Lee Demands End of Taxpayer-Funded Abortions for Congressional Staff Dec 5, 2025 WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) led a bicameral letter today with Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and a large coalition from both the House and Senate urging the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to stop administering taxpayer-funded health care plans that include elective abortion coverage for members of Congress and their staff.
End taxpayer-funded health care plans that include elective abortion coverage for members of Congress and their staff.
Occurrences
U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) led a bicameral letter today with Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and a large coalition from both the House and Senate urging the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to stop administering taxpayer-funded health care plans that include elective abortion coverage for members of Congress and their staff.
Lee Demands End of Taxpayer-Funded Abortions for Congressional Staff
We urge you to stop the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from administering government contributions for Members of Congress and Congressional staff in connection with health insurance plans that cover elective abortion, in violation of the longstanding Smith (NJ) Amendment.
Evidence
On December 5, 2025, Senator Mike Lee led a bicameral letter urging the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to cease administering taxpayer-funded health care plans that include elective abortion coverage for members of Congress and their staff. The letter emphasized that such subsidies violate the longstanding Smith Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds for elective abortions.
On December 5, 2025, Senator Steve Daines, along with Senator Mike Lee and other lawmakers, sent a letter to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) urging compliance with the Smith Amendment. The letter highlighted that OPM has been subsidizing health plans covering elective abortions for members of Congress and their staff, in clear violation of federal law.
On April 20, 2026, Senator Todd Young, along with Senator Marsha Blackburn and others, introduced the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act. This legislation aims to prohibit federal family-planning grants from going to entities that perform abortions or fund abortion providers, thereby closing loopholes that allow taxpayer dollars to support abortion services.
OPM states that members of Congress and congressional staff may purchase DC Health Link plans that include elective abortion coverage, provided issuers segregate federal funds so the portion of the premium for elective abortion services and associated administrative costs comes from employee premiums, not the government contribution.
Sen. Mike Lee said he led a bicameral letter urging OPM to stop administering government contributions for congressional health plans that cover elective abortion, and asked for swift action so any DC SHOP plan covering elective abortion would not be eligible for a government contribution.
OPM's Health FAQ says members of Congress and congressional staff may buy DC Health Link plans that include coverage for elective abortion services, and that issuers must segregate federal funds so the government contribution does not pay for that coverage; the same FAQ also says OPM has notified issuers of that requirement.
OPM states that members of Congress and congressional staff may purchase DC Health Link plans that include elective abortion coverage, so long as carriers segregate the elective-abortion portion of premiums and related administrative costs from the government contribution.
Sen. Mike Lee led a bicameral letter urging OPM to stop administering government contributions for congressional health plans that cover elective abortion and to make any DC SHOP plan with elective-abortion coverage ineligible for a government contribution.
Assessments
Mike Lee did not deliver the promised policy change. The operative federal policy still allows members of Congress and congressional staff to enroll in DC Health Link plans that include elective abortion coverage, with the government contribution permitted so long as the abortion-related portion of premiums and administrative costs is segregated from federal funds. Lee did make a serious effort by leading a bicameral letter in December 2025 urging OPM to end that practice and enforce the Smith Amendment more aggressively, but that advocacy did not produce the promised outcome. Under the stated rules, a serious but unsuccessful attempt counts as never with effort credit.
Mike Lee led and co-led letters urging OPM to stop subsidizing congressional health plans that cover elective abortion, which counts as serious advocacy, but the underlying policy still remains in place: OPM continues to allow members of Congress and staff to buy plans with elective abortion coverage, using fund segregation rather than a ban. Because the promised outcome was not achieved, this is a failed effort rather than delivery.
The promised outcome was not delivered: OPM still states that members of Congress and congressional staff may buy DC Health Link plans that include elective abortion coverage, with issuer fund-segregation rules rather than a ban on government contributions to such plans. Lee did materially advance the issue by leading a bicameral letter to OPM in December 2025 demanding that OPM stop administering taxpayer-funded congressional health plans with elective abortion coverage, but the evidence shows no resulting policy change. Because this was a serious executive-pressure effort that failed to achieve the promised outcome, the correct outcome is never with an effort badge.
Senator Mike Lee led a bicameral effort, including co-authoring and sending letters to the Office of Personnel Management demanding an end to taxpayer-funded health care plans with elective abortion coverage for Congress and staff, but there is no evidence the policy was actually changed or the promise delivered. Legislative attempts linked to related abortion funding issues do not constitute fulfillment of the specific promise. Significant effort was made, but the promised outcome was not achieved.