Arkansas A.G. Asks Congress to Restore Hyde Amendment to Federal Budget

by Jerry Cox: On Monday Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge joined 21 other state attorneys general in signing a letter asking Congress to restore the Hyde Amendment to the proposed federal budget.

The Hyde Amendment is a bipartisan budget provision. It’s been on every federal budget since 1976.

It generally protects Americans from being forced to subsidize abortions with their tax dollars, except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life or physical health are in jeopardy.

Without the Hyde Amendment, federal funds could be used to pay for elective abortions.

Earlier this year President Biden proposed a $6 trillion federal budget, but the proposal did not include the traditional Hyde Amendment language to protect taxpayers from funding abortions.

If adopted, President Biden’s budget could open the door to publicly funded abortion in America.

The letter that A.G. Rutledge signed on Monday notes,Nearly sixty percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, including “a majority of independents” and even “a notable proportion of Democrats.” . . .

Studies of the Hyde Amendment have found that it has saved the lives of millions of unborn children—saving 2.13 million lives in its first forty years alone, and saving over 60,000 lives per year today.

Taxpayer funding of abortion defies common sense, both fiscally and ethically, and is no way to “unify America.” We call on you to reject the President’s invitation to join in this perilous pursuit.Public opinion polling shows Americans overwhelmingly oppose paying for abortions with taxpayer dollars.

Even though Americans are divided on whether abortion is right or wrong, generally speaking, most believe abortion should be completely illegal or legal only in a few cases.

In other words, getting rid of the Hyde Amendment would be grossly out of step with the rest of the country.
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Jerry Cox is director of Family Council in Arkansas.

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