working without pay.

But in 2025, Schumer is looking for abortion funding and other wish-list items, causing Americans to “suffer.”

After all this time, Democrats still want to use our money to kill children. Your voice can tip the balance today. Republicans must not compromise babies to appease the Democrats.

EVERYTHING WE HAVE FOUGHT FOR RESTS ON THE UPCOMING BUDGETAt any moment, one side could cave, and part of that could be to reinstate taxpayer funding for abortion and our money pouring out for illegal aliens.

Washington has a bad habit of burying life-killing policies under thousands of pages of text. When Congress tries to jam policy through under pressure, details get buried: Abortion funding is inserted and embryo-destroying funding is expanded.

Some ACA Marketplace plans (aka Obamacare) still include abortion coverage where states allow it, even when the Hyde Amendment forbids using federal funds for abortions, except in limited cases. Don’t let “keep the government open” become a Trojan horse for reviving abortion funding.

Our sources on Capitol Hill have told us that in both chambers, a new IVF and embryo policy has been included. There is a fast-moving push to expand taxpayer-funded IVF and broaden TRICARE, a Medicare wrap-around coverage, to include abortion and IVF.

If this moves forward, it could create thousands — even millions — of children, frozen, suspended in time. We cannot create (and then abandon) these children with our tax dollars. Tell Congress that stewardship of public dollars should never normalize treating nascent human life as laboratory waste.

Defunding abortion is non-negotiable — do not let Democrats reverse protections or channel new funds to Planned Parenthood. Do not fund abortion, Planned Parenthood, and illegal aliens to appease the Democrats.

Anything can happen between the House and Senate during reconciliation. Abortion should not be used as a bargaining chip.

The House already passed a strong pro-life budget. That bill defunded Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion. But it could be erased.

Send your faxes to Congress right now. Insist that members fully defund abortion providers in the budget.

Tell Congress — no abortion funding, no denigration of life — period. Demand a clean, life-honoring funding bill that:

  • Protects Hyde across the bill and related guidance — no back-door workarounds in Obamacare subsidies or billing rules.

  • Blocks abortion by bureaucracy — no mail-order abortion end runs by enforcing the Comstock Act nationwide.

  • Blocks all “pass-through” programs that launder funds through agencies.

  • Halts federal expansion of embryo-destructive IVF and insists on ethical alternatives and strong embryo protections before one more dollar moves.

  • Prioritizes what is truly essential and cuts life-hostile add-ons in a midnight rush.

When leaders show the courage to challenge powerful industries, the media machine howls. Our job is to be the backbone of Congress, be the pro-life guardrails on Capitol Hill — before buttons are pushed and compromising documents are signed.

When believers speak up today, leaders get cover to do the right thing: Keep Hyde strong, stop stealth abortion subsidies, protect embryonic life, and strip life-hostile riders from a late-night deal. That’s how we turn a shutdown scramble into a pro-life standard.

Stand firm in this hour.

Mat Staver, Chairman
John Stemberger, President
Liberty Counsel Action



Take Action

This is a critical fight. Fax Congress now and tell them to pass a life-honoring budget — no abortion funding, no embryo destruction.

Then help push this message to thousands more with a recurring or single gift so we don’t yield a single inch in the next round.

Don't forget to sign our petition if you haven't already.


Sources:

“Duckworth Secures IVF Coverage Expansion for Servicemembers and Military Families in Committee-Passed NDAA.” U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, July 14, 2025. Duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-secures-ivf-coverage-expansion-for-servicemembers-and-military-families-in-committee-passed-ndaa?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

“Expanding Access to in Vitro Fertilization.” The White House, February 18, 2025. Whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/expanding-access-to-in-vitro-fertilization/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Hubbard, Kaia. “Government shutdown live updates as clock ticks closer to midnight deadline.” CBS News, September 30, 2025. Cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/.

Jalonick, Mary Clare, Lisa Mascaro, and Stephen Groves. “US government on brink of first shutdown in almost 7 years amid partisan standoff in Congress.” The Associated Press, September 30, 2025. Apnews.com/article/shutdown-senate-schumer-thune-trump-health-care-b85fe6cdd5d8cdc3e3aa1f4ae889474f.

Salganicoff, Alina, Laurie Sobel, Ivette Gomez, and Amrutha Ramaswamy “The Hyde Amendment and coverage for abortion services under Medicaid in the post-Roe era.” KFF, March 14, 2024. Kff.org/womens-health-policy/the-hyde-amendment-and-coverage-for-abortion-services-under-medicaid-in-the-post-roe-era/.

Sobel, Laurie, Alina Salganicoff, and Rolonda Donelson. “Deja vu: The future of abortion coverage in ACA Marketplace plans.” KFF, September 26, 2025. Kff.org/womens-health-policy/deja-vu-the-future-of-abortion-coverage-in-aca-marketplace-plans/.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. (2024, October 1). 2025 FEHB IVF information. OPM.gov/healthcare-insurance/carriers/fehb/2024/2024-05.pdf.

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