For the first time ever, the Democratic platform is explicitly calling for a repeal of the Hyde amendment, a longstanding budget measure that prohibits federal funding of abortion except in very rare cases.
Polling shows that American voters overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. Even staunchly pro-choice Democrats like Joe Biden and Tim Kaine have supported the Hyde amendment. The issue nearly stopped Obamacare in a strongly Democratic Congress in 2010 and played a key role in flipping the House later that year (even though Democrats denied the law funded abortion).
If you need any more proof that Democrats know that opposing the Hyde amendment is a politically toxic position to take, watch this exchange last night from a debate between Democrat Randy Perkins and Republican Brian Mast in Florida’s 18th congressional district, a swing seat just north of Palm Beach:
When the moderator asked Perkins if he opposed the Hyde amendment, the Democrat replied that he’s “1,000 percent pro-choice” but would not say if he would vote to repeal the Hyde amendment.
“We have an amendment in place. If we want to bring that back in front of Congress and discuss removing that amendment, then I will have a vote when that time comes and I will exercise my vote along with 435 other members when it comes to that particular issue,” Perkins said.
In response to Perkins’ claim that he’s “one-thousand percent pro-choice,” Mast replied: “Does that mean that you’re a proponent for partial-birth abortion, that you’re a proponent for third-trimester abortions, that you believe the unborn have absolutely no rights?” These were all questions that Perkins did not answer.
It says something about how politically dangerous it is to support taxpayer funding of abortion that a South Florida Democrat feels comfortable saying that he’s “1,000 percent pro-choice” but will not admit how he would vote on the Hyde amendment.
Perkins isn’t the only Democrat trying to duck the question. Pennsylvania Senate candidate Katie McGinty also refused to say how she’d vote on Hyde. Ohio Senate candidate Ted Strickland, however, admitted on August 2 that he opposes the Hyde amendment. At the time, Strickland was trailing by four percentage points. He’s now losing by nearly 16 points.
As Republicans make the case that a GOP Congress is necessary to check Hillary Clinton, highlighting Democratic support for unlimited taxpayer funding of elective abortion could be a top example of the kind of extreme agenda Clinton would impose if given the chance.
