As Katie warned yesterday, "Biden to Conveniently Drop His Massive Budget Right Before the Holiday Weekend." Sure enough, he did so on Friday. The budget proposal totals $6 trillion, as Reagan highlighted, which means it will amount to the highest level of spending since World War II. The price tag is certainly an issue, but many concerned politicians and everyday Americans are also specifically worried about how the budget does not include Hyde Amendment protections. This could mean taxpayers will be bankrolling elective abortions. This budget rider has passed every year with bipartisan support since 1976.
?? BREAKING NEWS→ President Biden is destroying decades of settled precedent by calling for direct taxpayer-funded abortion.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) May 28, 2021
The #BidenBudget is the most reckless & irresponsible budget proposal in my lifetime. It's wrong for America.
My full statement: https://t.co/wG4atRrWrZ
Now, Republicans are sounding the alarm; Congress is seeing fewer and fewer pro-life Democrats as the Democratic Party becomes more extreme on the issue.
Chairman of the Republican Study Committee Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) organized a letter, which included 200 Republican members of Congress, to pledge such support, as Reagan highlighted in January. The letter was sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Rep. Banks spoke to Townhall about the Hyde Amendment. "By stripping language protecting taxpayers from having to pay for abortions, Joe Biden's going to go down as the most radical and pro-abortion president we've ever had. Even President Obama included the Hyde Amendment in his budget proposals. This isn't your dad's Democrat Party," he said.
A news release from the RSC Chairman also referenced the Hyde Amendment, among other concerns:
The $6 trillion Biden budget is reckless, wasteful and anti-American. It doubles down on the Biden strategy of spending money we don’t have and includes trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. It also fails to include the word “border” or any Hyde protections that prevent taxpayers from having to pay for abortions.
As inflation fears grip American families amidst the rising cost of living, Americans deserve a plan on how to get our spending back on track and a vision for responsible governance. That’s what the Republican Study Committee’s budget provides.
An accompanying chart highlighting differences between the proposed budget from the RSC and from Biden claims to be "Most Pro-Life RSC Budget Ever."
In February, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Steve Daines (R-MT), the latter being the founder and chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, also organized a letter that included 48 signatories. The letter was sent to Majority Leader Schumer.
Such Hyde Amendment protections were also missing from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was billed as providing COVID-19 relief for Americans. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) proposed an amendment to include such protections, which also included support from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), and Tim Kaine (D-VA). It ultimately failed, however.
THREE Democratic senators voted to apply the Hyde Amendment to the COVID relief bill.
— Democrats for Life (@demsforlife) March 6, 2021
1. Tim Kaine (former VP nominee)
2. Joe Manchin
3. Bob Casey Jr.
Thank you @timkaine, @JoeManchinWV, and @SenBobCasey ????????????????
Democratic lawmakers are going after Hyde in other ways. As I reported in March, Democratic women in both chambers have proposed the EACH Act to repeal the amendment. It was previously known as the EACH Woman Act, but keep in mind this is a party that goes through great lengths to deny that only women can get pregnant, using such phrases as "birthing people."
Polls consistently show support for the Hyde Amendment, especially when respondents are accurately informed that the debate is over taxpayers funding elective abortions. Those who claim otherwise often leave out this key detail, such as a poll from All* Above All, which directly seeks to get rid of Hyde.
In just a few short months, President Biden is very much living up to a fear pro-life Americans have long had about the president. Biden no longer supports the Hyde Amendment, as he indicated on the campaign trail. This is despite the president supporting the Hyde Amendment in the past, which has been considered a compromise on the abortion issue for decades. Of course, we also can't forget that the president and his supporters claim he is a "devout" Catholic.
Oddly enough, abortion advocates hellbent on destroying the Hyde Amendment claim Biden isn't doing enough. Perhaps they don't know that the Biden-Harris administration is the most pro-abortion one we've ever had, spending more money funding abortion giant Planned Parenthood than the Obama administration, to the tune of 19 times more by Biden's first 100 days.