Democrats approve spending bill that would fund abortions for first time in 45 years

House Democrats first advanced the Department of Health and Human Services spending package out of committee on July 12 without including the rider, known as the Hyde Amendment. President Joe Biden, who for decades opposed taxpayer funding of abortion, buckled to liberal pressure during his campaign and said he supported removing the Hyde Amendment.

The legislation in question, the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, is part of the “minibus,” a more limited version of the omnibus spending packages that fund the entire government at once.

The Hyde Amendment bans federal funding from being used to cover the cost of abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or endangerment of the woman’s life. The rider was also excluded from Biden’s $6 trillion budget request submitted in May. Under the Hyde Amendment, states can fund abortion services for the poor as long as they do not touch federal money.

“For decades, the Hyde amendment has prevented women of color and low-income people from receiving basic healthcare,” said Katherine Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat, on Thursday. “This is discrimination. The legal right to an abortion is meaningless if you are unable to afford one.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Anti-abortion rights advocates, such as March for Life President Jeanne Mancini, railed against Democrats ahead of the vote on Thursday, calling the Hyde Amendment an important provision to “protect the American public from funding or providing abortions against their will.”

“Pro-abortion Democrats have again eliminated pro-life riders,” such as the Hyde Amendment, from the spending bill, Mancini said. “No one should be forced to compromise their values, but especially not on this life-or-death issue.”