Washington D.C., Mar 17, 2021 / 08:00 am
The group Democrats for Life of America announced on Tuesday that they will organize a nationwide "Day of Action" in support of the Hyde Amendment.
Named for the late congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois, the Hyde Amendment is longstanding federal policy that prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for elective abortions. However, the policy is not permanent law and must be attached to individual appropriations bills in order to take effect.
House Democratic leaders have pushed for the repeal of the policy in recent years, however, including a group of House members who asked President Joe Biden to leave the policy out of his budget request for the 2022 fiscal year. Biden himself reversed his support for the Hyde Amendment in 2019, and now opposes it.
Last week, the House passed a nearly $2 trillion COVID relief bill without including the Hyde Amendment, a departure from last year's CARES Act which included the abortion funding restrictions and which received bipartisan support.