CV NEWS FEED // Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, told reporters this week that if the House sent over a large spending bill without the Hyde amendment included, the legislation would be “dead on arrival.”
The Catholic Democrat was sticking to his guns on a promise that he made never to vote for spending bills stripped of the Hyde amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding of most abortions.
As the essential 50th Democratic vote in the Senate, Manchin has faced tremendous pressure from President Biden and his allies in Congress, who have made it a new goal to eliminate pro-life protections and force taxpayers to directly fund abortions.
Behind Manchin, however, was another force: The CatholicVote Action Network (CVAN) has kept up a steady flow of grassroots messaging among Catholic voters of both political parties, encouraging many to contact Manchin’s offices.
A CVAN memo encouraged members and their friends to write to Manchin, respectfully urging him to stand firm against the Biden administration’s campaign to end Hyde.
“Hello,” reads one CVAN activist’s message to Manchin:
I’m a voter and a fellow Catholic. I’d like to thank Senator Manchin for his past support of the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment has enjoyed bi-partisan support for over 40 years, but now it’s under attack from a radical fringe in the Senator’s own party. I’m asking the Senator to please vote in accordance with his faith and public promise to preserve the Hyde Amendment and to vote against any possible bypass of Hyde.
“Radical liberals in the Senate, and now President Joe Biden, want to circumvent the will of the American people who do not support taxpayer funding of abortion,” stated an internal memo to CVAN members earlier this year, which also pointed out that Hyde’s prohibition on abortion funding had saved as many as 2.4 million lives since 1976:
One senator has the power to stop this radical proposal –Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). While Senator Manchin has explicitly said that he will insist on Hyde protections being included in appropriations bills, he hasn’t specifically addressed using the reconciliation process to eliminate the Hyde Amendment.
Manchin has since reiterated his position in defense of Hyde, and steadfastly warned progressive members of his party against trying to exclude it — including this week, as mentioned above.
CVAN’s Southwest Florida Chapter Leader Chas DeFeo told CatholicVote Friday that he credits CVAN with providing him and others with the wherewithal to effectively change the course of abortion politics under the Biden presidency. “The CatholicVote Action Network equips me and my chapter members with the tools that we need to be effective advocates for our Catholic values,” DeFeo said. He added that he was excited that his efforts may have contributed to Manchin’s “decision to protect millions of innocent lives.”
Within “just a few short weeks,” CVAN Director Mary Thomas told CatholicVote, “we already see the benefits of equipping faithful Catholics throughout the nation to advocate for our beliefs at every level of government.”
Thomas used CVAN’s “Action Memo,” which included sample emails and phone messages, to mobilize CatholicVote Chapters across the country. Their members “called and emailed Senator Manchin, a fellow Catholic, to thank him for his past support of the Hyde Amendment and to ask him to uphold his Catholic values by ensuring that pro-life protections are included in any federal appropriations bills,” she explained:
Through the CatholicVote Action Network, CatholicVote is helping faithful Catholics throughout the nation unite together to amplify their voices on public policy issues. We are excited to continue to expand the CV Action Network by building more Chapters in every city….
