A House Democratic health care memo asks the party to restore a federal right to abortion within its first 100 hours if Democrats win the House majority.
Story Highlights
- The 84-page memo, dated Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, went to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
- It comes from the House Democrats’ Cost-of-Living Healthcare Working Group, led by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Terri Sewell of Alabama.
- Pro-life groups that studied the memo tie its abortion goal to two bills, H.R. 12 and H.R. 4611.
- Taxpayer-paid abortion coverage is also on the group’s agenda, separate from the 100-hour list.
- It is a plan, not law. A Senate filibuster and President Trump’s veto stand in the way.
The memo was written to set House Democrats’ health care priorities for the first 100 hours, the first 100 days and the first year of the next Congress, which is due to meet in January 2027, if the party wins control of the House in the Nov. 3 election. Jeffries has said, “House Democrats are poised to take back the majority.” Its list for the first 100 hours includes restoring a federal right to abortion care, part of a section the memo calls “Restore reproductive freedom nationwide.”
AOC memo plots extreme pro-#abortion agenda if Democrats win #midterms.
The House Democrats’ Cost-of-Living Healthcare Working Group outlined a plan that includes a federal 'right' to abortion and taxpayer funding after the election if they gain power.
https://t.co/q0SOOSEoZk— Kattoliko Pensiero (@kattolikamente) October 10, 2026
Who Is Behind It
Jeffries set up the working group in June 2026 and picked Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive New York Democrat, and Sewell, a Democrat who represents part of Alabama, to lead it. Its job was to lay out what Democrats would do about health care costs if they take the House. The memo’s abortion plans came to wide notice through the National Right to Life Committee, a national pro-life group, and pro-life news outlets.
The Bills Pro-Life Groups Point To
Pro-life groups link the 100-hour abortion goal to two bills. The first is H.R. 12, the Women’s Health Protection Act. According to pro-life groups, it would treat abortion as ordinary health care and bar any state limit that is “more burdensome than those restrictions imposed on medically comparable procedures.” Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs ruling sent abortion law back to the states, many states have passed laws protecting unborn children. Pro-life groups say this bill would wipe many of those laws away.
The second is H.R. 4611, the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act, known as the EACH Act. It goes beyond the abortion right and deals with who pays.
What It Would Mean for Taxpayers
The EACH Act would end the Hyde Amendment. Hyde is a rule Congress first passed in 1976 and has renewed in spending bills ever since. It keeps most federal tax dollars from paying for abortions. According to pro-life groups, ending it would make abortion free to the patient for people covered by Medicaid, the government health plan for low-income Americans, by veterans’ health care and by federal employee plans.
The memo’s 100-hour list names only the federal right to abortion. Taxpayer-funded coverage appears elsewhere on the group’s agenda. Either way, millions of Americans who object to abortion on moral or religious grounds would see their tax dollars pay for it if the EACH Act became law.
Why It Is Still Only a Plan
Winning the House would not be enough. In the Senate, most bills need 60 votes to get past a filibuster, the rule that lets a minority of senators block a vote. Any bill that did pass both chambers would then face President Trump, who can veto it. Overriding a veto takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.
For pro-life families, the memo is a clear look at what one group of House Democrats wants at the top of the list if their party wins the gavel. The election on Nov. 3 will decide whether they get the chance to try.
Sources:
liveaction.org, notthebee.com, politico.com
