The U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-208 to pass a spending bill on July 29 that strips away the Hyde Amendment, which keeps taxpayer money from funding abortions in the U.S., and the Helms Amendment, which bars U.S. funds from being used for abortions in other countries.
This is the first time in more than four decades that abortion restrictions have not been included in the annual federal spending bill.
“Democrats in Washington want to use your taxpayer dollars to fund abortions around the world,” posted Franklin Graham on Facebook. “The Helms Amendment … was put in place nearly 50 years ago to prevent this from happening. This week Democrats in the House voted to repeal the Helms Amendment and use U.S. tax dollars to pay for abortions internationally.
“This is not only wrong on every level,” he continued, “but it’s not what the American people want. A Marist poll showed that 76% of Americans said they oppose using tax dollars to support abortion in other countries, while only 21 percent support it. Abortion is murder and has serious repercussions. This bill will go before the Senate next—pray that it will be stopped.”
According to Students for Life Action, the Hyde Amendment alone has saved nearly 2.4 million lives since it was proposed in 1976. Passing a spending bill without Hyde protections is an “unprecedented move, endangering the lives of countless generations to come,” the pro-life organization tweeted.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, pointed out that President Joe Biden himself once supported the Hyde Amendment, “yet Biden-Pelosi Democrats are scrapping this longstanding bipartisan consensus to pander to the global abortion lobby,” she said.
“Abortion is violence against the most vulnerable, not ‘family planning,’” Dannenfelser added. “Americans should never be forced to subsidize abortion on demand through birth at home, to be complicit in human rights abuses overseas, or to export abortion extremism around the globe.
Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, also denounced the elimination of pro-life protections in the spending bill, especially since “consistent polling shows that a majority of Americans want these protections.”
“No one should be forced to compromise their values,” she said, “but especially not on this life-or-death issue.”
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