A Bill to permanently prevent taxes being spent on abortion in the US has been passed by the House of Representatives.
The vote came as an estimated 300,000 people held a pro-life rally in Washington DC to mark 42 years since abortion was legalised in the country.
President of March for Life Jeanne Monahan-Mancini said the purpose of the event was to “build a culture of life”.
Speak for the unborn
One pro-lifer told the BBC she was there “to speak for the unborn who don’t have someone to fight for them”.
The House of Representatives voted 242 – 179 in favour of a Bill which blocks federal funding for abortion, and prevents tax credits being collected for insurance plans that cover abortion.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy had urged his colleagues to “stand with the hundreds of thousands of people out on the Mall right now by voting for this bill”.
Violate conscience
President of the Family Research Council Tony Perkins welcomed the move.
He said: “Americans have been forced to violate their conscience and religious convictions long enough by being made to fund President Obama’s massive abortion scheme.”
The measure is unlikely to become law, as the White House has said it will veto the Bill, saying it “unnecessarily restricts women’s reproductive freedom”.
Pro-life rally
The Republican Party had hoped to pass legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks, when babies are said to feel pain in the womb – but the Bill was dropped at the last minute.
On Sunday, 45,000 people attended a pro-life rally in Paris.
The Paris March for Life founder Cécile Edel addressed the crowds at the end of the event, saying that when abortion was legalised in France forty years ago “something new entered into our laws: no less than a license to kill”.
She also spoke about the dangers of legalising euthanasia, which the French Parliament is set to debate later this year.