On March 25, George Zornick [1], Washington editor of The Nation, wrote a piece [1] for his outlet entitled, “Let’s Just Get Rid of the Hyde Amendment.” Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, shared his piece before releasing her own letter to House members demanding the end of the Hyde Amendment, legislation which prohibits taxpayer-funding for abortion. MSNBC was next to blast the message.
The Hyde Amendment (or, as Zornick called it, the “goblin haunting domestic politics”) has been in effect since 1976.
To begin his piece, Zornick cited two “unexpected roadblocks in Congress this month” – a Medicare bill [2] and an anti-trafficking bill [3] – before blaming the “culprit”: Hyde Amendment language in the bills.
“What if, once and for all, Democrats just got rid of it?” Zornick probed.
Not only would that “help” women like those who “continue their pregnancies despite wanting an abortion because the funding isn’t available,” but also the move would “reverse the debate” by placing “pro-choice politicians on the offensive” rather than “playing defense against Hyde creep,” he argued.
In his conclusion, Zornick pointed to Hillary Clinton. “If she is looking for things to campaign on, getting rid of the Hyde Amendment and its anachronistic, discriminatory logic is a good place to look,” he wrote.
Zornick didn’t mention his latest ally, NARAL’s Ilyse Hogue.
Hogue pushed [4] Zornick’s piece on Twitter, and, the next day, March 26, NARAL publicized a letter [5] from her to House representatives.
“[I]t is time to take a stand against the Hyde amendment everywhere it exists in federal law,” Hogue proclaimed. To end the “harmful policy” with “devastating effect,” Hogue called on “pro-choice members to rededicate themselves” guarantee “abortion care” for all women.
She continued, “[I]t is no longer sufficient simply to articulate one’s opposition to the Hyde amendment; pro-choice Americans have a right to expect leaders in Congress to demonstrate real action.”
With, she said, NARAL’s help. The organization, she promised, “will redouble its efforts” to end Hyde and is “actively looking for allies in this shared challenge.”
Taking interest, MSNBC offered Hogue a platform to share her message. In a March 27 piece for the outlet, Hogue wrote [6]:
It’s critical that the events of the last few weeks lead us to a genuine conversation about overturning the Hyde Amendment. Americans do not believe that constitutional rights and guaranteed freedoms should come with a price tag.
Hogue, a media favorite [7], believes [8] “anti-abortion means “anti-American” and links [9] abortion to “freedom, equality, self-determination.”
— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter. [10]