Jen Kiggans Voted Multiple Times To Restrict Abortion Access Since Being In Congress

Kiggans Voted For H.R. 26, A Bill That Would Have Punished Doctors For Providing Abortion Care

Kiggans Voted For The Born Alive-Survivors Protection Act To Require Health Care Practitioners To Provide Medical Care To Children “Born Alive” After An Abortion Or Attempted Abortion. In January 2023, Kiggans voted for: “Passage of the bill that would require health care practitioners to provide the same care to a child that is ‘born alive’ after an abortion or attempted abortion as they would for a child born at the same gestational age and to ensure the child is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital; require hospital and clinic practitioners and employees to report any knowledge of failures to provide such care; and impose criminal fines and penalties for failures to meet these requirements. It would state that a child born alive under these conditions is a legal person under U.S. law, entitled to the protections of U.S. law, and it would specifically make any act that kills or attempts to kill such a child punishable as murder or attempted murder. The bill would also prohibit the prosecution of the mother of a child born alive after an abortion or attempted abortion and permit such mothers to seek relief through civil action against any person who violates the bill’s requirements, including monetary and punitive damages.” The bill passed by a vote of 220-210. [H.R. 26, Vote #29, 1/11/23; CQ, 1/11/23]

• The Bill Would Establish Criminal Penalties For Doctors Who Did Not Follow Existing Federal Law Requiring Medical Care Be Given To Infants In The Very Unlikely Event Of A Failed Abortion. “Live births during an abortion procedure are exceedingly rare, experts said, and federal law already requires that a baby who survives an attempted abortion receive emergency medical care. The new bill would clarify the standard of care to which doctors are held and lay out penalties for violators. Policy organizations supporting abortion rights said the measure was an effort to discourage women from seeking abortions and doctors from performing them.” [New York Times, 1/11/23]
• The So-Called “Born-Alive” Bill Would Penalize Doctors Who Violated It With A Fine And/Or Up To Five Years In Prison. “(b) Penalties.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever violates subsection (a) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.” [Congress.gov, HR 26, Text, introduced 1/9/23]
• HuffPost: The Bill Could Deprive Parents Of Holding Infants Who May Not Live Much Longer Or Limit Their Options For Medical Interventions. “This legislation could take away a pregnant person’s power to decide what medical interventions they want to receive during an already-emotional time, possibly forcing physicians to prolong an infant’s life for a short period of time before it dies. In certain cases, this could take away parents’ opportunities to hold their infants.” [HuffPost, 1/11/23]
• The Majority Of Abortions Performed Later In Pregnancy “Are Due To Medical Necessity, Not Elective, As The Bill Suggested. “But similar to other anti-choice legislation, the bill is chock-full of misinformation and creates more barriers to care. Reproductive rights advocates and physicians critical of the bill argue that it’s nearly impossible for infants to be born alive during abortions later in pregnancy. Bills like this are also redundant: Murder is already illegal in the U.S. If that’s not enough, the rights of an infant or newborn are already protected by a 2002 law that codified that infants have the same rights as any other human. These bills promote inaccurate ideas about why people get abortions later in pregnancy. The majority of abortions performed later in pregnancy are medically necessary to save the life of the pregnant person or necessary because of a fatal fetal abnormality; they’re not elective.” [HuffPost, 1/11/23]
• The Born Alive Bill Would Punish Doctors For Providing Care To Patients. “The offensively named ‘born-alive’ legislation is another cruel and misguided attempt to interfere with evidence-based medical decision making between patients and their physicians…Laws that ban or criminalize evidence-based care and rely on medically unsupported theories and misinformation are dangerous to families and their clinicians. This bill negatively affects all obstetric and gynecologic care.” [The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, accessed 6/26/23]
• HEADLINE: “House Passes Bill That Could Subject Some Abortion Doctors to Prosecution.” [New York Times, 1/11/23]

Kiggans Voted For The Military Construction-VA Appropriations Bill To Prohibit Abortions At VA Medical Centers

Kiggans Voted For The Military Construction-VA Appropriations Bill To Prohibit Abortions At VA Medical Centers. In July 2023, Kiggans voted for: “Passage of the bill that would, […] also prohibit the use of the bill's funds to provide abortions, to implement a September 2022 VA rule that allows abortion counseling and establishes exceptions for the prohibition on abortions in the medical benefits package for veterans and civilian beneficiaries, to provide surgical procedures or hormone therapies for gender-affirming care, and to fly or display a flag over a VA facility or national cemetery that is not the U.S. flag, military-related or another government jurisdiction. As amended, the bill would prohibit the use of the bill's funds to interfere with a veteran's participation in a legal state medical cannabis program, to enforce COVID-19 mask mandates, and to implement the COVID-19 vaccination program for VA health care personnel.” The Bill was passed by a vote of 219-211. [H.R 4366, Vote #380, 7/26/23; CQ, 7/27/23]

Kiggans Voted For The State-Foreign Operations Appropriations That Would Further Restrict Abortion By Prohibiting “Federal Funding For International Non-Governmental Organizations That Provide Abortion Services”

