The hiding of the Hyde Amendment in President Joe Biden's 2022 budget proposal has the conservative pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List fundraising to target vulnerable Democrats in battleground states.
"The ad exposes congressional Democrats' efforts to force taxpayers to fund abortion on demand by eliminating the Hyde Amendment and similar legislative riders to the budget," the group announced Wednesday. "Earlier this month, President Biden released a budget that guts the decades-old, bipartisan Hyde Amendment and would force taxpayers to fund abortion on demand through birth.
"The push to get rid of Hyde has also been endorsed by [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi."
Among the targets for the six-figure digital ads by the SBA List are Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who are two short-term senators facing their first reelection for a full six-year Senate term in 2022.
The House targets include: Reps. Tom O'Halleran, D-Ariz.; Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-Ga.; Cindy Axne, D-Iowa; Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; Haley Stevens, D-Mich.; and Ron Kind, D-Wis.
"Pro-abortion Democrats seeking to repeal Hyde and force Americans to pay for abortions do so at their own political peril," Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser wrote in a statement. "For decades, the Hyde family of pro-life policies have protected Americans from paying for abortions, with the Hyde Amendment itself saving nearly 2.5 million lives. Time and again the polls show Hyde isn't just effective, it is popular: a strong majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion and want to humanize our laws."
The SBA List cited a Marist poll in January that showed 77% of Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortions overseas and 58% opposed taxpayer-funding abortions in the U.S.
Also, a letter from 60 pro-life leaders denounced Biden's omission of the Hyde Amendment in his budget proposal, and 22 GOP state attorneys general wrote to Congress to have the amendment restored in the 2022 budget that will be weighed by vote later this summer.
The Hyde Amendment was passed in 1976 and has been included in every budget since. It restricts abortion coverage for Medicare or Medicaid recipients and federal employees and servicewomen.