Catholics for Choice Applauds Second Biden Budget Without Hyde, Urges Further Action
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, March 28, 2022
Contact: John Becker, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 203-0931
Email: jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org
Catholics for Choice Applauds Second Biden Budget Without Hyde, Urges Further Action
WASHINGTON – Catholics for Choice, which uplifts and amplifies the voices of the majority of Catholics who believe in reproductive freedom, applauded the release of President Biden’s second budget proposal today.
Catholics for Choice President Jamie L. Manson released the following statement:
“Budgets are moral documents that reflect who we are, what our priorities are, and what we value. I have no doubt that President Biden is part of the 68% of Catholics who support legal access to abortion, and his budget proposal today proves that commitment.
“For the second year in a row, President Biden has omitted Hyde Amendment language from his funding priorities for the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Education. Excluding Hyde ensures that all people who obtain healthcare and/or insurance coverage through the federal government will be able to access abortion care, free from political or religious interference in private health decisions. Hyde is the absolute antithesis of our Catholic values, which call us to put the needs of the marginalized above all others and to respect all individuals’ conscience-based decisions about their bodies, futures, and families. In total, President Biden requested more than $127 billion for HHS, including a critical $400 million investment in Title X family planning services for low-income patients. President Biden‘s bold action, despite resistance from some senators in his own party, is leadership that we desperately need.
“Nevertheless, we believe President Biden must do more. We call on him to permanently eliminate the Helms Amendment and the Global Gag Rule – racist, deadly policies blocking the provision of and sharing of information about safe abortion care around the world, disproportionately harming those who are already suffering the pain of historic marginalization, colonialism, racism, and impoverishment. And we also implore him to get rid of the Weldon Amendment, which allows hospitals, insurance plans, and even doctors and nurses to refuse to provide basic abortion care, perpetuating great harm, and often under the perversely misleading pretext of protecting ‘religious freedom.’
“With the Supreme Court poised to roll back or even strike down Roe v. Wade this summer, it’s more important now than ever for the executive and legislative branches of our government to protect access to basic reproductive healthcare, including abortion care. The abortion crisis we face at home and abroad demands visible, robust investments in reproductive and maternal healthcare and an end to harmful abortion restrictions that violate basic human rights, and Catholic social justice values, by victimizing the most vulnerable in society. By eliminating Hyde from his budget proposal, President Biden has once again taken an historic step. But on the journey to true reproductive justice and religious freedom, it is only the first.”
Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a person’s well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.
