The controversial “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” H.R. 7, which passed the House yesterday, could trigger some fireworks. When the measure was reported out of the very male House Judiciary Committee without amendment last week, female Democratic lawmakers protested in the hallway outside. And groups on both sides have been using it to drum up donations and urge their supporters to call their representatives.

The bill, which has garnered the ire of women’s issues and abortion rights groups, would disallow the use of tax credits to help subsidize purchases of health insurance by individuals. About 20 states have barred health plans offered in their exchanges under President Obama’s health care overhaul from covering abortion; the House-passed measure essentially would extend those bans nationwide and make permanent the Hyde amendment — a provision that has been approved over and over since 1976 that forbids the use of federal funds for abortions and prohibits Washington, D.C., from using its own funds to provide financial assistance to low-income women seeking abortions.

The measure has very little chance of passing the Senate, and compared to heavyweight bills like the Affordable Care Act, H.R. 7 received relatively little lobbying attention. The usual suspects on either side of the debate, such as Planned Parenthood and Right to Life, listed it on their reports, as well as the Traditional Values Coalition, the Christian Coalition, Susan B Anthony List, and the National Council of Jewish Women.

The bill’s main author, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), has clear support from the anti-abortion side of the debate. His second-largest donor in the first nine months of the 2014 election cycle is the Family Research Council PAC, which gave Smith $5,000.

The 2012 data show support from anti-abortion interests to 85 of H.R.7’s 171 cosponsors, with the average donation coming to just over $4,000 per House recipient. Smith was on the high end, taking in $14,800 from anti-abortion interests in the 2012 election cycle.

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On the pro-abortion rights side of the fence, though, campaign contributions are coming in fast and furious in the 2014 cycle. Pro-abortion rights groups made donations to 63 different House members through September 2013, with an average donation of around $4,000 per recipient.

In the 2012 cycle, pro-abortion rights interests dispersed significantly more campaign cash per House member than their foes on the other side, with an average donation topping $10,000 per representative.

None of these numbers factor in candidate-independent outside spending by super PACs and political nonprofits, which could be a game-changer for vulnerable House members running for re-election in 2014; abortion and contraception are set to be issues in many upcoming races.

Follow Sarah on Twitter: @sflocken

Image: Activists on both sides of the abortion issue rally at the Supreme Court last year (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)





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