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- Congress included what’s known as the Hyde Amendment in its $1.5 trillion spending plan.
- Biden previously vowed to repeal the amendment, a sign of declining support for the abortion funding restrictions.
- The House is expected to vote on the plan as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
President Joe Biden will likely be forced to put his pledge to end a federal restriction on public funding for abortions on hold in order to fund the government and rush nearly $14 billion worth of aid to Ukraine.
Congressional lawmakers included what’s known as the “Hyde Amendment” in their sweeping $1.5 trillion spending plan. The amendment and similar efforts restrict the use of various types of federal funds for most abortions.
The House was expected to pass the plan on Wednesday afternoon, but lawmakers hit a snag over the inclusion of billions in COVID-19-related funding. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi later said the roughly $15 billion would be pulled from the bill.
Lawmakers from across the spectrum supported the Hyde Amendment for years, a sign both of its sticking power and the difficulty of weeding out funding restrictions from federal policy. But in recent years, abortion-rights groups have pressured Democrats to repeal the ban entirely.
Biden, who supported the amendment for years, reversed himself during the 2020 Democratic primaries amid pressure from activists and fellow Democrats. His budget, which is a non-binding document, proposed scrapping the amendment, which is named after its original co-sponsor Republican Rep. Henry Hyde. The House passed its own spending bill in June that excluded the Hyde Amendment.
The debate also comes as the Supreme Court weighs the largest challenge to abortion rights since its landmark 1973 Roe. v. Wade decision.
Republicans have drawn a red line over their support of the funding restriction. Their opposition is incredibly important given that funding bills need 60 votes, so bipartisanship is paramount and even with narrow majorities Democrats must cater to some of their demands.
“A broad, bipartisan coalition agreed the American taxpayer should not be forced to underwrite this nightmare. And by the way, a strong majority of Americans still agree!” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor in August 2021.
Top abortion rights organizations touted their earlier progress in undermining the Hyde Amendment but lamented that their fight failed to secure an outright repeal.
“Despite the historic progress made this year under President Biden and Congressional leaders, a spending package that includes the Hyde Amendment and fails to permanently repeal the global gag rule in yet another federal budget — at the insistence of members of Congress who work to restrict reproductive rights — is deeply disappointing,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.
Kristin Ford, vice president of communications and research at NARAL Pro-Choice America, added, “Unfortunately, there is still a long road ahead to ensure that abortion coverage bans are a relic of the past.”
Some Democrats also still support the amendment. Sen. Tim Kaine, the party’s 2016 vice presidential nominee, told The Washington Post this week that he still supports the restriction, as do Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
The White House did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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