WASHINGTON — Bipartisan negotiators are nearing an agreement on a revised health care policy to ease the expiration of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, but one issue remains a sticking point: the federal abortion funding restriction known as the Hyde Amendment.
As party leaders race to reform the health care system and implement new policies to lower the cost of insurance premiums, the decades-old abortion policy has caused snags as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are reluctant to compromise on the issue.
“That’s the, I think, probably the most challenging part of this,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Tuesday. “I think there’s potentially a path forward there. It’s something that’d have to get a big vote.”
The Hyde Amendment, first enacted in 1976, prohibits the use of federal taxpayer dollars for abortion procedures. While not a law itself, the language has been attached to annual spending bills every year since 1976.
Now, Republicans are pushing to further restrict which funds can be used for abortion-related procedures under certain insurance plans — something Democrats have refused to agree to.
But that disagreement became more complicated on Tuesday after President Donald Trump told House Republicans they should be “more flexible” on the Hyde Amendment to assure a health care deal.
“You know that you got to be a little flexible,” Trump said. “You got to use ingenuity. You got to work. We’re all big fans of everything, but you got to be flexible.”
That has perked the ears of some Democrats who are central to the negotiations, but Republicans have so far remained adamant they will not accept more lenient language.
What is the Hyde Amendment?
The Hyde Amendment was first enacted to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for abortion procedures, with exceptions to save the life of the mother or pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The policy was named after former Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde, who was the chief sponsor of the bill.
The policy was enacted four years after Roe v. Wade, the since-overturned Supreme Court case that said women have a right to an abortion.
The policy primarily affects those who rely heavily on Medicaid or are covered under federal health insurance programs. However, the Hyde Amendment does not ban abortion nationwide nor does it criminalize the procedure.
The language that is attached to the annual appropriations bill has long been a bipartisan agreement, until recent years when Democrats have increasingly turned against it.
What are the arguments for and against?
Republicans staunchly support the Hyde Amendment, painting it as a basic pro-life protection that taxpayers who oppose abortion shouldn’t pay for the procedure for others.
As a result, Republicans use it as a nonstarter in budget talks as they argue that removing it would be forcing taxpayers to fund abortion. That sentiment is shared by lawmakers across the Republican Party, even among those who don’t support nationwide restrictions.
“When we talk about abortion, I’m entirely pro-life,” Rep. Mike Kennedy, R-Utah, told the Deseret News in an interview. “In my political work, I’m always looking for what is possible, not what is perfect. … But I’m entirely pro-life and want to see us promoting that in our policies.”
Democrats, on the other hand, have increasingly opposed the amendment language over concerns it disproportionately affects low-income people who rely on federal health care.
In recent talks to further restrict abortion language in health care talks, Democrats have remained adamant that current policy is restrictive enough and that stricter requirements are unnecessary.
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, one of the top Democratic negotiators, says lawmakers are nearing an agreement on the issue — but she said she found Trump’s comments to Republicans encouraging flexibility “helpful.”
Maine Sen. Angus King, another top negotiator for Democrats, similarly said Trump’s stance “may help us to get there.”
Republicans push back against Trump’s comments
Despite Trump’s guidance on Tuesday, Republican lawmakers appear unwilling to back down from their demands.
“I’m not flexible on the value of every child’s life,” Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a lead proponent of the Hyde Amendment, told reporters. “Children are valuable, and so I’d have to get up to the context of what (Trump) meant by that.”
“Taxpayers should not be paying for abortions,” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida separately told reporters.
Conservative anti-abortion groups also criticized the suggestion, calling on Republicans to defend a major policy issue for the Republican Party.
“President Trump stated very clearly last year, ‘It is the policy of the United States, consistent with the Hyde Amendment, to end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion,’” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. “President Trump and congressional Republicans must follow through, not abandon, this commitment.”