U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) was one of the 38 Democrats who voted against the bill to end the federal government shutdown on Monday, part of a stalwart contingent that insisted — ineffectually — that any spending measure must include an extension of expiring health insurance subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The bill that passed — with the support of eight Senators who caucus with Democrats flipping to vote with the Republican majority — does not include any healthcare provisions. But the Democrats did win some concessions including backpay for federal workers who were furloughed.
[NOTE: Holdout Democrats had faced mounting pressure from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), representing more 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers, to “put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today,” as union president Everett Kelley wrote.]
According to Wyden, there were other wins, too. Prior to the vote on Monday, Wyden complained on Saturday that Republicans “are now trying to sneak a backdoor national abortion ban into their government funding bill. Republicans will stop at nothing to control women’s health care decisions.”
A bit of good news from the Senate: thanks to YOUR grassroots efforts, the Republican backdoor abortion ban has been removed from the final funding deal. I’m going to keep fighting to lower health costs and ensure Republicans can’t get away with a backdoor national abortion ban. https://t.co/aSqS4y8Nu3 pic.twitter.com/xcgIarhqQI
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) November 10, 2025
After the bill passed, Senator Wyden reported: “A bit of good news from the Senate: thanks to YOUR grassroots efforts, the Republican backdoor abortion ban has been removed from the final funding deal. I’m going to keep fighting to lower health costs and ensure Republicans can’t get away with a backdoor national abortion ban.”
Some MAGA supporters on social media balked at Wyden’s claims that there was a backdoor abortion ban in the bill and asked for evidence.
Note: On July 1, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund used the same language when it wrote: “Today, the Senate voted to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood as part of President Trump’s agenda. ‘Defunding’ Planned Parenthood is a backdoor abortion ban that could put health care for 1.1 million patients at risk and force nearly 200 health centers to close, mostly in states where abortion is legal.”