Hyde Amendment Has Not Been Included in Subcommittee Spending Bill

In a sign of what could be coming, a prominent congressional subcommittee passed a spending bill that did not include the Hyde Amendment, which prevents taxpayer funding for abortions. It’s a sign of how radical certain politicians are getting when it comes to the issue of abortion, and soon the whole country will be paying for abortion on demand.

The Hyde Amendment has been a political gentlemen’s agreement for decades, a way to protect the conscience of millions of Americans from being involved in something that they find morally objectionable. But abortion advocates and politicians are becoming more and more radicalized, to the point where the other side no longer matters.

A recent spending bill passed in the House Appropriations labor and health and human services subcommittee did not include the 40-year-old amendment. The Weldon Amendment was also excluded, which prevents federal agencies from denying funding to organizations that do not want or provide abortions, potentially affecting pro-life pregnancy resource centers across the country.

The bill now goes to the full Appropriations Committee, where it will receive markups and go up for another vote.

Based on how sentiments in Washington have changed in the last couple of years and months, getting the Hyde Amendment included will be an immense challenge.

Pro-abortion politicians argue that the Hyde Amendment disproportionally impacts low-income women and families, but does that mean that the rest of the country has to pick up the tab?

Having an abortion is a choice, it’s not a medically necessary procedure. However, in recent years Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups have portrayed it as the most important health care issue when it comes to women.

Alexis McGill-Johnson, Planned Parenthood’s president, even alludes to this in a recent interview with Elle Magazine, downplaying real health care concerns and focusing on abortion as the more critically important issue.

But if being pro-abortion is being pro-choice, why is the rest of the country potentially being forced to pay for another person’s choice to end the life of their preborn child?

Plastic surgery is also a choice, but not one that the federal government or even most private health insurers will pay, except in certain and extreme situations like injuries or accidents. Surely most women who’ve had children wouldn’t mind a tummy tuck, but that’s a procedure that is generally only available to the wealthy who can pay out-of-pocket.

Since low-income women are disproportionally unable to get a tummy tuck, shouldn’t logic dictate, according to abortion supporters, that the rest of the country should pick up the tab for those who can’t afford it?

No, and abortion should be treated the same.

It is not a medically necessary procedure, as there are always life-affirming options for the most extreme situations. If the preborn child or mother is having a serious and life-threatening medical emergency, there are alternatives that medical professionals can explore that can preserve the life of the child and the mother, but the abortion industry doesn’t want the public to know that.

Most of the time, abortion is being considered or performed for reasons other than to protect the life of the mother, rape or incest, the only instances where the taxpayer can pick up the bill. The American public should be protected from those who want an abortion for the sake of convenience. 

Pray that pro-life politicians will stand strong in the face of this change, and that the Hyde Amendment will once again be honored.

Photo from