politics. >> c-span'sroducer reports the house ways and means committee has approved a bipartisan tax package on aot of 40-3. legislation would expand the child tax credit and reinstate business tax credits that we part of the trump 2017 tax credits law. texas, -- senate majority leader chuck schumer and finance committee chair ron wyden announced their support for the tax package earlier this week. the white house appears to be on board with the plan. bloomberg news is reporting the white house pressecretary said today that the tax deal is a welcomed ste forward and we believe congress should pass it. the house and the senate are expected to consider the bill later this year. you can read more at bloomberg.com and follow

c-span's capitol hill producer for the latest news. ♪ >> a healthy democracy does not just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. citizens are truly informed. a republic thrives. informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. the 2024 march for life is set to take place on the national mall in washington today. joining us to talk about the debate is sarah mccammon, npr correspondent and host of the politics podcast, joining us from new hampshire. good morning. guest: good morning. host: two years into the post

-roe v. wade era, what is the message today at the march for life? guest: they said the theme is going to be with everywoman for every child and that is a reflection of where the movement is headed in terms of its messaging. this is something i have been reporting on for a while. in the years leading up to the overturn of roe v. wade, the goal of the antiabortion movement was to get there, to overturn roe v. wade and get enough conservative senators elected, get a conservative president to elect not justices to achieve that goal. that is something donald trump promised. they achieve that adrian have to go after decades of work. now there has been it it it in the messaging as we have seen the impact of that decision. that allowed state antiabortion laws to go into effect all across the country and we see many cases of not just people

being turned away for abortion, but patients with severe medical situations in states like texas and oklahoma and elsewhere being told they cannot get an abortion because of abortion laws. at this him time, i did reporting -- at the same time, i did reporting about how these antiabortion groups that work with pregnant women and women who had decided not to have abortions, they were getting an influx of calls from women seeking help in states like texas. the landscape has changed in terms of the reality on the ground and the politics around abortion. we are seeing a greater emphasis from the antiabortion movement on talking about ways to support pregnant people and parents. how that happens is a political question. they're also pushing for more abortion restrictions. host: let me show viewers the

physical landscape of capitol hill today. the mitral life that you took was on the national mall on the west front of the u.s. capitol. it is a snowy day here in washington. for folks who have been to the smart for life events in the past, usually well attended, what are organizers saying about the storm in washington and who is going to be addressing the folks? guest: i have heard several of these as today i am in new hampshire on the republican primary campaign trail, but these marches bring thousands of anti-bush demonstrators to the national mall. sometimes that is a smaller crowd when it is called. this year's speakers, in line with that there, they are bringing someone who runs a crisis permitted center in vermont -- crisis pregnancy

center in vermont. they usually do not provide conference if reproductive health care, they do not provide health control. other leaders like jim daly with focus on the family, that has been an inferential group in the antiabortion rights group. house speaker mike johnson is on the schedule to speak along with several others. these rallies typically bring in heavy hitters in the christian right and also members of congress as well as uses go buses -- uc school buses of catholic kids from schools in d.c. and beyond. all over the country, but it tends to be from the northwest from the northeast -- from the northeast. this is a year after the roe v. wade decision which shows what a priority the antiabortion movement has been. host: c-span coverage of the

march for life begins at noon eastern. viewers can watch here on c-span, c-span.org, and the free video app. you mention speaker mike johnson is going to be addressing the crowd, coming off of a week in which two abortion-related bills were considered in the house. i want to show viewers and minute and a half of the speaker johnson talking about those. [video clip] rep. johnson: you hurt my colleagues articulate some of that. we want to be get easier for working mothers and moms and dads to start raising a family. that is why republicans are voting on two pieces of legislation. supporting pregnant and parenting women and families act and the pregnant students rights act. across the country, these pregnancy resource centers are doing heroic work. they are helping moms and dads

as they deal with the realities of pregnancy and the challenges of raising children. across the country, state governments rely on these centers to provide life-changing emotional and material support. that is support that empowers children to bring -- parents to. bring children into the world. we want to make sure the centers can continue to serve families in every state and are not needlessly cut out of the funding process by the biden administration. you heard what is happening here with tenant funds. we want to make sure moms in college on opposite with the full stories of being a mama being a student. if an expect a mom is pursuing her degree, we want to make sure she knows all the resources are available to her so she can continue her studies and finish her degree while caring for her child. those resources are out there. house republicans will show the emergent people we are not only a voice for the most formable, we also want to take action to protect them and their families. host: that was speaker johnson

on wednesday. sarah mccammon, what happened with that legislation by the end of this week and what is the state in descendant? guest: these pieces of legislation are part of this larger effort i was talking about earlier to reshape the messaging around the antiabortion movement, to focus less publicly on abortion restrictions and more on the idea while groups oppose abortion rights, they want to help mothers and families struggling with unintended or unwanted pregnancies. the objection to this legislation and this concept is usually these centers these legislations would find doc provided full spectrum of reproductive health care. they counsel women against abortion. they often provide limited support services, caps off and referrals to medicaid.

