Palazzo Fights for Pro-Life Protections in Appropriations Legislation

Press Release

Congressman Steven Palazzo (MS-4) joined House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX), Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee Ranking Member Tom Cole (R-OK) and 23 Republican Committee members in offering an amendment to the LHHS subcommittee bill to restore long-standing provisions to protect the lives of unborn babies and the conscience rights of Americans.

Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment--which prevents taxpayer dollars from funding abortions--has had broad bipartisan support. In an extreme shift, Democrats are now trying to eliminate this long-standing provision. Not only is this an outrageous move, it doesn't reflect the views held by the majority of Americans who oppose publicly funded abortions. Congressman Palazzo fought to save Hyde and pro-life protections in today's House Appropriations Committee markup.

"Without the longstanding Hyde Amendment, this bill is too extreme for the American people, and it will not pass the Senate.

"The Hyde Amendment isn't a poison pill rider--it is a "limitation amendment" prohibiting funds contained in a particular appropriations bill from being spent for a specified purpose. The Hyde Amendment limitation prohibits the spending of taxpayer funds within the HHS appropriations bill for abortions.

"The Hyde amendment doesn't discriminate against women in federally funded health care and the Supreme Court agrees.

"The Hyde Amendment is widely recognized as having a significant impact on the number of abortions in the United States saving an estimated two million American lives since 1976. The Hyde Amendment routinely saves more than 60,000 lives a year in the United States.

"For decades, Republicans and Democrats agreed it was wrong and immoral to force Americans to fund abortion through their tax dollars.

"Most Americans -- including millions of Americans who identify as "pro-choice" -- object to use of their tax dollars for the war on innocent human life that is abortion.

"Abortion is murder, not healthcare. Americans should not be forced to indirectly subsidize the murder of unborn children."

Earlier this month, Congressman Palazzo joined members of the Pro-Life Caucus and Republican Study Committee to send a letter to President Biden expressing concern with his removal of longstanding bipartisan pro-life protections that protect taxpayers from funding abortion.

In part, the group writes: "In your inauguration speech, you said that 'the dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.' Mr. President, the dream of 'justice for all' cannot be achieved if the death of a whole segment of society, unborn babies, is legally ignored."

"As a strong opponent of abortion, it sickens me to know that our President is eliminating measures that protect the unborn," said Congressman Palazzo. "I do not want to see a single cent of tax payers' hard-earned money going toward these abhorrent procedures. I am saddened to see President Biden forsake millions of American children's right to life by eliminating pro-life protections from his budget proposal."

Watch his full remarks here.

Read the full letter here.

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and a member of the House Values Action Team, Congressman Palazzo remains a strong defender of innocent life and dedicated to stopping tax payer dollars from being used for abortion procedures.

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