Family Research Council Defends the Hyde Amendment as House Democrats Try to Eliminate It

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tomorrow House Democrats will hold a hearing before the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee in order to attack and undermine the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment prevents tax dollars from being used to pay for abortions and has been included in every federal spending bill since 1976, saving an estimated 2.4 million unborn lives. Family Research Council today published an issue analysis titled "Taxpayer Funding of Abortion and Abortion Businesses" which makes clear just how our taxpayer dollars prop up the abortion industry and what can be done to stop it. Over 60 percent of Americans, including 35 percent of Democrats, oppose taxpayer funding of abortions.

FRC Legislative Assistant Connor Semelsberger, who handles federal pro-life policy and authored the publication, explained: "Under a potential Biden administration, many of the pro-life accomplishments we have seen under President Trump will be repealed. Despite having the narrowest House majority since the 1800s, there have been direct calls from Democrat leaders in Congress to remove the Hyde Amendment and Mexico City Policy, which prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortion at home and abroad. This is why it is vital to pass federal legislation like the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act protecting taxpayers from subsidizing abortion. Abortion is not healthcare and should not be funded as such."

"The American people disagree on whether or not abortion should be legal," noted Mary Szoch, FRC Director of the Center for Life and Human Dignity, "but everyone—especially those who call themselves 'pro-choice'—should be able to agree that forcing taxpayers to fund a practice that they believe is inherently evil is wrong. Since 1976, Americans have agreed on this and have passed the Hyde Amendment—which bans federal funding for abortions—with bipartisan support. Abortion ends the life of a distinct human being. American tax-payers opposed to this practice should not be required to pay for this atrocity. A culture of life demands nothing less."

Quena Gonzalez, FRC Director of State & Local Affairs, added: "For all these reasons, FRC has developed model provisions that states can use—together or a la carte—to more completely protect their taxpayers from subsidizing the abortion industry. Twenty-three states have taken some steps to defund abortion procedures, but even in those states work remains to close loopholes. While another fifteen states have enacted state Hyde amendments, duplicating the federal law prohibiting Medicaid funds from paying for elective abortions, they have not restricted Medicaid or other funds from flowing to the abortion industry. Thus, taxpayers in those states are still indirectly subsidizing abortion by paying for Planned Parenthood's front office, building, and overhead."

To read the full FRC publication "Taxpayer Funding of Abortion and Abortion Businesses," visit https://frc.org/hyde.

For an interactive map that breaks down state abortion funding, visit https://frc.org/prolifemaps.

SOURCE Family Research Council

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