Six times in one day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats rejected calls for a vote on a bill that would permanently ban taxpayer-funded abortions in Medicaid and other federal programs.
On Thursday, Republicans asked for a unanimous consent request on the House floor to demand a vote on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (House Resolution 18), sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey. However, Democrats who control the House rejected their requests.
The bill would make the Hyde Amendment permanent law and protect taxpayers from being forced to fund the killing of unborn babies in abortions.
The Hyde Amendment, which has strong public support, prohibits taxpayer funding for elective abortions in Medicaid and other federal programs. Since 1976, it has saved an estimated 2.4 million babies’ lives, including about 60,000 each year, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute.
“The bipartisan Hyde Amendment has protected innocent life for decades, but radical Democrats want to get rid of it,” U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas wrote on Twitter. “I asked the House to make Hyde permanent, and I will fight back against any effort to weaken pro-life protections.”
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She joined five other pro-life Republican lawmakers in requesting a vote Thursday on the House floor. The others were U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson, of Iowa, Lisa McClain, of Michigan, Ron Estes, of Kansas, Bob Latta, of Oklahoma, and Gary Palmer of Alabama.
Latta urged Democrats to do their jobs and represent Americans’ interests in the matter.
“This is not a partisan issue,” he said. “One of the most basic ways we can protect innocent life is ensuring that taxpayer money is not being used to fund abortions.”
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. President Joe Biden’s proposed 2022 budget also specifically excludes the pro-life measure.
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.
Pro-abortion Democrats claim taxpayer-funded abortions are needed to help low-income women, but a Harvard/Politico poll found strong opposition to their plan among the very people who they claim to want to help. According to the poll, voters who make more than $75,000 were more supportive of forcing taxpayers to fund abortions (45 percent in favor), while those who make $25,000 or less were strongly against it (24 percent in favor).
Palmer, who also requested a vote on the bill, slammed Democrats for removing the 45-year-old amendment from the federal budget.
“In its 45-year history, the Hyde Amendment has saved 2.4 million lives and protected the conscience rights of millions of Americans,” he responded on Twitter. “To remove it from the federal budget is wrong. I will always stand up for life. Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund abortion.”
Democrats also blocked Republicans’ request to vote on the bill Wednesday.
Research by Charlotte Lozier Institute associate scholar Dr. Michael New estimates the Hyde Amendment has saved about 2.4 million babies from abortions. 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.
