Reid Misleads Nevada Voters in Debate: Hyde Doesn’t Stop ObamaCare Abortion $
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 15, 2010
Las Vegas , NV (LifeNews.com) — During the debate last night between pro-abortion Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and pro-life candidate Sharron Angle, Reid misled Nevada voters on the ObamaCare bill he shepherded through the Senate. He falsely said the Hyde amendment is preserved by the legislation.
The candidates received a question asking whether they favored having the federal government fund abortions under the new health care reform law.
Angle gave a clear response, "No."
Reid, on the other hand, attempted to convey to voters the erroneous notion that the bill contained sufficient abortion funding limits. He implied the Hyde Amendment is either contained in the legislation or somehow applies to it — neither of which is the case.
"Well, we passed — maintained — Hyde, Hyde Amendment," he stammered.
The moderator of the debate couldn’t decipher the answer as a direct response to his question, saying, "That would be a yes or no?"
Reid paused and responded: "Uh, under the law, eh, that exists today, the Hyde amendment, which has been the law in this country for 30 years, is still there."
Connie Hair, a writer at Human Events, says Reid deceived Nevada voters with the answer, because the Hyde amendment preventing abortion funding with tax dollars is nowhere in the ObamaCare bill, which allows abortion funding in a number of circumstances.
"The Hyde Amendment is part of the annual Department of Health and Human Services budget barring federal funding for abortion through budget outlays," she explained. "It must be renewed each year. The amendment does not bar federal funding of abortion through Obamacare insurance exchanges."
The Hyde Amendment doesn’t apply to the legislation, according to National Right to Life Committee legislative director Douglas Johnson.
"The Hyde Amendment only applies to funds that flow through the annual Health and Human Services appropriations bill, and would not affect funds directly appropriated by the health care bill itself," he said earlier this year.
"Moreover, the Hyde Amendment is a patch that must be renewed annually — not an acceptable approach when Congress proposes any large new federal program that implicates abortion policy," he added.
The Associated Press confirmed that in a March 5, 2010 story.
"The Democratic bills created a new stream of federal money to help working households afford health insurance premiums. And those funds were not subject to the Hyde restrictions," it noted.
AP also confirmed that is the case in an October 2009 story, explaining that "the Democrats’ health overhaul bill would create a new stream of federal funding not covered by the restrictions."
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