Democrats divided over ban on abortion funding

WASHINGTON — Top Capitol Hill Democrats are intent on preserving a four-decade ban on taxpayer-funded abortions despite calls from their party’s presidential candidates to abandon it, arguing that attempts to undo the longstanding consensus will fail and won’t be worth scuttling a key education and health funding bill.

While presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, hustle to rewrite their positions on the so-called Hyde Amendment, legislative veterans such as Rep. Rosa DeLauro have worked behind the scenes to smooth the waters for the provision that is a long-settled feature of the annual funding measure, which contains numerous programs dear to Democrats.

Powering the pragmatic approach is simple reality: The GOP-controlled Senate won’t pass the measure without the abortion provision.

If it did, President Donald Trump would swiftly veto it.

It’s a different story on the presidential campaign trail, however, where Biden’s reversal on the Hyde Amendment — named after former Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., an anti-abortion stalwart — attracted lots of attention over the past week.

Biden, a Roman Catholic who has wrestled with abortion-related issues, supported the amendment for decades only to reverse course last week to embrace federally funded abortion.

Most of the Democratic presidential candidates already opposed the Hyde Amendment, though many of them have voted for it during their Senate or House careers as part of larger appropriations bills.

Hyde first added the provision to the annual measure in 1976, and some Democrats, including party leaders such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York, have voted for it dozens of times.

Opponents of the provision, led by Rep. Barbara Lee of California, are seeking to offer an anti-Hyde provision to the almost $1 trillion bill that combines health and education spending with budgets for the Pentagon and other Cabinet departments.

Their provisions would repeal the Hyde Amendment and mandate new policy requiring the government to “ensure coverage for abortion in public health insurance programs” and other steps.

The approach requires special treatment under House rules that Pelosi would have to approve.

DeLauro, a close Pelosi ally and lead author of the underlying health and education funding bill, says Democrats should focus their attention on fighting new GOP attacks on abortion rights rather than waging a war on the shaky political ground of taxpayer funding for abortions.

“This president is highly invested in continuing these attacks on women, and we also know the power of the White House and that this president will reject a repeal of the Hyde amendment. That is why this bill maintains current law with regards to the Hyde Amendment,” DeLauro said last month.

“Make no mistake, the Hyde Amendment is a discriminatory policy that makes access to basic reproductive health care based on your income. That is simply wrong, and I oppose it.”

DeLauro and other top sponsors of the health, education and labor spending bill have fought to protect the measure from round after round of proposed GOP cuts.

The House education and health and human services portion of this week’s catchall measure weighs in at $190 billion, a $12 billion increase over current levels.

If the measure is derailed over the Hyde Amendment, Democratic gains would be lost.