GOP Cuts Abortion, Needle Exchange Funds for D.C.

Public funding for abortion and needle-exchange programs in the District of Columbia would be banned under the Republican-led House’s bill funding the government through Sept. 30. The provisions, known as “riders,” represent a return to federal control of social policy in the nation’s capital.

Congress has authority over both federal and local funds in the city, and the two parties often have battled over how Washington can use its money on hot-button social issues, including abortion, needle-exchange programs and medical marijuana.

The ban on abortion should come as little surprise, as the new Republican majority is working on several fronts to pass a set of bills that would severely restrict federal subsidies for purchasers of health care plans that cover abortion services and for family-planning groups that use their own funds to pay for abortions.

Under current law, federal funds cannot be used for abortion in the District. But both federal and local funds are available for needle-exchange programs. Notably, the new appropriations bill would not affect a 2010 D.C. law allowing for a medical marijuana program.

The bill also includes an additional $2.3 million for a school-voucher program in the District of Columbia that is favored by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) but opposed by D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray.

Without congressional action, the federal government will run out of the authority to spend money on March 4. However, the bill unveiled by House Republican leaders — which would fund government agencies at $100 billion less than the level proposed by President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget — is not expected to become law.

Instead, the House and Senate must either strike a deal on funding levels for the government or agree to a short-term stopgap measure to buy more time.

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