Maryland passes bill that would provide $25 million to fund abortion

CNA Staff, Mar 19, 2025 / 13:10 pm (CNA).

The Maryland Senate passed a bill Monday that would allow $25 million in funding to go toward abortions. 

The grant program is designed to fund abortions for women whose insurance does not cover the procedure, using money from premium funds collected by health insurance carriers.  

If approved by the state’s governor, the program would become the first of its kind in the country.

Funding for the Public Health Abortion Grant Program would require “certain premium funds collected by health insurance carriers be used to provide certain coverage and to support improving access to abortion care clinical services under certain circumstances,” according to the text of the bill. 

The grant program was approved in the House last week and in the Senate on Monday. The two bills must be reconciled before legislators send a final version to be signed by the state’s governor, Wes Moore.

Moore has a track record of pro-abortion action and has pledged his support “for a woman’s right to choose.”  

In 2025, Maryland voted overwhelmingly in favor of enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution via an amendment that passed with roughly 75% voting yes. The state has no gestational limits on abortion. Its broad acceptance of abortion makes it an abortion destination for some in neighboring states such as West Virginia. 

A similar bill did not pass last year due to legal concerns over the use of insurance company funds to support abortion clinics. 

The grant program is designed to ensure that uninsured or underinsured women have funding for abortions. The funding comes from a dollar-per-month fee that certain insurers are required to collect on every policy under the Affordable Care Act. The fund has grown to $25 million over time, increasing by about $3 million annually.

The Senate bill was sponsored by Guy Guzzone, D-Howard, chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee. Lesley Lopez, D-Montgomery, and other delegates sponsored the House bill. 

A local report said the legislators’ debates over the bill grew heated and emotional over the past few weeks, with legislators on both sides of the aisle bringing up their own personal experiences.

The Maryland Catholic Conference has encouraged lawmakers to redirect resources toward pregnancy support rather than abortion, calling on local Catholics to take action via a statewide alert. 

Jenny Kraska, the Maryland Catholic Conference executive director, urged the state government to put funds toward mothers in need.

“Instead of allocating public funds to expand abortion access, our state should prioritize policies that support mothers in need, provide real health care solutions, and affirm the dignity of both mother and child,” Kraska told CNA.

Kraska also shared her concerns that taxpayer funding could go toward abortion.

“We also hope that the federal government will act to ensure that taxpayer dollars cannot be used in this manner to fund or subsidize abortion at the state level,” she said.

If signed, the bill would go into effect July 1.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262823/maryland-passes-bill-that-would-provide-25-dollars-million-to-fund-abortion