Save Our Hydes: Losing Pro-Life Amendment Could Drastically Increase Abortions
by Benjamin Clapper
December 30, 2008
LifeNews.com Note: Benjamin Clapper is the Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life, a statewide pro-life organization. He is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans where he had a triple major in philosophy, religious studies and political science. During college, he was a founder of Louisiana Students for Life.
I want to congratulate the pro-life movement on the great work we have done so far to spread the word about the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA).
There is no question that if FOCA passes, it would usher in the largest expansion of abortion since 1973. In fact, I believe our advocacy has been so potent that it has made pro-abortion forces lower the passage of FOCA on their list of priorities (maybe only to day 101).
While we must press on against FOCA, we must not forget another serious, and maybe even more pertinent, threat: the termination of the Hyde Amendment.
A Serious Threat: The Termination of the Hyde Amendment
The Hyde Amendment, originally enacted in 1976, is a pro-life limitation amendment in the annual appropriations bill that restricts the direct federal funding of abortion through Medicaid.
Without the Hyde Amendment, women eligible for Medicaid would have their abortions paid for by the Federal Government – in other words, OUR tax dollars. If abortions are free to the individual, you can bet on abortion rates increasing.
A Pertinent Threat: The Termination of the Hyde Amendment
Because Hyde is an “amendment in the annual appropriations bill”, the Hyde Amendment must be passed every year to protect our tax dollars.
FOCA may or may not come to the surface in 2009; however, the Hyde Amendment will have to be dealt with in 2009, making it a serious and pertinent threat to unborn human life.
The abortion industry has ranked the termination of Hyde as Priority #1 when it comes to abortion for the first 100 days of the Obama Administration. Just take a look at the top left of page 7 in the abortion industry’s “Advancing Reproductive Rights and Health in a New Administration” released earlier this week.
Saving our ”Hydes”
There is a very real chance that the Hyde Amendment will not survive the first 100 days of the Obama Administration. As the pro-life movement, we must be acting to save the Hyde Amendment now by shedding light on the danger of losing it, just as we have shed light on the danger of FOCA passing.
If we do not act to save Hyde, we may find that our "hydes" will be paying for abortion with our taxes.
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