Nancy Pelosi Using $2 Trillion Reconciliation Bill to Force Americans to Fund Abortions

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Nov 18, 2021   |   5:08PM   |   Washington, DC

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Thursday that Democrats’ $2 trillion reconciliation bill will force American taxpayers to fund abortions.

During a press conference, a reporter asked Pelosi if the Hyde Amendment, a long-standing ban on taxpayer-funded abortions, is in the spending bill.

“It’s not in the bill. It’s not in the bill,” the California congresswoman replied.

According to National Review, Democrats excluded both the Hyde and Helms amendments from the legislation, measures that prohibit taxpayer funding for abortions in the United States and other countries.

Bans on taxpayer funding for abortions have widespread public support, according to recent polling. They used to have strong, bipartisan support in Congress, too. Recently, however, the abortion industry and its political allies have been trying to remove these popular measures from spending packages and force taxpayers to pay for the killing of unborn babies in abortions in Medicaid and other programs.

The bill likely will pass the Democrat-controlled House, but its fate is less certain in the U.S. Senate, which is evenly divided along party lines. One Democrat, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, has said he will not support any bill that forces taxpayers to pay for abortions.

However, the reconciliation bill only needs 50 votes to pass the U.S. Senate, so Manchin’s support is sorely needed to stop abortion funding.

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In negotiations, House Democrats did get rid of one section of the reconciliation bill that would have forced taxpayers to fund abortions, “a new ‘Medicaid-like’ program lacking the Hyde amendment … [b]ut other provisions that could fund abortion remain,” according to National Review.

Funding for family planning services and public health grants still do not include language prohibiting taxpayer funding for abortions, Susan B. Anthony List spokeswoman Autumn Christensen told the news outlet.

“Clearly these funds are not covered by the Hyde Amendment,” Christensen said.

SBA List and other pro-life groups are urging Congress to restore the Hyde and Helms amendments to the reconciliation bill to protect both taxpayers and unborn babies.

For decades, most Republican and Democrat lawmakers supported the Hyde Amendment as a regular part of the budget. However, Democrats recently abandoned the public on the issue and sided with the billion-dollar abortion industry in calling for forced taxpayer-funded abortions.

Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has saved an estimated 2.5 million babies’ lives, including about 60,000 each year, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Prior to the amendment, in the 1970s, Americans paid for about 300,000 unborn babies’ abortion deaths each year, according to a report from the Family Research Council.

Polls consistently show strong public support for the Hyde Amendment. In January, a Marist poll found 58 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in the U.S. Additionally, 77 percent oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in other countries. A Harvard/Politico poll also found strong public opposition to taxpayer-funded abortions, especially among low-income Americans.