Study: Hyde Amendment has saved 2.4 million lives, approximately 60,000 per year

Last week, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research organization associated with the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), released a new study on the Hyde Amendment, a pro-life rider that must be added to a Department of Health and Human Services appropriations bill, and has been added each year since first introduced by Rep. Henry Hyde in 1976. The Lozier study found that as of July 1, 2020, 2.4 million lives have been saved by the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal taxpayer funding of elective abortion through Medicaid and other government programs.

Previous research on the Hyde Amendment by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, released in 2016 for the 40th anniversary of the Amendment, found that it saves approximately 60,000 preborn babies from abortion each year.

READ: For Planned Parenthood, repealing the Hyde Amendment is about profit

Polling consistently shows the majority of Americans support preventing federal funds from paying for abortion on demand. There is widespread support for the Hyde Amendment, even among some pro-abortion Democrats—including, until last year, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Despite this consistent and even bipartisan support for the commonsense measure, leading politicians and abortion lobbying groups have pushed for repeal.

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The same week the Charlotte Lozier Institute released its latest research, abortion supporters in Congress—including Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)—introduced an measure to repeal Hyde.

Commenting on the news, SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said, “More than 2.4 million Americans are alive today because of the Hyde Amendment,” going on to criticize politicians who support eliminating the measure. “This stance [of eliminating Hyde] is deeply unpopular among a majority of Americans,” Dannenfelser added. A January 2020 Marist poll revealed that 60% of Americans oppose or strongly oppose taxpayer funding of abortion in the United States, including 90% of Republicans, 55% of Independents, and even 35% of Democrats.

The SBA List has further information on the Amendment here.

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