Despite majority, House Democrats swallow anti-abortion spending bill provision

A massive spending deal needed to avert a government shutdown includes an amendment barring the use of federal funds for abortion procedures, despite calls from the Democratic majority to eliminate the policy.

The omnibus bill unveiled overnight by Democrats includes the Hyde Amendment, a federal policy named for the late GOP Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois that prohibits the use of taxpayer funds to pay for elective abortion procedures. The policy was enacted in 1976, three years after the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide. The provision is not permanent law but has been enacted on an annual basis in various pieces of legislation by both Republicans and Democrats.