A week prior to the March for Life, ERLC Interim President Dr. Gary Hollingsworth sent a letter to the Senate imploring members to include Hyde pro-life protections in the Affordable Care Act. As the Affordable Care Act subsidies are being debated, additional pro-life protections are needed. In light of the recent U.S. House passage of a three-year renewal of the subsidies — sans Hyde Amendment – we ask that the Senate include pro-life protections in any subsidy policy
proposal put forth. If the ACA tax credits do exist or are renewed, they must include Hyde protections.
Southern Baptists’ commitment to life
He notes Southern Baptists’ longstanding commitment to the sanctity of life, noting that:
“Messengers to the SBC annual meetings have long affirmed the value, dignity, and sanctity of human life through numerous resolutions opposing abortion. A 2021 resolution, On Taxpayer Complicity In Abortion And The Hyde Amendment, explicitly outlines Southern Baptist support for across-the-board Hyde protections, demonstrating just how important that issue is to our 12.9 million members.”
“The Hyde Amendment is not an optional guardrail when it comes to the allocation of federal dollars.”
Gary Hollingsworth, ERLC interim president
The necessity of pro-life Hyde protections
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was crafted in a way that sidesteps Hyde Amendment protections, which is the longstanding amendment that prohibits taxpayer funding for abortions. Yet, as Hollingsworth insists, “The Hyde Amendment is not an optional guardrail when it comes to the allocation of federal dollars.”
In weighing potential changes to the Affordable Care Act, elected officials have an important opportunity to protect vulnerable preborn lives. As the letter affirms,
“For millions of Southern Baptists, one issue remains a preeminent priority: the sanctity of life. There have been monumental victories for the cause of life in recent years – the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the repeal of harmful federal regulations, and, for the first time ever, federally defunding Planned Parenthood. But now is not the time to step back from the cause of life.”
Learn more on the ERLC’s advocacy for life and protecting the Hyde Amendment.
