The U.S. House of Representatives voted to eliminate federal funding for abortion yesterday, with a vote of 238-183. The Hyde Amendment was used for decades to prevent federal funds from being spent on abortions, mostly through Medicaid, but the Hyde Amendment needed to be renewed yearly. H.R. 7, which was supported by all the Republicans and even a few Democrats, will make the Hyde Amendment permanent. Speaker Paul Ryan made the following statement after the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” was passed:
“We are a pro-life Congress. I want to thank Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) for his tireless commitment to this cause. This legislation protects the conscience of American taxpayers by ensuring that not a single dollar of their hard-earned money goes to fund abortions. As hundreds of thousands of Americans flock to Washington for the March for Life, we must never forget that defending all of our people—especially the defenseless—must be our top priority if we want to be a good and moral nation.”
Although Democrats like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) condemned the legislation for returning the country to a “disgraceful era,” the American public supports the decision. The Family Research Council (FRC) pointed to a recent poll, which shows that the majority of the public doesn’t want its taxpayer dollars being used to pay for abortions. Our friends at Family Research Council reported on a new Marist poll released yesterday:
Americans overwhelmingly support President Trump’s move to defund abortion groups — even more so abroad (83 percent). Among some of the key findings:
‘Almost six in ten Americans expressed ‘moral objections’ to abortion, including 59 percent of political Independents, 63 percent of African-Americans, 62 percent of Latinos, and even 40 percent of Democrats. Half of Millennials said abortion was ‘morally wrong.’ Half of respondents said abortion ‘does more harm than good’ to a woman’s life in the long-term, including more Millennials (44 percent) who said it does than who said it improves a woman’s life (40 percent).’
What’s more, the survey found that just because someone is ‘pro-choice’ doesn’t mean they’re anti-restriction. ‘Seventy-four percent of Americans — including 54 percent who identify as pro-choice — are in favor of “significant restrictions” on abortion.’ And that crosses all racial and political lines. In that case, people everywhere should have been thrilled with the House’s passage of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act earlier today. The victory is an enormous one — not just for Americans, but for the unborn.
It remains to be seen how California government officials will react to this decision, with the state dependant on tens of billions of federal dollars to support various healthcare programs. Just this week, Governor Jerry Brown renewed his support for the country’s biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, in his State of the State speech. And Democrat leaders wrapped themselves in pink earlier this month as they spoke in support of Planned Parenthood at a State Capitol rally.
Our friends at World Magazine have also written an excellent explanation of the issue.
