The Democratic Party has taken the unprecedented step of calling for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which for four decades has barred federal funds from paying directly for abortions,
The Washington Times reports.
The demand to overturn the amendment was approved as part of the party's draft platform, but the decision has been harshly criticized by some Democrats.
The Hyde Amendment has always had bipartisan support, so much so that President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2010 affirming that it would apply to Obamacare due to pressure from within his own party.
Democrats also did not try to get rid of the long-standing amendment when they controlled Congress from 2009 until 2011.
Democratic West Virginia Sen Joe Manchin called the platform change "crazy,"
telling The Weekly Standard that, "It's something that I know most of the Democrats in West Virginia and most West Virginians would not agree with. I don't either."
Kristen Day, head of Democrats for Life, warned that it will be difficult for her party to do well in the election, including its attempt to win control of Congress, if it is seen as so extreme on abortion and vowed to fight against the change in the platform at the Democratic National Convention later this month,
American Magazine reported.
Despite long-standing Democratic support for the amendment, including by presumptive party nominee Hillary Clinton when she was a senator, The Washington Times reported that Clinton changed her stance in the primaries, stating that the provision makes it "harder for low-income women to exercise their full rights, [and] any right that requires you to take extraordinary measures to access it is no right at all."
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