a few of them have medical staff on hand but most do not. there has been a lot of criticism that these bills would seek to find -- of what these bills would seek to fund. this is a part of a larger debate, the movement has been trying to move public funding toward these centers that align with their ideological goals, something the trump administration try to do by reforming the title x family planning program. it has always received pushback from democrats. host: speaking of democrats and the white house, also a focus on abortion and work in excess this week. coming up on the 51st anniversary of roe v. wade. as we noted, a little more than two years since it was overturned. monday, vice president kamala harris highlighting abortion access while giving a speech in south carolina.

this is about 40 seconds. [video clip] v.p. harris: today across our nation extremists propose and pass laws to attack a woman's freedom to make decisions about her own body. laws that would even make no exception for rape and incest. let us all agree, one does not have to abandon their faith and deeply held beliefs to agree to government should not be telling her what to do with her body. host: that was the vice president on monday. sarah mccammon on this push by the white house, by the biden campaign ahead of the 2024 election? guest: this is a big focus for the administration.

on tuesday, the anniversary for the roe v. wade decision which was overturned but is still a significant landmark anniversary for the abortion rights movement , president biden announced he and first lady jill biden and kamala harris will be at a luncheon focused on abortion rights. this is leading up to the remainder of the 2024 campaign this year. they will be working closely with the democratic party on this and they will kick it off with a rally in northern virginia. the reason is that we saw in the last two elections, the 2023 election and the 2022 midterms, every time abortion was on the ballot, voters voted to support abortion rights. this is true in red states that had abortion related ballot measures. it is harder to disentangle the

issues when you are looking at legislative races or something as big as the presidential race where voters are thinking about many concerns, including the economy and immigration. when the question is isolated, we have seen in response to the decision what looks like a real backlash. exit polls indicated this was a very motivating issue for democratic voters and particularly for key constituencies including women and younger voters. democrats are well aware of that and they plan to keep pushing the issue into 2024. as they did last year. democrats spend tens of men's of dollars on abortion related ads, more than four times what republicans place on that issue. they have a political advantage around the issue at this point. the landscape has changed with the overturning of roe v. wade. it is no longer a hypothetical

question, we see in the states the impact of this. host: sarah mccammon has covered the abortion debate in this country a long time and spending her time this weekend in new hampshire covering the primary. phone lines if you want to call in, democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. she is with us for the next 15 or 20 minutes this morning. in vermont, the line for democrats, this is timothy. caller: good morning. just speaking in general terms, if in -- if i may, especially on the right, they love the fetus but haiti child -- but hate the child.

you have this dichotomy going on . the pro-life movement and you juxtapose it to the fact that republicans want to shut down snap benefits and all the things that would help the child and demographically it goes down to lower income people and minorities. it is a hypocrisy of epic proportions. host: sarah mccammon on how timothy describes that debate. are you hearing that from members as well? guest: i hear that from democrats and abortion-rights supporters. it has been a criticism of the antiabortion movement and something they are trying to respond to with messaging around

providing support for families. as he alluded to, there is a political question. philosophically, conservatives or republicans tend to be less supportive of public support for health care programs and childcare and the initiatives often ported to as ways to do that, to help low income parents and parents who might not feel fully prepared to raise a child. there is some difference of opinion within the antiabortion movement of how to navigate this. some groups since the overturning of roe v. wade have called for the entire movement to step up and advocate more support for these programs. we have seen small steps in some states where abortion rights have extended the medicaid coverage time period. other things like this proposal

that passed the house and probably doesn't have much of a future and a descendant, -- in the senate, to direct public funds to pregnancy crisis centers, the way to do it is a big question. i think many abortion rights supporters would say those funds should go to organizations that provide a full spectrum of care, including abortion when is desired or needed. that is a perception the tara bush and movement is trying to -- that is the perception the antiabortion movement is trying to push back against. host: this is david for republicans, good morning. caller: good morning. i coincidentally cut -- caught kamala harris's speech. i thought i would listen to it. it was the most halting, stumbling speech.

the cadence, the adjectives, she needs a much better speechwriter. especially abortion. the substance of the whole issue for me, i will give you my opinion, i am right on the fence. i am not one side or the other. i am sure there are exceptions. i know is a touchy subject -- it is a touchy subject. kamala harris needs a good speechwriter. if she wrote that herself, that is not an impressive way to communicate to the american public. host: sarah mccammon on the roles the white house has as the

president as a surrogate for this issue. guest: white house has given her -- on this issue. you see her speaking about it after the aftermath of the dobbs decision and she has met with abortion-rights groups to talk about strategy. usually those meetings are closed to the press. i cannot say a lot about that. this has been part of her portfolio from the beginning. it is an issue that is on people's minds. she is the first female vice president. i am sure there is a reason -- it is understandable this is an issue that primary affects women. it is something she has been tasked with. one of the caller's other comments on the complexity of the issue, this is something i hear from republican voters on the campaign trail. now that roe v. wade has been overturned, i don't hear people talk as much about abortion -- i

