Catholics for Choice Welcomes Third Biden Budget Without Hyde, Urges Further Action
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, March 13, 2023
Contact: John Becker, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 203-0931
Email: jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org
Catholics for Choice Welcomes Third 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 budget proposal today.
Catholics for Choice President Jamie L. Manson, M.Div. released the following statement:
“Budgets are moral documents that reflect who we are, what our priorities are, and what we value. And once again, President Biden has released a budget proposal that advances his faithfully pro-choice values, joining the 68% of his fellow Catholics who support legal access to abortion.
“Catholics for Choice applauds President Biden for holding the line and once again omitting Hyde Amendment language from his priorities. 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 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. We are grateful for President Biden‘s commitment to abortion care, both as a pro-choice Catholic and as the leader of a nation founded on the separation of church and state.
“In a post-Roe America, it’s critically important for the executive and legislative branches of our government to protect access to basic reproductive healthcare, including abortion care. We call on Congress to permanently end the Helms Amendment and the Global Gag Rule, which disproportionately harm those who suffer the pain of historic marginalization, colonialism, racism, and impoverishment by blocking the provision of and sharing of information about safe abortion care around the world. Further, we implore President Biden to get rid of the Weldon Amendment, which allows hospitals, insurance plans, and even doctors and nurses to refuse to provide basic abortion care — often under the perversely misleading pretext of protecting ‘religious freedom’ — and inflicting grave harm on patients as a result.
“Catholics for Choice urges our leaders to make visible, robust investments in reproductive and maternal healthcare at home and abroad and end harmful abortion restrictions that violate basic human rights. Continuing to eliminate Hyde is a critical step in the right direction. 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.
