Catholics for Choice Statement on the Final 2022 House Appropriations Package
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, March 10, 2022
Contact: John Becker, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 203-0931
Email: jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org
Catholics for Choice Statement on the Final 2022 House Appropriations Package
WASHINGTON – Catholics for Choice, which uplifts and amplifies the voices of the majority of Catholics who believe in reproductive freedom, issued the following statement today from President Jamie L. Manson regarding the final 2022 omnibus government funding package passed by the House last night:
“The fiscal year 2022 appropriations cycle was nothing short of historic. Joe Biden, our nation’s first pro-choice Catholic president, omitted the draconian and discriminatory Hyde Amendment from his budget, taking the first step toward ensuring that federal health plans and programs cover abortion alongside all other pregnancy-related care. After decades of tireless work, pro-choice leaders in the House and Senate – including Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Catholics Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) – introduced the first-ever spending bills without abortion coverage bans, which passed the House in July 2021. We are grateful to these champions for their leadership and dedication to ensuring that the full range of reproductive healthcare is not only legal, but also free from barriers related to cost and accessible to all.
“Unfortunately, these monumental steps were not enough. The final package includes the Hyde, Helms, and Weldon Amendments; fails to repeal the Global Gag Rule; and ignores the need for investments in critical domestic and global sexual and reproductive health programs, including the Title X network. We are extremely disappointed that the views of the anti-abortion minority have once again blocked progress that would benefit people across the country, particularly Black, Brown, and Indigenous people of color; young people; LGBTQ people; and immigrants who face structural barriers to exercising their human rights.
“But we are not deterred. We know that budgets are moral documents. Catholics for Choice will never stop working – alongside our pro-choice partners in Congress, compelled by our faithfully-formed moral consciences, and guided by our Catholic social justice values – for government spending priorities that reflect the will of the American people and ensure that everyone has access to safe, quality, and affordable sexual and reproductive healthcare, including abortion care.”
Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a person’s well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.
