“We will continue to oppose — and seek to overturn — federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment,” reads the draft of the Democratic platform. The Hyde amendment is a measure attached annually to legislation that prevents federal funding of abortion for Medicaid recipients except in cases when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother.
West Virginia senator Joe Manchin condemned the proposed language in the Democratic platform regarding the Hyde amendment on Wednesday. “That’s crazy,” Manchin told THE WEEKLY STANDARD. “It’s something that I know most of the Democrats in West Virginia and most West Virginians would not agree with. I don’t either.”
Manchin is one of the few remaining self-described pro-life Democrats in Congress, but the Hyde amendment has traditionally enjoyed the support of many Democrats who believe in a right to abortion.
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