The Biden Administration Announced It Will Remove the Hyde Amendment

[muriel_volestrangler]

Maybe this did appear on DU earlier (perhaps under another title), but I didn't see it. It seems notable.

Today marks a step in the right direction for reproductive rights in the U.S.: The Biden administration announced its plan to remove the Hyde Amendment restriction from government spending bills. The announcement follows Vice President Kamala Harris's remarks at the 2021 Generation Equality Forum in Paris, where she restated the administrations commitment to gender equity and equality. Though President Biden's budget proposal last month revealed they were dropping the policy, Wednesday's announcement reinforces the administration's commitment to making healthcare more accessible.

The announcement has long been anticipated: President Biden pledged to repeal the Hyde Amendments during his campaign. The Hyde Amendment, originally instated in 1976, bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except in cases where the woman's life is at risk, or if the pregnancy is a result of incest or rape. This means that many pregnant people, especially those on Medicaid (Medicaid provides coverage to 1 in 5 women of reproductive age), have limited or no reasonable access to care: Approximately one-quarter of women who would have Medicaid-funded abortions instead give birth when this funding is unavailable. We know that the Hyde Amendment exacerbates racial disparities and that it disproportionally impacts women of color's access to care.

Though many Republican leaders are expected to fight the notion in budget negotiations, the removal of Hyde remains an important step in protecting the reproductive rights of people in the U.S., and making abortion access more equitable.

This wasn't the only action-oriented commitments the administration announced at the Generation Equality Forum. Read a few of those commitments below and watch Vice President Harris's remarks here.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-biden-administration-announced-it-will-remove-the-hyde-amendment/ar-AALDJgv

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. K & R!!!!

[katmondoo]

2. About time!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. I'll celebrate when a budget is passed without it. It's always been a bargaining chip.

[FBaggins]

4. They have no power to do so

A better title would be “The Biden Administration announced that they intend to ask Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment”

It remains to be seen whether the votes to repeal it are there.

[mac56]

6. Yes they do, and yes they can.

It's not a Constitutional amendment, simply one that is in every government budget

[FBaggins]

11. Congress passes budgets

The White House can only ask.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

8. It's an amendment to budget bills, not the constitution, and it's enacted over and over again.

[FBaggins]

12. Budget bills come from Congress not the administration

The open question is whether the votes exist to repeal it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. The president presents the budget, and Congress determines the appropriations. Hyde is regularly

attached as a ride. If the president doesn't include it, and the budget passes without the rider, Hyde expires. What's remarkable is presenting a budget without it, because it's harder to get things into the budget than taking them out. But as I say, it's been a bargaining chip for some time, and while presenting a bill without it is remarkable, I'll hold my celebrations until an appropriations bill passes without it.

[FBaggins]

15. Which takes us right back to post 4

The President has no power to get rid of the amendment. He can only ask Congress to do so.

They submitted a budget request a month ago that already lacked the amendment. So this isn’t that.

You can call that ask/request “presenting the budget” - but Congress hasn’t ever taken a president’s budget proposal and passed it.

The question is what’s new? Manchin said a few weeks ago that he was going to fight to keep it. Is there a Republican looking to kill the amendment to get back to 50?

[MiHale]

7. KnR..nt

[Farmer-Rick]

9. It is not a law, so no need to go through Congress

On January 24, 2017, the House voted to make the Hyde Amendment (H.R. 7) permanent. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) stated that "We are a pro-life Congress," and he reaffirmed the government's commitment to restricting tax money to funding abortions. The bill failed to become law after it was never brought to a vote in the Senate.

From Wikipedia

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. Edited because I'm wrong.

Last edited Mon Jul 5, 2021, 11:06 AM - Edit history (2)

You are correct; it is a policy rider, not a law. But it is a rider on appropriations bills, which Congress does pass. But it will be harder for them to reattach it, anyway.

[Colgate 64]

13. Long, long overdue. nt