Rounds, Thune Defend Pro-Life Protections, Vow to Block Taxpayer-Funded Abortions
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) joined 46 of their colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) pledging to block any bill that would undermine pro-life protections, including the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion. Last year, Rounds and Thune introduced legislation that would make the Hyde Amendment permanent.
“We write to express our unwavering support for the Hyde Amendment and all other longstanding pro-life protections,” the senators wrote. “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.”
“On February 5, 2021, we wrote to you that ‘[w]e are committed to vote against the advancement of any legislation that would eliminate or weaken the Hyde Amendment or any other current-law pro-life protections, or otherwise undermine existing Federal pro-life policy,’”the senators continued. “We firmly renew this commitment for FY 2023.”
“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 senators concluded.
The letter was led by U.S. Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.), and it was also signed by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
The letter is endorsed by 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.
The full letter can be read below.
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The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Leader 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.
Nevertheless, President Biden's budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 once again proposes to eliminate the Hyde Amendment and other existing pro-life protections, while also increasing taxpayer funding for the abortion industry at home and abroad, including through massive funding increases for the Title X family planning program.
On February 5, 2021, we wrote to you that “[w]e are committed to vote against the advancement of any legislation that would eliminate or weaken the Hyde Amendment or any other current-law pro-life protections, or otherwise undermine existing Federal pro-life policy.”
We firmly renew this commitment for FY 2023. We are united in our resolve to preserve more than 45 years of consensus against taxpayer funding for abortion. 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.
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