The Hyde Amendment, enacted into law each year since 1976 as part of budget legislation, prohibits federal funding of abortions in Medicaid. Members of both parties-including former Senator Joe Biden-have voted for appropriations bills that included Hyde provisions.
Democrats in recent years have stated their intent to repeal the policy. The 2016 Democratic Party platform called for its repeal, and in 2019 some Democratic members made a last-minute effort to repeal the Hyde Amendment in an appropriations bill, which failed.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, President Joe Biden reversed his long-standing support for the Hyde Amendment, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in August that she intended not to include the policy in FY 2022 appropriations bills.
In the senate, meanwhile, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVa.) has vocally supported the Hyde Amendment. Pro-life groups have turned their focus to the moderate senator as a possible vote to oppose pro-abortion policies in the next two years.
Last week, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) supported the Hyde Amendment, in a response to Mark Irons of EWTN News Nightly. Hyde "should not just be a Republican issue. It's an American issue," McCarthy stated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">With Democrats holding power in Washington, <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkIronsMedia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@markironsmedia</a> asks House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPLeader?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GOPLeader</a>, about the future of the Hyde Amendment. It prevents taxpayer money from funding abortions. McCarthy says both parties have supported it for decades. <a href="https://t.co/zFfnVWfzx2">pic.twitter.com/zFfnVWfzx2</a></p>— EWTN News Nightly (@EWTNNewsNightly) <a href="https://twitter.com/EWTNNewsNightly/status/1352340641645162497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2021</a></blockquote>