President Joe Biden’s $6 trillion budget proposal for 2022 notably excludes the Hyde Amendment, a law that has for decades blocked federal funding for abortions under Medicaid, unless the unwanted pregnancy endangers a mother’s life or was the result of incest or rape.
Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in 1980, an estimated 300,000 abortions were performed each year using federal taxpayer funds. Since the amendment is a “rider” to the annual appropriations bill and not a permanent law, it must be renewed by Congress each year, giving lawmakers the opportunity to modify its language or do away with it.