don't hear as much talk about abortion as a driving issue for republicans. in iowa and new hampshire anecdotally, i hear that roe was overturned and i hear focusing on the other issues, immigration and the economy for sure. this illustrates that this was for a long, galvanizing issue for republicans. now that the reality on the ground is different, it gives democrats the advantage. host: you mentioned iowa, this is missy in bloomfield. independent. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think you are wrong on that. most american people do not want the government in our business. you are asking for the federal government to get involved in an

individual's right and tell them what they cannick, do. what we want is the right to be able to distinguish and vote, us as the american people, vote on whether we want to be right for any abortion or not and limit when that abortion should be able to be held. i am sorry, but when you are up to having that baby had everything and all of a sudden you decide you don't want that baby so you want any abortion, i don't think so. that baby feels, that baby moves. with it coming back to the states, it gives the individuals a chance to vote and choose for themselves of what we want rather than our government telling us what we are going to have or not have. host: on that point, you have covered his individual -- of these individual state

referendums on abortion access. what is the next flashpoint for this when we look at 2024? is this on the ballot in more states? guest: despite what the caller said, in seven states where abortion has been on the ballot in in the past two years, in every case voters have cited with the proportions -- pro abortion-rights. the language of each is different and i want to get into the weeds, but in some cases there were efforts to restrict abortions that were pushed back. in ohio, there was a proposal to protect abortion-rights. i spent time in ohio reporting on that. in response to the reality of these abortion restrictions, ohio is a state where the amendment was approved by voters. ohio had any early abortion ban

that restricted abortion after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest. ohio was a state that led to that tragic national story a couple of years ago about the 10-year-old girl who had to travel out of state for any abortion after she was a rape victim -- an abortion after she was a rape victim. even a state that is arguably pretty red, voters said they wanted to protect access to abortion. the specifics of that amendment allowed for some wiggle room, not so much later on. that is also in line with public opinion. they kids are pulling suggest most americans support some access to abortion, particularly earlier in pregnancy, particularly in situations where there is a medical crisis. there is less support later in pregnancy. to the caller's point, she talks

about people deciding last minute not to give birth. that is extremely rare. just over 1% of abortions happen after 21 weeks. pregnancy is 40 weeks, sometimes longer. the reality is later abortions are rare because of serious medical complications. about this coming year, there are efforts in several states to put abortion related measures on the ballot. those are usually coming from abortion-rights groups who want to protect abortion access in their state law. a couple of states to watch our arizona and florida, those are presidential battleground states and with robust efforts underway. host: you are in new hampshire for this primary weekend. of the top three candidates left in the republican primary, who talks about abortion and roe v. wade the most on the campaign

trail? guest: i would say it is something they have generally avoided. the politics of abortion at this point are a much more winning issue for democrats than republicans. the reality of the republican primary is all of the major candidates, those still in the race and those who were in the race until recently support the overturning of roe v. wade. they say that was a good decision. they are unaware of how popular some of these state laws are and aware of the political risk. the disagreement we have seen among presidential candidates is really over how much to restrict abortion in this environment. should there be a national ban or should be left to the states -- should it be left to the states? former vice president mike pence

when he was in the race was going out his rebels to support national ban. that is something that is politically not likely anytime soon, even if the republicans took the white house. it became a political argument and mike pence call on his rebels to support a 15 week ban. nikki haley is a south carolina governor who has labeled herself conservative but is going after moderate and independent voters, she has been much more careful in her language around abortion. she said i am pro-life but i don't judge anyone for being pro-choice. it is not clear what that means in terms of policy. if a six week ban came to her desk, she said she would have signed it as governor. she got some backlash on that. she has tried to steer clear of

ban -- steer clear of the national ban. president trump has resized ron desantis for sending a six week ban in florida. he said there was a terrible mistake but former president trump has bragged about being responsible for the overturning of roe v. wade. he is trying to have it both ways, where that this issue does energize republicans still to some extent and that moderate voters -- it is not popular with margaret voters that you need -- not popular with moderate voters that you needed to win an election. host: you mention florida as a state to watch this election cycle. this is frank out of fort lauderdale, republican line. caller: i would like to talk about the funding speaker

johnson talked about earlier in your segment. for many years planned parenthood has been getting around $500 million annually for their services. that is the largest abortion provider in the u.s. and in the world. crisis pregnancy centers here in florida, under governor bush, he started to assist the pregnancy health centers with some funding. when a continued that -- governor desantis has continued that. is not fair for the federal government and taxpayers to fund abortion through planned parenthood and not to help the pregnancy health centers. host: let me let you take that up on funding. guest: there is something called the hyde amendment which

restricts federal funds from being spent on abortions in all directions. that is in place, democrats would like to remove it but it is still in place. planned parenthood does receive substantial funding. they say it is not used for abortion and cannot be used for abortion under federal law. this is something groups have objected to for some time. there are a lot of unmet needs. i went to texas after dobbs and i saw what antiabortion groups were doing to house women who had children and could not support them. however those needs are met, they exist and we will continue to see political debate around those needs, particularly in an environment where abortion is restricted. host: if you want to watch live coverage of the march for life today on capitol hill, our coverage begins at noon eastern here on