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| photo credit: Phil Roeder / Flickr |
Most notably, the bill does not include the protections of the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment has been attached to every spending bill since 1976, blocking the use of federal tax dollars to pay for or subsidize abortions. Without the amendment, the agencies such as the HHS could use tax dollars to fund elective abortions across the country.
The bill also threatens the conscience rights of health care providers who benefit from Medicare Advantage or Title X funding. If a health care provider refuses to provide, pay for, cover, or refer for abortions, pro-abortion HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra will have the power to deny them participation in those programs. Becerra is well-known for going after churches and pro-life pregnancy centers as California's attorney general, where he attempted to force them to pay for abortion under unconstitutional state laws.
The spending bill is expected to be heard soon by the full appropriations committee. After that, it would go before the full House of Representatives for debate and vote.
Comments by House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) indicate that it is likely to pass a vote by the full committee. “Quite frankly, allowing the Hyde Amendment to remain on the books is a disservice not only to our constituents, but also to the values we espouse as a nation,” she said.
Another spending bill threatens to use foreign operations to promote and fund abortion in foreign countries by eliminating the Helms Amendment and Mexico City Policy, which block that kind of spending.
