President Biden’s latest budget, released Monday, has proposed various avenues for supporting abortions with taxpayer money – indicating that abortion supporters in Congress will continue pushing funding despite public opposition.
For FY22, Biden is proposing that Congress not only repeal the decades-old Hyde Amendment, but also related measures that protect against things like overseas abortion funding.
A narrow divide in the Senate helped foil recent pro-abortion attempts to eliminate those protections, but it’s unclear whether the upcoming midterm elections will give abortion advocates the majorities needed to make those wishes come true. If they do, they would overturn decades of bipartisan consensus on the issue while opening the door to millions of lives lost through future abortions. The Charlotte Lozier Institute has estimated that the Hyde Amendment, which restricts funding through Medicaid and other health programs, saved 2.4 million lives.
It’s difficult to predict the exact outcomes of other measures like the Dornan Amendment, which restricts funding for abortions in Washington, D.C. But according to the Associated Press, the district funded at least 300 abortion procedures during a two-year period when lawmakers reversed course on the issue.
READ: Biden administration gives new $37M contribution to pro-abortion UNICEF sex ed program
Taxpayer funding for abortions is generally unpopular, according to polls. One from Marist/Knights of Columbus showed 54% of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion.
Even less popular is funding for overseas abortions (73% either “oppose” or “strongly oppose”), but Biden’s budget contains funding measures that would bypass the Helms amendment, which prevents overseas funding of abortion, as well as the Siljander Amendment, which prevents the funding of overseas lobbying for abortion. That’s on top of the administration’s decision to repeal the Mexico City Policy, which had during the previous administration blocked funding for overseas organizations that refer for abortions.
At home, he’s also seeking to beef up funding for Title X (from $286.479 million to $400 million) – the grant program from which President Trump effectively prevented abortion providers from participating. The Biden administration reversed this rule change almost immediately.
Other measures include increasing money – from $32.5 million to $56 million – for the U.N. Population Fund, in vitro fertilization, and contraceptives at the Veterans Administration.
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