House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently announced that the Democratic House has decided not to try to end the Hyde Amendment during the election year. Pelosi has long been pushing to end the Hyde Amendment — a legislation in place since 1976 to protect taxpayers from being forced to fund abortions.
While this is good news for the pro-life movement and American taxpayers, POLITICO reported that Pelosi made the move simply to “to avoid a brutal fight they were unlikely to win with a GOP-led Senate.” So, while a victory, all would do well to remember that it is temporary and Democrats will be back at it at the next opportunity.
The Democratic Party’s platform still calls for the removal of the Hyde Amendment, calling it a law that “impede[s] a woman’s access to abortion.” The reverse would be at the expense of the American people regardless of abortion views and would override the conscience of pro-life Americans who believe that babies should not be killed and women harmed by deliberate acts, even if legal.
There are two possible reasons for the Democratic Houses’ decision to back off. The first, as Pelosi alluded to, is that they recognize it’s a losing battle. But it’s a bigger one than they recognize.
Most Americans don’t want to fund abortions, both domestic and abroad. A recent Marist poll reported that 60% of Americans do not want their tax dollars used for U.S. abortions, and that number even includes 37% of people who consider themselves abortion supporters. Furthermore, an incredible majority (75%) of Americans don’t want to fund overseas abortions either.
The second, and more probable reason, is because the Democrats want to attract more moderate votes for a pro-abortion candidate, and they think that backing off of repealing the Hyde Amendment, at least initially, will help attract voters. Moderates should be wary, however, that this is still on the Democratic platform. Their candidate could just as easily go after the Hyde amendment once in office, going against the true majority will of the American people.
Whatever the case may be, it’s safe to say that Democrats haven’t changed their tune on abortion. It’s yet to be seen what tactical advantage they hope to gain from this move, but pro-lifers are smarter than to let a Trojan horse into the White House.
