The House Ways and Means Committee just approved a new bill that could halt the tax-free reimbursement of abortion expenses from flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs).
If the bill were to make it out of Congress, reimbursement for most abortion-related expenses would be added to an FSA/HSA participant’s taxable income. Currently, abortion-related reimbursements are treated like any other covered medical expenses.
The bill passed the committee by a 22-14 vote, reported Business Insurance.
It will now go before the full House of Representatives.
In the bill, there are a few exceptions in which abortion reimbursements would remain tax free — such as:
- If the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, and
- If the woman suffered from a disorder, injury or illness that a physician deemed harmful enough to place her in danger of dying unless an abortion was performed.
In addition, the bill would prevent individuals from including abortion-related medical expenses in the equation when adding up itemized medical expenses for tax deduction purposes.
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