The prolife Hyde Amendment has survived by a single vote.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined with all Republican senators to pass an amendment prohibiting federal dollars from being used for abortions, keeping a law on the books that has had bipartisan support since the 1970s.
The move was derided by Democrats who increasingly support abortion until birth, including at taxpayer expense.
The amendment was added to the Senate’s $3.5 trillion budget resolution. The legislative provision must be renewed annually and that has been backed by every president since Jimmy Carter. Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both pro-abortion presidents, signed budgets that included the Hyde Amendment. President Biden opposes the Hyde Amendment, as do Democratic leaders and most Democrat members in the House and Senate.
Manchin joined every Republican present to support the amendment, which was sponsored by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. If Manchin had voted no, the amendment would have failed. Pro-life groups say the Hyde Amendment has saved more than two million lives.
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“We should all be able to agree — no American should be forced to pay for an abortion through taxpayer dollars,” Lankford said in a news release. “Just because a child is inside the womb does not mean they should be treated any differently by law. My amendment restates the long-term agreement that no taxpayer dollars fund an abortion and no American should be punished for refusing to participate in an abortion. That should not be controversial.”
A Marist/Knights of Columbus poll this year found that by a margin of 58-38 percent, Americans oppose using taxpayer money to fund abortions. The Susan B. Anthony List also applauded the vote.
“West Virginia is a deeply pro-life state, and Senator Manchin’s courageous votes have not gone unnoticed,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List said in a statement.
Manchin has been described as a thorn in the side of Democrat leaders as he blocks some of the more controversial and radical policies put forth by the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The Hyde Amendment is not the only departure from Democrats for the Senator. Manchin this week voiced his opposition to the $3.5 trillion budget-busting Democrat stimulus plan.
“Over the past year, Congress has injected more than $5 trillion of stimulus into the American economy – more than any time since World War II – to respond to the pandemic. The challenge we now face is different: millions of jobs remain unfilled across the country and rising inflation rates are now an unavoidable tax on the wages and income of every American,” he states. “Adding trillions of dollars more to nearly $29 trillion of national debt, without any consideration of the negative effects on our children and grandchildren, is one of those decisions that has become far too easy in Washington.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
