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President Biden's budget proposal fulfills a campaign promise to remove a longstanding ban on federal funding for most abortions known as the 

The budget plan, released late last week, would drop the policy which has restricted funding for abortion through federal programs such as Medicaid. The rule, in effect 

, includes exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or to save a pregnant woman's life. 

 from progressive Democrats to reverse Hyde, which reproductive rights groups say disproportionately harms low-income women and people of color. 

Abortion rights advocates have praised the move; a statement from Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson called the Hyde Amendment "racist, sexist, deeply unjust" and thanked Biden for working to remove it. 

Abortion rights opponents, meanwhile, argue that taxpayers with moral objections to abortion should not be compelled to help pay for it. 

, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the anti-abortion rights group the Susan B. Anthony List called Hyde a "common-ground...principle," and urged members of Congress to work to include it.

, often as a compromise position with Republicans. It often has been 

 in negotiations over health care policy, including the debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act and subsequent legislation. 

The Biden budget proposal is far from the last word on the matter; Republicans are expected to work to reinstate the Hyde language during budget negotiations. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy 

 criticizing Biden's budget, saying it "breaks with decades of settled precedent by calling for direct taxpayer-funded abortion."

During the lead-up to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Biden reversed his longtime position on Hyde, joining other Democratic hopefuls in saying he would work to overturn it. 

"If I believe heath care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone's zip code," Biden said 

Biden said his position had changed in response to changing circumstances, including increasing efforts by Republican lawmakers to restrict abortion.

"It was not under attack," Biden said. "As it is now."

 hosted by Planned Parenthood in South Carolina, Biden explained his reversal, saying he'd supported Hyde in an effort to expand federally-funded health care. But he suggested that for low-income women who rely on federal programs, Hyde had become an obstacle to full health care access.  

"It became really clear to me that although the Hyde Amendment was designed to try to split the difference here to make sure women still had access, you can't have access if, in fact, everyone's covered by a federal policy," he said.

Promising to reverse multiple Trump-era abortion restrictions, Biden ultimately 

 of Planned Parenthood and other reproductive rights advocacy groups, who put the weight of their campaign operation behind him in his fight against Trump in 2020. 

Since taking office, Biden has taken steps toward providing federal funding for abortions for low-income people. Like other Democratic Presidents before him, Biden announced plans soon after taking office to 

, or what critics describe as the "Global Gag Rule." It forbids international aid groups who receive U.S. funding from providing or referring patients for abortion. 

 for domestic family planning groups who received funding through the Title X program. New rules implemented under President Trump 

Abortion rights groups are asking the administration to take additional steps, including reversing the 

, which also restricts the use of U.S. dollars in paying for abortions abroad. 

 have continued a nationwide push to limit abortion, 

 of restrictions this year alone. Anti-abortion rights groups hope one of those laws will invite the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the 

decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. 

The Supreme Court recently agreed to consider a Mississippi law that bans most abortions at 15 weeks, a case which could 

and related precedents guaranteeing abortion rights.  

Health

Politics and Government News

Sarah McCammon

Author

Biden's budget follows through on a campaign promise to overturn the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding ban on federal funding for most abortions. It's not clear the change will be approved by Congress.

Biden's budget proposal reverses a decades-long ban on abortion funding

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