The nation’s Catholic bishops are urging voters to flood Congress with phone calls on an issue that could save millions of children’s lives: no taxpayer funding for abortions.
Breitbart reports the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Pro-Life Activities issued a call to action Thursday as Democrats in Congress advance four bills that would force taxpayers to pay for the killing of unborn babies in elective abortions in the United States and overseas.
“Your voice could save millions of lives,” the bishops said in a video message. “Don’t let our government force you to pay for the deaths of unborn children.”
They warned that the U.S. House Appropriations Committee already passed the four extreme pro-abortion bills last week, and the full House is expected to vote on the bills next week.
“Make a phone call to save a life,” the bishops urged. “Make Congressional phones ring off the hook!”
The bishops’ conference also is urging Americans to sign a petition to Congress to oppose taxpayer-funded abortions. Find it here.
According to Newsmax, the four bills would eliminate policies that:
- Protect taxpayers from having to pay for elective abortions, both here and overseas.
- Protect health care providers from being forced to perform abortions or refer for abortions against their beliefs.
- Protect employers and insurance companies from being forced to pay for abortion.
“Without the Hyde Amendment and Hyde-related policies, billions of taxpayer dollars could be used to pay for abortion in the United States and throughout the world,” the bishops said.
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The Hyde Amendment prohibits taxpayer funding for elective abortions in Medicaid and other federal programs, and it has strong public support.
For decades, most Republican and Democrat lawmakers supported the Hyde Amendment as a regular part of the budget. However, Democrat leaders recently abandoned the public on the issue and sided with the billion-dollar abortion industry in calling for forced taxpayer-funded abortions. President Joe Biden’s proposed 2022 budget also specifically excludes the pro-life measure.
Republicans and a few Democrat lawmakers have promised to fight for the American people by voting to keep the Hyde Amendment and other measures that prohibit taxpayer funding for abortions.
On Thursday, U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, sent a joint letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leaders urging them to preserve the Hyde Amendment. They said the measure “has been included in annual appropriations bills on a bipartisan basis since 1976” and has been a “decades-long, consensus-building compromise.”
Polls consistently show strong public support for the Hyde Amendment. In January, a Marist poll found 58 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in the U.S. Additionally, 77 percent oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in other countries.
Significantly, a 2016 Harvard/Politico poll found that voters who make more than $75,000 were more supportive of forcing taxpayers to fund abortions (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 strongly opposed to it.
Research by the Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates the Hyde Amendment has saved about 2.4 million babies from abortions. Prior to the amendment, in the 1970s, Americans paid for about 300,000 unborn babies’ abortion deaths each year, according to a report from the Family Research Council.
