Jeanne Mancini, executive director of the March for Life, observed the 40th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal Medicaid funding of abortions, by warning that Hyde was at risk because the Democratic Party platform and the presidential standard-bearer, Hillary Clinton, have said the amendment should be repealed. Speaking with Mancini at a briefing on Sept. 29 in Washington, Michael New, a visiting associate professor at Ave Maria University in Florida, said his research suggests that 2.14 million unborn babies’ lives had been saved as a result of the Hyde Amendment. New said no evidence exists that universal health care access, increased contraceptive use or increased welfare payments had any effect on limiting the number of abortions. With the Hyde Amendment, “we have basically gotten the federal government out of the abortion business,” New said. Mancini said that despite the long-standing bipartisan support for the Hyde Amendment, pro-lifers should work to codify it in law.

This article appears in October 17 2016.