Image
December 8, 2020

Legislators Must Defend the Hyde Amendment as Abortion Activists Want Taxpayer Funding of All Abortions

Students for Life Action Calls on Legislators in Both Parties to Defend Hyde Amendment Protections in Coming Budgets as Abortion Activists Push Taxpayer Funding of All Abortion

“This hearing is more evidence that the abortion industry is looking to cash in on their political investment in this election, as activists called for new taxpayer funding for abortion and an end to the Hyde Amendment, which has had bipartisan support from abortion extremists like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for years,” said SFLActions’ Kristan Hawkins.

WASHINGTON D.C. (12-08-2020) – Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins noted that a radical abortion agenda was laid out in a hearing today, in which a lone pro-life voice was heard. Chairwoman Nita Lowey of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies called for the Hyde Amendment to be ended in a virtual hearing titled “The Impact on Women Seeking an Abortion but are Denied Because of an Inability to Pay.” The Hyde Amendment limits taxpayer funded abortion to cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger. “Americans consistently say that they don’t want to pay for all abortions in the United States, which is what getting rid of the Hyde Amendment is all about. And pro-life Americans celebrate the fact that the Hyde Amendment has saved more than 2 million lives since 1976,” said Hawkins.

Writing in Slate, William Saletan has noted “Abortion Funding isn’t as popular as Democrats think.” He reports:

“In every poll, a plurality of Americans opposes public funding of abortions. In every poll but one, that plurality is a majority. The questions vary, but the result is the same. Respondents support “banning federal funding for abortion” except in rape cases or to save the woman’s life (Politico/Morning Consult, 2019). They believe that “government health insurance programs for low-income women, like Medicaid,” should not “cover abortion” (PRRI, 2018). They oppose “using tax dollars to pay for a woman’s abortion” (Marist, 2019). They oppose allowing “Medicaid funds to be used to pay for abortions” (Politico/Harvard, 2016). When they’re told that “the Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funds from being used to fund abortions, except in the case of incest, rape or to save the life of the mother,” they endorse the amendment (YouGov, 2016). These polls aren’t close. The average gap between the pro-funding and anti-funding positions is 19 percentage points.” (emphasis added.)

Christina Marie Bennett, communications director at the Family Institute of Connecticut, was the only voice calling for continuation of the Hyde Amendment. She told her own story about how her mother had considered aborting her but chose life with some encouragement and detailed the social costs of abortion on her community.

“It’s not racist to preserve black lives,” noted Bennett, countering earlier testimony from Dr. Herminia Palacio, President and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, who called Hyde Amendment “a racist policy” even though a huge percentage of the lives lost to abortion are in the Black community.

Bennett also highlighted the racist roots of Planned Parenthood, illustrated here in an op-ed from Hawkins at USA Today.

Hawkins observed: “The vast majority of the abortion vendors have set up shop in minority neighborhoods, which can be seen in the scarce statistics available at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though they are only 13% of the female population, African Americans made up 38% of all abortions tracked in 2016.”

For interviews, contact Kristi Hamrick at [email protected].

–30–

Students for Life Action (SFLAction) is the 501c4 sister organization of Students for Life of America (SFLA), the nation’s largest, pro-life, student organization with more than 1,240 groups on middle, high school, and university campuses in all 50 states. Students for Life has more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry every day, week, and year than any other pro-life outreach in the world and mobilizes the Pro-Life Generation to confront abortion at the local, state and national levels daily. Every week, Students for Life entities reach more than 2 million people across social media platforms to have nearly 200,000 digital conversations with the most engaged pro-life online audience in the world.

Students for Life of America (SFLA) is the nation’s largest, pro-life, youth organization. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, SFLA serves more than 1,240 groups on college and university, middle and high school, medical and law school campuses in all 50 states. Student pro-life organizations work to confront policies on their campuses to support pregnant and parenting students, to end Planned Parenthood’s relationships with schools and communities, and to change minds of their peers about abortion. SFLA has more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry every day, week, and year than any other pro-life outreach in the world and mobilizes the Pro-Life Generation to confront abortion at the local, state and national levels daily. Every week, Students for Life entities reach more than 2 million people across social media platforms to have nearly 200,000 digital conversations with the most engaged pro-life online audience in the world.