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Anti-abortion lawmakers led by U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts are pressing for tougher restrictions on using taxpayer money for the procedure, saying an executive order signed recently by President Barack Obama is virtually meaningless.
"The new health care law is riddled with loopholes that allow taxpayer subsidies for coverage that includes abortion," Pitts said in a statement.
"My new bill would extend long-standing policy by preventing federal dollars from being used to pay for abortion coverage."
A similar proposal Pitts co-authored with Democratic U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak failed to make it into the health care law.
Pitts, a conservative Republican who represents the county, introduced the Protect Life Act on Thursday. It would essentially apply the Hyde Amendment — which bans using taxpayer money for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or the endangerment of the mother's life — to the health care law.
The measure has 50 cosponsors, 42 of whom are Republicans.
The Hyde Amendment is not a permanent statute. Instead, it is passed annually in appropriations bills and has been attached to legislation including Department of Defense bills and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
The order signed by Obama in March as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act applies the Hyde Amendment to insurance marketplaces or exchanges that states must create by 2014 under federal health reform.
But Pitts and the 50 cosponsors say the provisions should be made law because "an executive order can be overturned by a court or by a future president," Pitts spokesman Andrew Wimer said.
Anti-abortion activists also believe the executive order applies the Hyde Amendment only in certain contexts.
Additionally, the bill would prevent federal agencies from mandating that private insurance plans cover abortion, as well as write into law provisions protecting health care workers from being penalized for refusing to participate in providing abortions.
The Pitts bill accomplishes the same goals as the amendment that the House approved last November by a vote of 240-194.
"Last fall, a strong bipartisan majority in the House insisted that the pro-life principles of the Hyde Amendment should apply to the new health care law," Pitts said.
"Unfortunately, the legislation ultimately signed by the president lacked these critical safeguards."
The latest bill was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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READ: Protect Life Act (PDF)
