Taxpayer Abortion: A Very Real Risk

For 45 years the Hyde Amendment has protected Americans from funding abortion with their tax dollars.  We now face a political movement that wants to overturn the Hyde Amendment and use our tax dollars to fund abortion.  I strongly urge all of the faithful of our Diocese to contact our national Congressional and Senate Representatives to ensure that this does not come to pass.  Several points are especially critical to note: 
 

• Taxpayer-funded abortion is not a one-party issue.  The Hyde Amendment has been signed into law every year since 1976, whether the Congress and White House were led by Republicans or Democrats.  Now is not the time to change course and force taxpayers to participate in such a profound moral evil. 
• The majority of Americans oppose the use of their taxpayer dollars for abortion and until now the federal government has respected the conscience of U.S. citizens by staying out of the abortion business.  No American should be made to subsidize the taking of innocent life with his or her tax dollars.   
• It is estimated that the Hyde Amendment has saved 2.4 million babies from abortion since its enactment.  If the Hyde Amendment is lost then far more babies will die. 
• To offer women a government-funded abortion, but not the resources she needs to provide for her baby, is not “choice” but coercion.  All women deserve the resources needed to care for and nurture their baby.  Government funds are better spent supporting women in unexpected or challenging pregnancies than paying to end the lives of their children. 

 
What are the most critical steps the faithful can take: 
(1) Pray for an end to abortion; (2) advocate to stop taxpayer-funded abortion by signing the petition at www.notaxpayerabortion.com; (3) contribute to Birth-Choice, women’s shelters, and other charities that support pregnant women and mothers in need; (4) contact your U.S. Congressional and Senate Representatives and express your opinion at  https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_congressional_delegations_from_Arizona
 
+Edward J. Weisenburger 
Bishop of Tucson