Joe Manchin: ‘I’m Going to Support Hyde in Every Way Possible’

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he will continue to support the Hyde Amendment, which bans taxpayer funding for abortion in the United States.

Bloomberg Government reported Thursday Manchin stated he would back the longstanding amendment to spending bills that prohibits the federal government from funding most abortions.

Manchin's stance would likely block a spending bill in committee if it doesn't include the ban on federal funds for abortion except in the case of rape, incest and to save the life of the woman.

Senate Appropriations Committee is evenly divided between D's and R's.

— Jack Fitzpatrick ☘️ (@jackfitzdc) June 10, 2021

At the end of May, President Joe Biden released his Fiscal Year 2022 budget, one that would eliminate the longstanding Hyde Amendment and force American taxpayers to fund abortions.

The Hyde Amendment has enjoyed tremendous bipartisan support for decades, including from Biden himself.

In April 1994, then-Sen. Biden wrote to a constituent, “Those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for them.”

Since his campaign for president, Biden, a self-described Catholic, has decided the Hyde Amendment must go.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also a self-described Catholic, said in December repealing the Hyde Amendment is “long overdue.”

Manchin, however, told National Review in December:

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. 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.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) has also said he will continue to support the Hyde Amendment.

“I’m where I have always been on Hyde: I’m supportive of it,” Casey told Politico in May. “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.”

A Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll released in January found 58 percent of those surveyed oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, including 31 percent of Democrats, 83 percent of Republicans, and 65 percent of independents.

The poll also found more than three-fourths of Americans (76 percent) back significant restrictions on abortion, including a majority who identify as “pro-choice.”

Joe Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as his VP makes his ticket the “most pro-abortion presidential ticket in history,” pro-life leaders say. https://t.co/PI30xkCmOT

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 14, 2020

Planned Parenthood, both the largest provider of abortions in the nation and now the second largest provider of transgender hormone treatments, said in a press announcement in April, “there are increasing signs that the country is on the right track” since the Biden-Harris administration took office.

Among the administration’s “accomplishments” named by Planned Parenthood was the fact that the Democrats’ coronavirus relief bill, the American Rescue Plan, excluded the Hyde Amendment. Pro-life leaders consider the measure a bail-out for the abortion industry.

Planned Parenthood said it will push in the days to come for budgets that “eliminate[s] the Hyde and Helms amendments and related restrictions on abortion,” and ones that also increase “funding for sexual and reproductive health care programs at home and abroad.”