It may be difficult for pro-life advocates to believe, but Hillary Clinton’s relationship with abortion rights advocates hasn’t been without its occasional difficulties.
In the heat of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, NARAL Pro-Choice America passed over Clinton to give its endorsement to Barack Obama. That’s because Hillary supports the “safe, legal and rare” framework that her husband put forward but which abortion advocates now say stigmatizes abortion, or at least those who want it to be perfectly commonplace. And in July, after undercover videos showed Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the sale of aborted baby body parts, Hillary initially called the images “disturbing.”
But now the abortion lobby and Clinton are making clear that there is no daylight between them.
At an event in New Hampshire on Sunday, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the advocacy arm of America’s largest abortion business, formally endorsed Clinton for president, the first time it has made an endorsement in a presidential primary. In accepting the endorsement, Clinton called for the repeal of the Hyde amendment, which since 1976 has forbidden the use of taxpayer Medicaid funds for abortion except to save the life of the mother or in cases of incest or rape.
Over the last four decades, the Hyde amendment has become politically sacrosanct. No matter which party controlled the presidency or Congress, the Hyde amendment was included in the appropriations bill with little or no argument. Polls routinely show overwhelming opposition to taxpayer funding of elective abortions.
Indeed, while there are many controversial issues surrounding abortion, whether taxpayers should be compelled to pay for elective abortions has rarely been one of them.
But in her acceptance speech, Clinton called for the repeal of “laws on the book like the Hyde amendment [which make] it harder for low-income women to exercise their full rights.”
This comes ahead of a year in which abortion will be prominent on the political and legal landscape. The Supreme Court will decide two prominent abortion cases this year, Congress and state legislatures will consider hundreds of abortion-related bills and of course there will be the usual battles over funding of Planned Parenthood.
All of this will provide Hillary with many more chances to prove her abortion bona fides or, from the viewpoint of pro-lifers, her abortion extremism.
Daniel Allott is deputy commentary editor for the Washington Examiner
