Simpson Strongly Opposes Taxpayer-Funded Abortions Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this Page Share by Email

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In a House Appropriations Committee meeting today, Congressman Mike Simpson spoke in favor of restoring life-saving provisions in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS-Ed) Bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022.

Since 1976, annual appropriations bills have carried a provision commonly referred to as the Hyde Amendment, language which bans federal funding for abortions. Similarly, since 2005, the bills have included language protecting conscience rights of healthcare entities and providers who refuse to provide abortions. Yet this year, House Democrats abandoned these bipartisan provisions in an unprecedented turn to the extreme left, crafting a LHHS-Ed bill that would indeed allow taxpayer dollars to go towards abortion services.

To remedy this dramatic omission, Republicans on the Appropriations Committee put forth an amendment to restore these funding restrictions in the FY2022 LHHS-Ed appropriations bill, reflecting the will of the majority of Americans who do not want their taxpayer dollars to be made available for abortion services. Congressman Simpson was a cosponsor of this amendment.

"If you believe in abortion rights, you have every right to donate your money towards organizations and foundations to support abortions," said Simpson during amendment debate. "What you don't have a right to do is force me, someone who believes that abortion is morally wrong, to take money from my pocket to fund abortions. That is wrong."

Congressman Simpson ended his comments to the Committee with the following statement: "We've been told "well, follow the science! Just follow the science!' I am following the science, and the science that matters to me, as Dr. Harris said, is that almost every abortion ends in one dead person."

The Hyde Amendment alone has saved nearly 2.5 million lives, and has routinely been supported by members of both parties, including then-Senator Joe Biden.

Despite strong remarks from Republicans on the panel, the amendment failed by a vote of 27-32 and was not included in the FY2022 LHHS-Ed bill. The Hyde Amendment is expected to be restored during conference proceedings before the bill becomes law.

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