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Hyde Amendment
In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in 1980, an estimated 300,000 abortions were performed annually using federal funds.
The original Hyde Amendment was passed on September 30, 1976, by the House of Representatives, with a 312–93 vote to override the veto of a funding bill for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). It was named for its chief sponsor, Republican Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois. The measure represented one of the first major legislative gains by the United States anti-abortion movement following the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.
Congress later altered the Hyde Amendment several times. The version in force from 1981 until 1993 prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions, "except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term". On October 22, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994. The Act contained a new version of the Hyde Amendment that expanded the category of abortions for which federal funds are available under Medicaid to include cases of rape and incest.
The Hyde Amendment was introduced by Illinois Republican Congressman Henry Hyde and first passed by Congress in 1977, four years after Roe v. Wade. Implementation of the initial amendment was blocked for almost a year by an injunction in the McRae v. Matthews case. During this case, the Reproductive Freedom Project, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Planned Parenthood collectively represented a pregnant Medicaid recipient and health care providers who challenged the Hyde Amendment. The United States Supreme Court vacated the injunction in August 1977, leading abortions financed by federal Medicaid to drop from about 300,000 per year to a few thousand. However, some U.S. states provide their own public funding for abortion for Medicaid-eligible women.
Other bans were modeled after the Hyde Amendment, extending to other annual spending bills in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This eventually led federal funds to be banned in federal worker health plans, women in federal prisons, women in the military, peace corps volunteers, and international family planning programs that use non-U.S. funds to perform or advocate for abortion.
The Hyde Amendment has been re-enacted every year since 1976, but exceptions have varied. For example, the 1978 Amendment presented new exceptions for rape survivors and incest cases. In 1980, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the original Hyde Amendment language with a 5–4 vote in Harris v. McRae. The majority found that the Hyde Amendment did not violate the Establishment Clause under the First Amendment, or due process/equal protection provided by the Fourteenth Amendment. This case decided the single exception for the Amendment would be in cases where the woman's life is endangered. This decision was upheld from fiscal years 1981–1993. In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services of Missouri, the court held that states could also enact measures like the Hyde Amendment. President George H. W. Bush vetoed a bill with the added exceptions. This decision left the Amendment with the sole exception of concern being endangered life of the mother. The language was not altered until the Clinton administration in 1993. At this time, the Hyde Amendment was once again expanded to include exceptions for rape and incest cases.
In Williams v. Zbaraz (1980), the United States Supreme Court held that states could enact their own versions of the Hyde Amendment. As of 1994, federal law mandates all states to pay for abortion cases involving rape or incest. 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 re-affirmed the government's commitment to restricting tax money to funding abortions. The bill failed to become law.
Proponents of Hyde state that it is supported by 57% of the American public and opposed by 36%, as of 2016. Critics say the Hyde Amendment disproportionately affects low-income women, women of color, younger women, and immigrants, as an estimated 42% of abortion recipients live below the poverty line. Since the passage of the Hyde Amendment, more than one million women were not able to afford abortions. 18 to 33 percent of Medicaid-eligible women who desire abortions have also given birth because they live in states that do not provide funding.
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Hyde Amendment
In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in 1980, an estimated 300,000 abortions were performed annually using federal funds.
The original Hyde Amendment was passed on September 30, 1976, by the House of Representatives, with a 312–93 vote to override the veto of a funding bill for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). It was named for its chief sponsor, Republican Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois. The measure represented one of the first major legislative gains by the United States anti-abortion movement following the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.
Congress later altered the Hyde Amendment several times. The version in force from 1981 until 1993 prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions, "except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term". On October 22, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994. The Act contained a new version of the Hyde Amendment that expanded the category of abortions for which federal funds are available under Medicaid to include cases of rape and incest.
The Hyde Amendment was introduced by Illinois Republican Congressman Henry Hyde and first passed by Congress in 1977, four years after Roe v. Wade. Implementation of the initial amendment was blocked for almost a year by an injunction in the McRae v. Matthews case. During this case, the Reproductive Freedom Project, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Planned Parenthood collectively represented a pregnant Medicaid recipient and health care providers who challenged the Hyde Amendment. The United States Supreme Court vacated the injunction in August 1977, leading abortions financed by federal Medicaid to drop from about 300,000 per year to a few thousand. However, some U.S. states provide their own public funding for abortion for Medicaid-eligible women.
Other bans were modeled after the Hyde Amendment, extending to other annual spending bills in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This eventually led federal funds to be banned in federal worker health plans, women in federal prisons, women in the military, peace corps volunteers, and international family planning programs that use non-U.S. funds to perform or advocate for abortion.
The Hyde Amendment has been re-enacted every year since 1976, but exceptions have varied. For example, the 1978 Amendment presented new exceptions for rape survivors and incest cases. In 1980, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the original Hyde Amendment language with a 5–4 vote in Harris v. McRae. The majority found that the Hyde Amendment did not violate the Establishment Clause under the First Amendment, or due process/equal protection provided by the Fourteenth Amendment. This case decided the single exception for the Amendment would be in cases where the woman's life is endangered. This decision was upheld from fiscal years 1981–1993. In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services of Missouri, the court held that states could also enact measures like the Hyde Amendment. President George H. W. Bush vetoed a bill with the added exceptions. This decision left the Amendment with the sole exception of concern being endangered life of the mother. The language was not altered until the Clinton administration in 1993. At this time, the Hyde Amendment was once again expanded to include exceptions for rape and incest cases.
In Williams v. Zbaraz (1980), the United States Supreme Court held that states could enact their own versions of the Hyde Amendment. As of 1994, federal law mandates all states to pay for abortion cases involving rape or incest. 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 re-affirmed the government's commitment to restricting tax money to funding abortions. The bill failed to become law.
Proponents of Hyde state that it is supported by 57% of the American public and opposed by 36%, as of 2016. Critics say the Hyde Amendment disproportionately affects low-income women, women of color, younger women, and immigrants, as an estimated 42% of abortion recipients live below the poverty line. Since the passage of the Hyde Amendment, more than one million women were not able to afford abortions. 18 to 33 percent of Medicaid-eligible women who desire abortions have also given birth because they live in states that do not provide funding.