Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
Last week's House speaker vote overshadowed the adoption of a Republican rules package that includes bills on abortion and fentanyl that GOP leadership plans to bring to the floor in the coming weeks.
Why it matters: The bills lay out House Republicans' immediate health care priorities for the 119th Congress and revive a pair of measures the chamber passed in the last session.
Zoom in: The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would require clinicians to provide care to infants in those rare instances where they're born alive after an abortion.
- Violators could face fines or serve up to five years in prison.
- The bill was passed largely on party lines in January 2023 and marked the first antiabortion bill approved by the House since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.
- It subsequently died in the Senate.
The other bill covered by the rules package is the HALT Fentanyl Act, which would permanently designate fentanyl-related substances under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
- This designation covers drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The bill would establish mandatory minimum sentences without parole for distribution of fentanyl-related substances.
- The bill passed the House in May 2023 with the support of 74 Democrats.
- President Biden signaled his support, but the bill was never taken up by the Senate.
What's next: The bills still need to be scheduled for consideration on the House floor.
