House members urge Biden to reinstate Hyde Amendment to budget proposals – Catholic Philly
WASHINGTON (CNS) – To propose a budget without the Hyde Amendment “is an affront to the majority of Americans who do not want their taxes to fund abortion on demand resulting in the death of infants in the womb,” said 172 members of the United States House of Representatives. in a July 1 letter to President Joe Biden.
“We know you understand this. You got it – or at least you did it once, ”they said.
“Years ago, you wrote to a voter explaining that an abortion funding law would ‘protect both the woman and her unborn child,’” their letter read. “You wrote: ‘I have always – on no less than 50 occasions – voted against federal funding for abortions. … Those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be forced to pay for it. ‘ “
So-Sen. Biden made the comments in a 1994 letter to a voter concerned that health care reform proposals under consideration by Congress at the time would include abortion coverage.
In his 2007 memoir, “Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics,” Biden wrote, “I have stuck to my middle position on abortion for over 30 years. I still vote against partial birth abortion and federal funding.
Biden’s proposed $ 6 trillion budget for fiscal year 2022, which he released on May 28, includes his nearly $ 2.7 trillion U.S. jobs plan and plan for families US $ 1.8 trillion. He would invest heavily in areas the president has said are his top priorities, including infrastructure, education, research, public health, paid family leave and child care.
In his budget proposal, the letter says, Biden calls “for the removal of the Hyde Amendment and several long-standing, modest pro-life protections that have long been the subject of legislative consensus.”
“Your budget breaks with this historic two-party system,” he declared. “Your budget would double by forcing taxpayers to fund plans that cover elective abortion by permanently establishing premium tax credits and supporting a so-called ‘public option’ for government-run health insurance that would cover abortion. “
The Hyde Amendment first became law in 1976 to prohibit the use of federal funds allocated through the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services and related agencies to cover abortion or fund health plans covering abortion, except where rape, incest or the woman’s life would be in danger.
Hyde has been replenished in spending bills every year since its passage.
More than 2.4 million people are alive today because of Hyde, House members wrote, citing statistics from more than 20 peer-reviewed studies. About 60,000 children are “spared from abortion every year” under Hyde and their mothers have received prenatal health care and support, they said.
Biden’s proposed budget increases funding for abortion providers – “both nationally,” through Title X, “and internationally,” through the United Nations Population Fund, known as the UNFPA.
Title X, enacted by the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970, currently provides approximately $ 286 million per year for reproductive health care for low-income patients, in addition to wellness exams, screenings cervical and breast cancer, contraceptives, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
Article 1008 of the law stipulates that “none of the funds allocated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning”.
In February 2019, the Trump administration implemented the “Protecting Life Rule” enforcing Section 1008, and the 9th United States Court of Appeals upheld the rule in February 2020. The Biden administration has put an end to the Trump policy.
Biden proposed that $ 56 million from his State Department budget go to UNFPA and, according to the letter from House members, he removed “even the modest protections that President Barack Obama signed to prohibit UNFPA fund abortions and prohibit UNFPA funds from being used directly for national programs in China.
“This omission,” the letter said, “sends a disturbing signal at a time when the ongoing campaign of genocide in China is widely covered, including by forcing abortions and sterilizations on Uyghurs and other minority populations.”
Biden’s budget would also repeal the Dornan Amendment, which states that no funds allocated by Congress can pay for abortion in the District of Columbia.
“Mr. President, if your words (on the day of the investiture) that” the dream of justice for all will no longer be postponed “are to have any real meaning, the lives of unborn children must be included and their past lives must be included. be protected “, the letter mentioned.
“Justice demands that the Hyde Amendment and all pro-life protections be reinstated in your budget request and kept in the appropriation legislation for fiscal year 2022,” he added.
A recent poll found that nearly 60% of Americans oppose using taxpayer dollars to pay for a woman’s abortion, he said. “Americans should not be forced to fund an act that denies the most basic human right, the right to life, to unborn children. “
The Biden letter was led by Rep. Chris Smith, RN.J., co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Who is chair of the Republican study committee, as well as representatives Andy Harris, R-Md., Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., And Kat Cammack, R-Fla., Who are also co-chairs of the Pro-Life Caucus.
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Follow Asher on Twitter: @jlasher
