April 9, 2021
In 1976, House Republicans proposed the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds from covering the cost of abortion care for poor and low-income people. At the time, Representative Henry Hyde (R-IL), the namesake of the amendment, did what Republicans have become infamous for: saying the quiet part out loud. During a House debate on the amendment, the lawmaker said, “I would certainly like to prevent, if I could legally, anybody having an abortion, a rich woman, a middle class woman, a poor woman. Unfortunately, the only vehicle available is the [Medicaid] bill.”