Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said on Tuesday that providing individuals with subsidies under the health care law to purchase health insurance plans that cover abortion services is not considered federal funding of abortion.

"It's not federal funding," she said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "We're saying people have the right to get insurance, whatever insurance they want, and they get a tax credit for providing insurance. We're not spending federal funds on abortion. So, what they are doing is twisting and turning what the meaning is of federal funds that has never been contemplated before."