American taxpayers will be forced to pay for abortions if President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief bill passes.
Biden and Democrat congressional leaders have made no secret of their goal to end the Hyde Amendment and force taxpayers to pay for the killing of unborn babies in elective abortions, and, according to The Daily Signal, their first attempt to do so is coming in the form of the 591-page American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Though the abortion funding is not immediately apparent, Terence P. Jeffrey, editor in chief of CNS News, said it comes through the $1.9 trillion funding bill’s COBRA health insurance subsidy.
“On page 95, there is a provision that would authorize the government to pay 85% of the cost that laid-off individuals would otherwise incur (through this September) to continue their health insurance plans through COBRA payments …” Jeffrey wrote. “The financial cost of this subsidy would be $7.8 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.”
That particular subsidy does not include the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for elective abortions in Medicaid and other federal programs, or any other limits on funding abortions, his report continued.
Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Indiana, tried to remedy the situation by adding the Hyde Amendment to the bill, but Democrat lawmakers, who hold a majority in the U.S. House, rejected it, according to the report. The full House Ways and Means Committee later approved the bill, and the full House is expected to pass it.
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“The Hyde Amendment has been in place for nearly half a century with bipartisan agreement, saving the lives of more than 2 million innocent babies and protecting Americans’ conscience rights,” Walorski said when she introduced the amendment.
She emphasized that the Hyde Amendment has been a longstanding safeguard that protects American taxpayers and babies in the womb.
But Democrat leaders, who receive huge campaign donations from the abortion industry, are intent on forcing taxpayers to fund abortions.
According to a Susan B. Anthony List analysis of the bill, it also includes $750 million for global health activities and billions more for community health centers. These funds also do not include any restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortions.
Americans got a clue that the COVID-19 relief bill would force taxpayers to fund abortions earlier this month when White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dodged a question about it.
“Can [Biden] guarantee to Americans who don’t want their tax dollars — pro-life Americans who don’t want their tax dollars funding abortion — can this administration guarantee their tax dollars won’t pay for abortions?” a reporter with the Catholic news network EWTN asked.
Psaki ignored the question, responding: “I think as I’ve just noted, 3/4 of the American public supports the components of the package and wants to see the pandemic get under control, wants to see people get back to work and vaccines… so I think that answers your question.”
Polls consistently show most Americans do not want their tax dollars to pay for the killing of unborn babies in abortions, including many Democrat voters. These include recent polls from Marist and Harvard University/Politico. According to Marist, six in 10 Americans (60 percent) oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, while the Harvard poll found that 58 percent oppose it.
What’s more, research suggests low-income women do not want taxpayer-funded abortions. According to the Harvard/Politico poll, voters who make more than $75,000 were more supportive of ending the Hyde Amendment (45 percent in favor), while those who make $25,000 or less were strongly against it (24 percent in favor). In other words, the people most likely to qualify for a Medicaid-covered, taxpayer-funded abortion are the ones who oppose it the most.
