The Briefing Room
General Category => Politics/Government => Topic started by: mystery-ak on October 06, 2021, 01:16:56 pm
-
Manchin's 'red line' on abortion splits Democrats
By Aris Folley - 10/06/21 06:00 AM EDT
Democrats are clashing over whether to include in their sweeping spending plan a decades-old amendment that blocks Medicaid and other federal health programs from being used to cover abortions.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), already a key stumbling block to Democratic unity on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, has drawn a line in the sand around the issue, but others in the party are split over whether to include the so-called Hyde Amendment in a portion of the spending bill that would create a new federal program to provide health care coverage to low-income individuals in GOP-led states that haven’t adopted Medicaid expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
In recent days, Manchin has signaled he would not support the package without the amendment, which has been included in annual government funding bills since it was introduced by then-Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) in the 1970s.
Manchin, who has long supported the amendment, has called the provision “a red line” and said his party’s spending plan would be “dead on arrival” if it isn’t included.
more
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/budget/575435-democrats-clash-as-manchin-draws-red-lines-around-abortion-amendment-in