Americans Don’t Want to be Taxed to Pay for Abortions

Countries Receiving U.S. Foreign Aid Money Don’t Want to be Pressured into Abortions Either

by Jonathan Abbamonte
Population Research Institute

Perhaps you have heard the saying abortion advocates often like to repeat: ‘if you don’t like abortion, then don’t get one.’

Well, we not only don’t like abortions, we don’t like being forced to pay for them or to do anything else that would facilitate the termination of the life of an unborn child. Yet that is precisely what abortion advocates want us to do.

In a first for either political party, the 2016 Democratic Party Platform has made a clear break with America’s longstanding policies prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortion. The Democratic Platform promises to “support the repeal” of the Helms Amendment and to “overturn...federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.” These two amendments have long served as a bulwark in protecting the conscience rights of tens of millions of Americans like you and I, Americans who are absolutely opposed to the use of their tax dollars to pay for abortions.

The Platform also promises to “repeal” the Mexico City Policy, which it disparagingly refers to as the “global gag rule,” which under previous administrations had prevented American taxpayer dollars from funding organizations that perform abortions abroad.

Policies barring taxpayer money from being used to pay for abortion have long been uncontroversial and a rare point of bipartisanship for both Democrats and Republicans. For decades, most lawmakers realized that forcing all Americans to subsidize abortion, many of which are strongly opposed on moral grounds, was simply not good public policy.

While abortion advocates have long desired to see the floodgates of government funding opened to subsidizing abortion procedures, publicly advocating for taxpayer-funded abortion has long been perceived, even on the left, as a third rail in politics.

Few laws or policies have had a greater effect in protecting the lives of the unborn than Hyde and Helms. According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the Hyde Amendment, has saved over 2.13 million lives since it was first included in the annual federal appropriations bill.

What are Americans’ Views on Taxpayer-Funded Abortion?

        

The Population Research Institute is a (501c3) non-profit research organization whose core values hold that people are the world’s greatest resource. PRI’s goals are to educate on this premise, to expose the myth of overpopulation, and to expose human rights abuses committed in population control programs. Our growing, global network of pro-life groups spans over 30 countries.  For more information, please use this link.  

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If you've had an abortion and are looking for support, please know there are many organizations where you can find help. Call 1-800-5WE-CARE.