A group of 48 Senate Republicans sent a letter Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer telling him they will vote to block any bill that would undermine the Hyde Amendment or any other pro-life protections.
The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the letter which was spearheaded by Montana Sen. Steve Daines and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford and signed by 46 other Republicans. In the letter, the lawmakers say any legislation that undermines the Hyde Amendment, which ensures that U.S. tax dollars are not spent on abortions, will be shot down. The lawmakers added that the Hyde Amendment has saved close to 2.5 million preborn children over the course of 45 years.
The only two Republicans who did not sign the letter were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The Daily Caller reached out to both Collins and Murkowski for comment, to which Collins’s Press Secretary Christopher Knight said: “Senator Collins has consistently supported the Hyde Amendment to ban federal funding for abortions, and she believes that this prohibition should continue.”
Murkowski’s office did not comment.
“We write to express our unwavering support for the Hyde Amendment and all other longstanding pro-life protections. For more than 45 years, the Hyde Amendment has ensured that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions, saving the lives of nearly 2.5 million preborn children. As you know, the Hyde Amendment is supported by both a substantial majority of the American public and a bipartisan majority of sitting United States Senators, and was most recently signed into law by President Biden in Public Law 117-103,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
READ THE LETTER HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“There’s a clear message to Leader Schumer: We will not allow the Democrats to force the American people to foot the bill for their radical abortion agenda. The Hyde Amendment has been the law of the land for over 45 years, and my colleagues and I will ensure it stays that way,” Daines told the Daily Caller before sending the letter. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Blackburn Warns Dems Could Try To Pack Court With Ketanji Brown Jackson Before Breyer Retires To Try To Save Roe v. Wade)
Republicans in the House sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in June 2021 calling on them to oppose Biden’s budget and reject any budget legislation that does not include the Hyde Amendment. In the letter, the lawmakers noted that every president from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump included the Hyde Amendment in their budget proposals or signed it into law.
The Senate letter is endorsed by Susan B. Anthony List, Family Research Council, March for Life, Catholic Vote, National Right to Life, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Americans United for Life, Concerned Women for America, and Alliance Defending Freedom. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Call For Justice Department, FBI Criminal Investigation Into Leak Of Draft Supreme Court Opinion)
In February of 2021, Republican lawmakers introduced an amendment that would apply the Hyde Amendment to the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, however, Democrats removed the amendment from the legislation.
The Daily Caller contacted Schumer’s office about the letter to which they did not immediately respond.