GOP Congressman Throws Down the Gauntlet as Democrats Take Aim at Hyde Amendment
Republican Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn warned Democratic leaders on Wednesday that Republicans will use “every tool in the legislative arsenal” to block efforts to repeal the Hyde Amendment, according to a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly promised to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds for abortions.
His assurances are backed by Democratic leadership and pro-abortion advocates pushing to ax the amendment.
Lamborn highlighted “troubling” rhetoric in his Wednesday letter, signed by more than 80 members of Congress, to Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders.
“This troubling language seems aimed at abdicating the responsibility we have to protect and defend the sanctity of human life, specifically unborn life,” he wrote.
The Republican congressman cited a comment made by Democratic Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro at a December hearing on the Hyde Amendment, calling her comments “deeply disturbing.”
DeLauro called Hyde a “discriminatory policy” and vowed that “this is the last year” it would be carried.
“The Hyde Amendment has protected nearly 2.5 million lives since its first inclusion in an appropriations bill in 1976,” Lamborn wrote.
“Democrat majorities in Congress were instrumental in the first passage of the amendment, as 295 Democrats in the House and Senate supported the measure.”
Lamborn emphasized that Democrats are attempting to repeal Hyde “against the will of a majority of American people.”
A recent Marist poll found that almost six in 10 Americans oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortions in the United States and more than three in four Americans oppose funding abortions with taxpayer dollars abroad.
“We cannot and will not allow this to stand,” he said.
“Let me be clear: we are willing to use every tool in the legislative arsenal necessary to block your efforts and protect unborn life,” Lamborn wrote. “Any assault on life and the consciences of American taxpayers must be stopped.”
The congressman pushed Democratic leadership to reconsider their “extreme and divisive break with historical precedent.”
“The last thing a political party that claims to champion protecting the vulnerable should do is advance a radical abortion agenda endangering the lives of millions of Americans,” he said.
“We plan to counter your pro-abortion efforts every step of the way.”
Lamborn said it is “unconscionable” that DeLauro would use her power to try to eliminate Hyde in a statement to the DCNF.
“For 44 years, Democrats, including Joe Biden, have supported the Hyde Amendment,” Lamborn said.
“Now they are attempting to force their radical leftist abortion agenda on all Americans. … My colleagues and I are dedicated to using every tool in our legislative arsenal to block their efforts.
“I hope the majority of Americans simply do not want their tax dollars used to abort unborn children. They’ve crossed the line on this, and I’m ready to fight back. I will always be a voice for the most vulnerable in our society,” Lamborn said.
Biden supported the Hyde Amendment up until June 2019.
At the time, presidential candidates Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, along with former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and then-Sen. Kamala Harris, had pledged to repeal the Hyde Amendment should they be elected president in 2020.
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A version of this article appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation website.
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