Fifty years ago — on Sept. 30, 1976 — Congress first enacted an amendment offered by the late, great Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois to prohibit federal Medicaid funds from being used to subsidize the killing of unborn children by abortion.

During debate in the House, Henry said: “An innocent, defenseless human life, in a caring and humane society deserves better than to be flushed down a toilet or burned in an incinerator.”