Pro-Life Groups Lobby for Child-Centered Budget

When it feels like every day brings a new political scandal, lawsuit, executive order, or other media sensation, it’s easy to lose sight of Congress’s most basic function: passing the annual budget. But the budget reconciliation package is a key policy tool that can improve, and even save, human lives.

In a recent coalition letter, pro-life leaders urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) to support the interests of unborn children and their families:

It’s a tough time to be a parent in America. Millions of low-income and working-class parents are straining against the ever-increasing costs of raising a child. Shifting cultural norms and polarization have created a perilous parenting environment. Polling consistently shows that one of the key reasons parents delay or fear childbearing, or even choose to have an abortion, is because of financial strain and related instability. This should not be the case. We need a culture that celebrates life and ensures families have the resources, opportunities, and environment needed to support their children.

The letter advocates expansion of the child tax credit, extension of paid family leave, inclusion of a tax credit to support donations to pregnancy resource centers, and immediate economic support for postpartum expenses. You can read the full text below. Signatories include the leaders of over thirty pro-life organizations, including Secular Pro-Life.