Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said he would continue to support the Hyde amendment, in comments to Bloomberg Government on Thursday.
“I’m going to support Hyde in every way possible,” Manchin said. The West Virginia senator is one of only a few congressional Democrats who have expressed support for the measure, which bans almost all federal funding of abortions.
Because Manchin sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, Manchin could require the Hyde amendment to be included in any spending bill to reach the Senate floor.
“As a lifelong Catholic, I have always been pro-life and believe that the Hyde amendment ensures federal funds are not used to perform abortions anywhere in the country,” Manchin told National Review in a written statement in December 2020. “Repealing the Hyde amendment would be foolish and I’m strongly opposed to this push from some Members of Congress. If this legislation is brought before the Senate I will vote against repealing the Hyde amendment.”
Senator Bob Casey (D., Pa.), another supporter of the Hyde amendment, reaffirmed that support in comments to Politico in May.
“I’m where I have always been on Hyde: I’m supportive of it,” Casey said. “I think there’s a wide disagreement on the issue across the country, and we’ve made the decision now over generations that those who don’t support abortion shouldn’t have their tax dollars going to it.”
President Biden said in 2019 that he “could no longer continue to abide by the Hyde amendment,” and his administration’s proposed federal budget did not include the amendment.
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