Sponsors (8)
The bill eliminates most federal tax deductions for abortion—preventing indirect taxpayer subsidization and clarifying deductible rules—while increasing out‑of‑pocket costs for many women (especially low‑income), creating privacy and administrative burdens for patients and clinicians, and adding IRS compliance complexity.
Taxpayers who oppose abortion will no longer indirectly subsidize most abortions through the tax code because abortion expenses are disallowed as a medical deduction except in narrow exceptions.
The bill clarifies and narrows which medical expenses are deductible for abortion, reducing ambiguity about deductible items and potentially limiting some types of tax-related fraud or misuse.
Women who pay for abortions that do not meet the narrow exceptions (life‑threatening conditions, rape, incest) cannot claim the medical expense deduction, raising their after‑tax cost and disproportionately burdening low‑income women who are less able to absorb out‑of‑pocket expenses.
Patients and physicians may face privacy and administrative burdens from requirements to obtain physician certification of medical necessity to qualify for the narrow deduction exceptions.
The change adds complexity for taxpayers and the IRS in determining when an abortion qualifies for a deduction, increasing compliance costs, enforcement burdens, and potential for audits or disputes.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Eliminates federal income tax deductibility of abortion expenses except for physician‑certified life‑threatening conditions or pregnancies from rape or incest.
Prohibits taxpayers from deducting abortion expenses as medical expenses on federal income tax returns, with two narrow exceptions: when a physician certifies the abortion is necessary to prevent the woman's death or when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. The change amends the federal tax code and applies to taxable years beginning after enactment.
Official title: Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that amounts paid for an abortion are not taken into account for purposes of the deduction for medical expenses.
Introduced January 24, 2025 by Mike Lee · Last progress January 24, 2025