Natchez Democrat
Wicker, Hyde-Smith vow vote to block taxpayer funding for abortions
By Staff Reports
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) are among 48 Senators who today pledged to vote against any legislation that undermines the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion, or any other pro-life protections.
The Senators delivered their unified message in a letter to Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
“We write to express our unwavering support for the Hyde Amendment and all other longstanding pro-life protections. For more than 45 years, the Hyde Amendment has ensured that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions, saving the lives of nearly 2.5 million preborn children. As you know, the Hyde Amendment is supported by both a substantial majority of the American public and a bipartisan majority of sitting United States Senators, and was most recently signed into law by President Biden in Public Law 117-103,”the Senators wrote.
The new pledge follows a similar 2021 pledge that ultimately forced President Biden and other pro-abortion lawmakers to drop their efforts to eliminate the Hyde Amendment and other existing pro-life protections from FY2022 appropriations bills (PL.117-103). Unfortunately, Biden’s FY2023 budget request again recommends ending the Hyde Amendment and increasing taxpayer funding for domestic and international abortion services.
“We urge you to start where we finished by making a baseline commitment to maintain the same pro-life protections that were included in Public Law 117-103, and to eschew any taxpayer-funded giveaways that benefit the multi-billion-dollar abortion industry. The American people, born and preborn, deserve nothing less,” the Senators concluded.
Click here to read the signed letter, which was led by U.S. Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.), founder and chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, and James Lankford (R-Okla.).
The Susan B. Anthony List, Family Research Council, March for Life, Catholic Vote, National Right to Life, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Americans United for Life, Concerned Women for America, and Alliance Defending Freedom have endorsed the letter.
Other Republicans who signed the letter include John Barrasso (Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Boozman (Ark.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (W. Va.), Bill Cassidy (La.), John Cornyn (Texas), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Ted Cruz (Texas), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), John Hoeven (N.D.), James Inhofe (Okla.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), John Kennedy (La.), Mike Lee (Utah), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Rob Portman (Ohio), James Risch (Idaho), Mitt Romney (Utah), Michael Rounds (S.D.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), John Thune (S.D.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), and Todd Young (Ind.).