After a marathon 26-hour “vote-a-rama,” the Senate has passed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). Despite a number of changes to the bill, this bill is still a win for the American people, for families, and for protecting innocent children.
While Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) has been tracking and advocating for a number of policies associated with the OBBB, we have been particularly focused on one – defunding Planned Parenthood. Today, we can celebrate that that provision was included in the Senate’s final bill. The provision, which prohibits Medicaid funds from going to big abortion providers for one year, will mark the first time that Congress has ever successfully passed any language to defund the nation’s largest abortion provider.
While this is a significant victory, it is not what CWALAC or the broader pro-life community had initially hoped it would be. The original language out of the House had been to defund Planned Parenthood for 10 years. But due to the Senate’s rigid rules regarding what can and cannot be included in a reconciliation bill, which the OBBB is, that ten-year provision was reduced to one year. A one-year defund means that we must have this fight yet again next year. But by Congress passing this bill, it sets the important precedent that they can, in fact, prevent federal dollars from going to these organizations. That will make future funding fights a little bit easier.
Another win is that the bill increases the Child Tax Credit to $2200 through 2028. It also makes it permanent at $2000 after that period. It is currently at $1000, so this will be a significant boon to families who are struggling financially due to inflation and the economic instability of the past few years.
This bill also creates the very first federal education tax credit. The language awards a tax credit to anyone who donates to a scholarship granting organization (SGO). These groups provide tuition for private schools, tutoring programs, and extracurricular activities for students who otherwise are unable to afford anything outside of the public school system. This will expand school choice without using more taxpayer dollars.
Unfortunately, the provision that would have ended federal funding for gender transition procedures was taken out of the bill at the last moment. The Parliamentarian had previously ruled that the language violated the reconciliation rules, but in an act of defiance, Senate Republicans chose to keep the language in the bill and gamble that it survived the long amendment process. Sadly, that gamble did not pan out.
Despite the significant setbacks, the OBBB is still a big step forward. It makes permanent the significant tax cuts passed in 2017, prioritizes spending for border security, and takes a major step in defunding Planned Parenthood. There is far more work to be done and CWALAC will continue to fight until not a cent of taxpayer dollars goes towards the destruction of human life. But today, we can celebrate this significant step forward. We look toward its speedy passage through the House one last time before going to the President’s desk.