HR73-119

What This Bill Does

The Abortion Is Not Health Care Act amends Internal Revenue Code section 213, which governs the medical-expense deduction. It adds a rule that an amount paid during the taxable year for an abortion cannot be taken into account when determining the deduction under section 213(a). The change applies to taxable years beginning after the date of enactment. The bill does not criminalize abortion or regulate providers directly; it removes abortion costs from deductible medical expenses for taxpayers who itemize and otherwise qualify for the medical-expense deduction.

Who Benefits and How

Anti-abortion taxpayers and organizations benefit because the federal tax code would no longer subsidize abortion expenses through the medical-expense deduction. Federal revenue collections may benefit modestly because fewer medical expenses qualify for deduction. Tax administrators benefit from a clear statutory exclusion for one category of medical spending, reducing ambiguity about abortion payments under section 213.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Taxpayers who pay for abortions and itemize medical expenses lose the ability to count those costs toward the section 213 deduction. Reproductive-health patients who face large out-of-pocket abortion costs may have higher after-tax costs. Tax preparers and IRS staff must update guidance, forms, software, and audit rules to exclude abortion payments for taxable years after enactment. Abortion funds and clinics may need to explain that payments are not deductible medical expenses under federal law if the bill is enacted.

Key Provisions

• Amends Internal Revenue Code section 213 to exclude abortion payments from deductible medical expenses.
• Applies the exclusion to taxable years beginning after enactment.
• Leaves other medical-expense deduction rules intact while removing abortion costs from the calculation.
• Requires IRS, tax software, and tax preparers to apply a new category-specific exclusion.