Repeating the language also risked tension in the Democratic caucus, with vulnerable moderates eager for an abortion battle on the House floor a few months before voters go to the polls.
Pelosi held a conference call Wednesday with several leaders of the Pro-Choice Caucus, including representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) And Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), To discuss the decision, according to several Democratic aides. A draft appropriations bill that includes the Hyde language is expected to be released Monday.
Several high-ranking Democrats confirmed that the issue had been under serious discussion. And some privately noted that internal caucus policy was also at stake, with powerful appropriations at stake next year.
“We are talking about what we think is the best course of action,” representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Who heads the panel of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the issue, said in a brief interview earlier this week.
DeLauro, who is one of three Democrats running for the Assignments presidency, declined to say whether she personally wanted to remove the provision this year, saying: “Everything is being discussed.”
Some senior Democratic advisers privately argued that repealing the Hyde amendment would never happen, and told POLITICO that Democrats lacked the votes to kill a procedural motion by the Republican Party that would have led it, a tactic Republicans have successfully armed against them on controversial issues.
Other Democrats still argued that the language should be scrapped.
“Access to abortion is a right. That means it shouldn’t be available only to those who can afford it, “said Rep. Judy Chu (Democrat for California).” House Democrats have done more than ever to protect the rights of all women, and I think that should include the final repeal of the Hyde Amendment. “
The news is sure to disappoint abortion rights groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL, which had urged House Democrats to at least try to repeal the language since the party is majority.
Liberal groups have lobbied Democrats to remove the provision every year since they returned to the House in the 2018 election. Their campaign gained steam last summer after Vice President Joe Biden, a former Hyde language advocate, announced that it had shifted its position amid growing backwardness during the fiercely competitive Democratic primaries.
“We have been building and building and building and now is the time to do this because we have the Chamber, because we have a pro-abortion majority in the Chamber, because we have Biden on record,” said Destiny Lopez, co-director of All Above All. , a group that defends reproductive rights.
“I think we shouldn’t call anyone ‘pro-choice’ anymore if they don’t support Hyde’s repeal and really do something about it because the choice doesn’t make sense if you really can’t afford to get the attention.”
The vast majority of House Democrats say, in principle, that they support removing the Hyde language, which advocates say prevents many low-income women from paying for abortion services. The caucus as a whole has moved dramatically to the left on this issue since Democrats ruled the House a decade ago.
To further fuel the movement, a progressive challenger in Illinois eliminated one of the party’s last remaining pro-life members, Rep. Dan Lipinski, this spring.
But privately, many Democrats questioned why they should force the issue with Republicans, possibly with a government shutdown at stake, just a few months before their most vulnerable members are on the ballot. Moderates in Trump-won districts tried to avoid the problem, anticipating announcements of Republican attacks that would accuse them of supporting “taxpayer-funded abortions.”
The internal language debate gained momentum in 2020 amid a trialogue race to lead the powerful House Appropriations panel next year.
DeLauro is vying for the job with two other top Democrats: Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). Kaptur, who has shifted left on abortion rights in recent years, had already promised to remove the Hyde language in a candidate letter he sent to the Democratic committee this year.
Wasserman Schultz declined to comment on the matter earlier this week, but an aide said after the publication of this story that Wasserman Schultz supports repealing the Hyde Amendment this year.
Alice Miranda Ollstein contributed to this report.
