Tell Congress to Prioritize Healthcare as a Basic Human Right
Currently, five of the twelve appropriations bills presented by the United States House of Representatives pose grave threat to our communities. The House is intending to cut funding for access to maternal and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, suicide prevention, mitigating substance abuse, and addressing sexual violence.
God has called us to an abundant life. Our charge, as people of faith, is to pursue it. As United Methodists, we continue to affirm that equitable, comprehensive, and quality healthcare is a basic human right (2016 Social Principles, The Social Community).
Currently, five of the twelve appropriations bills presented by the United States House of Representatives pose grave threat to our communities. The House is intending to cut funding for access to maternal and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, suicide prevention, mitigating substance abuse, and addressing sexual violence. If enacted, these bills would:
Prohibit Veteran’s Affairs from implementing its interim final rule to provide abortions and abortion counseling (included in H.R. 8580 – Military Construction, Veteran Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025)
Decrease funding for programs to improve maternal and child health by $362 million below the fiscal year 2024 level; and prohibit the United States from contributing to the United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA) – threatening women’s health globally (included in H.R. 8771 – Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2025)
Block access to abortion and reproductive healthcare services; cut funding for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program by $190 million – eliminating funding for the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative; eliminate funding for the Center for Disease Control’s Center on Injury Prevention – a cut of $761 million, which supports Opioid Overdose Prevention and Surveillance, Rape Prevention, Suicide Prevention, and Tobacco Prevention and Control (included in the proposed Labor, Health and Human Services, Education spending bill)
Further limit women’s access to abortion by preventing service personnel from traveling to seek reproductive healthcare (included in H.R. 8774 – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025)
Bar funding for litigation against States or local governments regarding abortion laws (included in the proposed Commerce, Justice, Science, spending bill)
What the House has passed as funding levels for fiscal year 2025 cannot become law. These measures are severely misaligned with our collective pursuit of health equity. Your urgent advocacy is needed. Use the form below to demand Congress to prioritize grace over greed.
