By Judie Brown
This past Wednesday marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, which was written to eliminate taxpayer funding for abortion. The original language read: “None of the funds contained in this Act shall be used to perform abortions except where the life off the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term.”
In 1976, the pro-life movement was convinced that the only way to get this language officially added to a funding bill was to ensure that mothers’ lives were protected when dangerous pregnancies were diagnosed. It was not perfect, but everyone thought it would be prudential to enunciate the protection.
We did not agree with that, but it passed anyway. Little did anyone know that 50 years later the amendment would be a mere shadow of its former self. If we thought one needless exception was a mistake, what in the world do we think now?
The current Hyde Amendment is such a mishmash that it would require a small textbook to examine it properly. Let us simply say that the original amendment of 31 words has now become 376 words. And the language is laden with reasons to allow the killing of a preborn child, including rape, incest, life of the mother, or “in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed.”
Here we are, more than 50 years after abortion was decriminalized, talking about when killing a baby is a legal prerogative. There is something terribly wrong with this picture, and we believe it is something far worse than the toothless Hyde Amendment. One wonders if the pro-life movement has lost its way in the tall grass of a political jungle.
We are grateful to God that over the past 50 years, according to one article, 2,646,474 babies have been saved from death at taxpayer expense. Every human being’s life is precious from the first cell until death. Of that there is no doubt.
But what about the more than 60 million children who are not with us because of decisions their families made without the aid of federal funding? Each of them is equally invaluable in the eyes of God.
One wonders how frequently lawmakers and their allies in the pro-life vineyard stop and think of the baby who will die rather than the exception that is politically necessary. We have pondered this question at length and believe the answer is a simple one.
Which baby would you condemn to death to placate a political agenda? Why don’t we reflect on the humanity of every single human being rather than foraging for the right set of words crafted in law so that groups can claim a political win?
Where is the ardor that the babies need to win total protection? Can we no longer see that without human personhood engraved into law, our quest to end abortion is lackluster at best, deadly at worst?
We continue to ask these questions because there are human beings whose lives depend on a positive response. The Hyde debacle is the result of 50+ years of accommodating politicians rather than keeping our eyes focused on what God wants for His children.
This is not a criticism; it is a reality check. We are part of the problem because we are flawed human beings, and so we now stand before God in our distress. The dwindling Hyde Amendment is a wake-up call for every human being who defines himself as pro-life.
Let’s start acting like we care for each person, her personhood, and her safety from the scourge of abortion. Once we unite behind that quest, we can begin to end the deaths of the innocent, if only we have the courage to do so.
As we considered these questions on the fiftieth anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, we realized that only one thing really matters politically and culturally: the truth. In this case, the truth is that every single abortion kills a human being, and there is no such thing as a legitimate abortion.
Dwindling Hyde or not, dwindling principle kills.