CV NEWS FEED // The Biden administration is pushing for the passage of a massive COVID relief package that would include increased funding for community health services. The plan quietly excludes pro-life Hyde Amendment protections, however, and would therefore use taxpayer dollars to boost funding for the abortion industry.
As the American Rescue Plan approaches a final vote in the Senate, pro-life Americans are watching Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, to see if he will stand by his recent pro-life pledge to protect the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion.
“As a life-long Catholic, I have always been pro-life and believe that the Hyde amendment ensures federal funds are not used to perform abortions anywhere in the country,” Manchin stated in December. “Repealing the Hyde amendment would be foolish and I’m strongly opposed to this push from some Members of Congress.”
Manchin keeping his word in the upcoming COVID relief vote would be in stark contrast to Joe Biden’s recent reversal on the abortion issue. As CatholicVote reported:
At the beginning of his campaign in 2019, Biden did express support for the Hyde Amendment. [But the] promise was short-lived. After only two days of pushback from abortion advocates, Biden reversed his position and denounced Hyde.
The new COVID relief package can pass the Senate via budget reconciliation with a simple majority, and with no need for a single GOP vote. But if the Democrats cannot gain any GOP votes, they will need every single Democrat in the Senate to vote for the bill. That means Manchin, a Democrat, is in a strong position to demand that the pro-life protections of the Hyde Amendment be present in the COVID relief bill.