March 1, 2021

House of Representatives Passes $1.9 Trillion Spending Bill without Hyde Protections

After the House of Representatives debated about the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill late into the evening of Feb. 26, the body voted in favor of the bill by a margin of seven votes. The House approved the bill without a single Republican vote, in no-small-part because the bill did not include the protections of the Hyde Amendment. Without the Hyde Amendment language, this gigantic spending bill can be used to funnel taxpayer dollars into the abortion industry.

The Hyde Amendment was a bipartisan set of language tagged onto all Congressional spending bills. After decades of being included in spending bills, this bill threatening to break with tradition is estimated to potentially allow $414 billion to be used to fund elective abortions or insurance plans that cover elective abortions.

On Friday, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who co-chairs the House Pro-Life Caucus, pointed out that the exclusion of Hyde language is “a radical departure from all previous COVID-19 relief laws,” which “mandates taxpayer funding of abortion-on-demand."

On Friday, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) introduced an amendment to re-insert Hyde language into the $1.9 trillion spending bill. 206 members co-sponsored this amendment, but it was ultimately struck down by the Rules Committee.

“Democrat leaders in the House are not interested in the wishes of the majority of Americans who oppose taxpayer funding of abortions,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Democrat leaders are more concerned with fulfilling election-year promises made to pro-abortion groups. Those groups are interested in abortion at any time, anywhere, for any reason, and paid for by taxpayers.”