As the federal government shutdown drags on, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is calling for an immediate reopening of government operations—while also urging Congress not to neglect moral and life-protecting principles in the process.
In an October 2025 letter to lawmakers, the bishops reaffirmed that Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits are “an important tool for ensuring affordable access to health care for millions of Americans.” However, they warned that the subsidies must not fund insurance plans that include elective abortion coverage, emphasizing that federal dollars should not “cover the destruction of human life, which is antithetical to authentic health care.”
Republicans in Congress have pressed for a “clean” continuing resolution—one that reopens the government immediately and delays negotiations over ACA subsidies. They argue that Democrats are using the shutdown as leverage to force an extension of those subsidies. Democrats, meanwhile, contend that this is their only opportunity to ensure that subsidies remain in place before open enrollment, claiming delay could threaten coverage for millions of lower-income Americans.
The bishops’ message bridges these partisan divides. They urge an end to the shutdown, noting that the most vulnerable—families relying on food programs, low-income workers, and government contractors—are suffering. Yet they also insist that any agreement must protect conscience rights and the sanctity of human life.
Some may argue that abortion funding is already prohibited by the long-standing Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funds from paying for elective abortions. However, because the ACA premium tax credits are appropriated through the Treasury Department, not through the Labor–Health and Human Services spending bill to which the Hyde Amendment applies, it may be possible for certain insurance plans to effectively sidestep Hyde’s protections. At the very least, since the ACA language allows insurance companies to collect surcharges to help pay for abortions, it still muddies the water and raises serious moral objections, such as happened in Maryland. The bishops are calling for an end to this loophole.
Republican leaders have also claimed that the dispute involves providing “free health care to illegal aliens.” This claim is basically false, or at best, misleading. Under current federal law, immigrants who are in the country without legal status are not eligible for Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace coverage or for federal health-care subsidies. The only federal health-care assistance available to undocumented immigrants is emergency medical care, where hospitals are required to treat anyone in a life-threatening situation regardless of status; those hospitals may later receive limited reimbursement through Medicaid’s emergency-services provisions.
What this issue is truly about, is immigrants who are lawfully present under certain temporary or humanitarian statuses—such as refugees, asylees, individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or some parole programs. These groups are legally in the U.S. and many previously qualified for ACA marketplace coverage and subsidies. Many of these 1.5 million who are legally present in the United States but are not U.S. citizens will lose their marketplace coverage or access to Medicaid in 2026, if it is not restored. There is certainly disagreement among party leaders about whether persons with these legal immigration statuses should qualify for marketplace coverage, but that is not the same as claiming that the issue concerns “illegal aliens”, which is an entirely different category.
While the U.S. bishops did not say anything about this immigration status debate in their most recent letter, they have generally supported ensuring that all persons lawfully present in the country—including those in vulnerable or transitional immigration categories—have access to basic health care coverage consistent with human dignity.
Ultimately, the USCCB’s position remains nonpartisan but deeply principled: end the shutdown, protect the poor, and ensure that health-care funding aligns with moral law. As their letter concludes, “Health care is not just about policy; it is about human dignity. It must protect life at every stage.”