CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 13:30 pm
Government must support mothers and children instead of paying for abortions, members of Congress heard at a Tuesday hearing on taxpayer-funded abortion.
"Free abortion is not in the best interest of our communities. We need health care, better housing, paid leave, affordable day care," said Christina Bennett, communications director at the Family Institute of Connecticut, at a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee held on Dec. 8.
The hearing, titled, The Impact on Women Seeking an Abortion but are Denied Because of an Inability to Pay, included discussion of the Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer funding of abortions through Medicaid reimbursements, has been law for 44 years. It was first enacted in 1976 and has been passed by Congress each year as a rider to appropriations bills.
Although the amendment has had bipartisan support, Democrats have pushed for its repeal in recent years. President-elect Joe Biden now opposes it, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she would work to repeal it in the next Congress.