Attorney General Doug Peterson and 21 other state attorneys general wrote to congressional leaders on Monday, urging Congress to maintain the Hyde Amendment in the 2022 budget. The amendment, prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions, was conspicuously removed by the Biden Administration despite its inclusion in federal budgets for the last forty-five years. 

The Hyde Amendment’s purpose is clear: it prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions (with exceptions), on the basis that a great many taxpayers object to abortion on moral or religious grounds and, therefore, it is unconscionable to force them to pay for abortions by using their tax dollars for that purpose. Fighting for the freedom of conscience has been a hallmark of state attorneys general. 

 “Nearly 60 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion,” said AG Peterson, “The president only recently changed his position. We are urging Congress to reject this divisive policy and to restore the Hyde Amendment into the budget it ultimately passes.”

Studies of the Hyde Amendment have found that it has saved the lives of millions of unborn children—saving 2.13 million lives in its first forty years alone, and saving over 60,000 lives per year today. 

In their letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the attorneys general called on Congress to resist the president’s efforts to force taxpayers who object to abortions to pay for them.

Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia also joined the letter.