Kiggans Voted For Passing Fiscal 2024 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations That Would Further Restrict Abortion By Prohibiting “Federal Funding For International Non-Governmental Organizations That Provide Abortion Services.” In September 2023, Kiggans voted for: “Passage of the bill, as amended, that would provide $53.3 billion in federal funding for fiscal 2024. The bill includes a $12.9 billion offset, including $11.1 billion from a rescission of funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund from the fiscal 2022 budget reconciliation bill (PL 117-169). The bill would provide $4.4 billion to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s influence and prohibit the use of funds to repay loans to the Chinese government or to support forced labor, crimes against humanity or genocide in China. The bill would provide $3.1 billion for Israel, $1.5 billion for Egypt and $1.7 billion for Jordan. The bill would also require the executive branch, within 60 days of enactment, to report to Congress on a strategy to prioritize U.S. national security interests in responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and create new monitoring and oversight mechanisms. Among other provisions, the bill would provide $10 billion for global health programs, strike funding for the Green Climate Fund, and reimpose the prohibition on federal funding for international non-governmental organizations that provide abortion services. As amended, the bill would reduce the salary of Secretary of State Antony Blinken to $1, prohibit the use of funds for the Office of Palestinian Affairs, and add language to expand eligibility for security upgrades to soft targets to include places of worship for U.S. embassy staff and their dependents.” The bill passed by a vote of 216-212. [H.R. 4665, Vote #500, 9/28/23; CQ, 9/28/23]

Kiggans Voted To Restrict Abortion Access For Military Personnel In The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act

Kiggans Voted To Restrict Abortion Access For Military Personnel In The Annual Defense Bill. “Representative Jen Kiggans, a minivan-driving mom and Navy veteran, narrowly won election last year in her suburban Virginia swing district after a fiercely competitive race that focused on her opposition to abortion rights. The issue remains a top priority for voters in her district, and appearing too extreme on it could make her vulnerable again when she faces re-election in 2024. But Ms. Kiggans was one of dozens of Republicans from competitive districts who voted this week to support adding a bevy of deeply partisan restrictions to the annual defense policy bill, including one that would reverse a Pentagon policy aimed at preserving access to abortion services for military personnel, no matter where they are stationed.” [New York Times, 7/14/23]

• Kiggans Voted For An Amendment To Prohibit The Defense Department From Paying For Expenses Related To Abortion Services. In July 2023, Kiggans voted for: “Jackson, R-Texas, amendment no. 5 that would repeal a 2022 Defense Department memorandum regarding access to reproductive health care and prohibit the department from paying for or reimbursing expenses relating to abortion services.” The amendment was adopted by a vote of 221-213. [H.R. 2670, Vote #300, 7/13/23; CQ, 7/13/23]
• Kiggans Voted For Authorizing The Defense Budget For Fiscal Year 2024. In July 2023, Kiggans voted for: “Passage of the bill, as amended, that would authorize $874.2 billion in national defense spending, including $841.5 billion for the Defense Department and $32.2 billion for national security programs within the Energy Department. The bill would authorize approximately $168.6 billion for weapons and other procurement and $145.2 billion for military research and development. Within these totals, it would authorize $32.3 billion for shipbuilding; $13.2 billion for Air Force procurement of 83 new F-35 series tactical force aircraft; $17.4 billion for 92 Navy aircraft; $539 million for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent ballistic missile system; and approximately $30 billion for missile defense programs, including $434 million for a hypersonic missile defense system, $498 million for continued development of Guam missile defense systems, $160 million for Israeli missile defense systems and $2.6 billion for a Space Force defendable missile warning satellite system. Within Energy Department funding, it would authorize $23.9 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, primarily for the maintenance of a nuclear weapons stockpile. It would authorize $38.2 billion for the Defense Health Program and $17.5 billion for military construction. It would authorize $9.7 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and $3.6 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative, primarily intended to

counter aggression by China and Russia, respectively. For international assistance and cooperation, it would authorize $4 billion to bolster U.S. and allied forces in Europe against Russian aggression, including $300 million in security assistance to Ukraine; $565 million for the U.S. Africa Command; $398 million for forces in Syria and Iraq combating the Islamic State group; $336 million for a cooperative threat reduction program assisting former Soviet Union countries; $300 million for cooperative research and development programs with Israel; and $210 million for the Baltic Security Initiative. The bill would authorize a 5.2 percent military pay increase and authorize the Defense Department to issue bonuses to junior enlisted servicemembers to counteract inflation. It would authorize $1.1 billion for the Defense Department environmental restoration fund and require the department to undertake various environmental cleanup activities. It would eliminate the position of chief diversity officer within the Defense Department and include various provisions to restrict DOD programs that involve diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory. The bill would establish a special inspector general for Ukraine assistance and require the Defense Department to make plans to increase the energy resiliency of each main operating base in the U.S. European Command zone. It would repeal a 2022 Defense Department memorandum regarding access to reproductive health care and prohibit the department from paying for or reimbursing expenses relating to abortion services; eliminate all Defense Department and Armed Forces offices established to promote diversity, equity and inclusion as well as terminate all personnel within such offices; and prevent the Defense Department from purchasing data of U.S. individuals that would otherwise require a warrant, court order or subpoena.” The bill passed by a vote of 219-210. [H.R. 2670, Vote #328, 7/14/23; CQ, 7/14/23]