One of the biggest myths that the Pro-Life Movement tells itself is that the Hyde Amendment accomplished something. On paper, it is a congressional provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion. But in practice, the government still funds people’s abortions, especially through Obamacare.
Nevertheless, that does not stop the Christian Post’s Richard Land from celebrating the Hyde Amendment’s 50th anniversary. Richard Land claims that the Hyde Amendment may have saved millions, but if anything, America’s abortion rate has never been higher as young women don’t care that they are killing a baby. They don’t want it.
The Hyde Amendment is a lie, since the government funds Planned Parenthood, the number one provider of abortions before mifepristone. Compounding this is Obamacare, where Advanced Premium Tax Credits pay for abortion plans. So on the healthcare exchange, abortion plans can be entirely funded by tax credits in various states. This is a fact no one talks about.
The Pro-Life Movement did not have a meaningful victory until Dobbs, but they fumbled the aftermath of that because many did not actually want to ban abortion; they wanted a career. They did not believe abortion was murder. They believed it was messy.
Richard Land is no exception. Despite proclaiming that abortion is child sacrifice, he once counseled a husband to let a bloodthirsty ER doctor abort his wife’s child based on highly dubious medical advice. When I first read that I was stunned and had to keep rereading it to ensure that I did not mistake Land’s words.
But there was no other conclusion than that Land was a problem the whole time. Thus, his opposition to abortion is tepid and ineffective. He’s part of an outlet that defends feminism and even child murderers. It makes sense that he believes that the Hyde Amendment is therefore a massive achievement. On a good day, he celebrates mediocrity.
