WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., today sent a letter to Senate leadership and the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting the continued inclusion of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for elective abortions, in legislation that will soon be considered by the committee.

“The Hyde Amendment is a decades-long, consensus-building compromise, and we urge you to maintain this longstanding provision in the Fiscal Year 2022 bill,” the Senators wrote.

Though the Hyde Amendment has been included in annual appropriations bills on a bipartisan basis since 1976, a key subcommittee on the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee recently cleared the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act without prohibitions on federal funding for abortions.

Wicker and Manchin cited polling showing that nearly 60 percent of Americans are opposed to federal taxpayer dollars funding abortions. This consensus is reflected in the many decades of bipartisan support for the Hyde Amendment.

“Both Democrat and Republican Presidents have signed the Hyde Amendment into law,” they continued. “It has passed through both Democrat and Republican controlled Congresses, and it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1980.”

“Repealing this provision would eliminate over 40 years of bipartisan precedent,” the Senators concluded.

See the full letter text here or below:

Dear Chair Leahy and Ranking Member Shelby:

We write to express our support for the Hyde Amendment, which has been included in annual appropriations bills on a bipartisan basis since 1976.  Specifically, this amendment prohibits federal funding for elective abortion coverage, except in the case of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger, through any program funded through the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act.  The Hyde Amendment is a decades-long, consensus-building compromise, and we urge you to maintain this longstanding provision in the Fiscal Year 2022 bill. 

Recent public polls show almost 60 percent of Americans oppose or strongly oppose using taxpayer dollars to support abortion.  Both Democrat and Republican Presidents have signed the Hyde Amendment into law.  It has passed through both Democrat and Republican controlled Congresses, and it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1980.  Repealing this provision would eliminate over 40 years of bipartisan precedent. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.  We look forward to working with you as the appropriations process moves forward.

Sincerely,