Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats Try to Put Abortion Funding in Emergency Coronavirus Bill, Republicans Cry Foul

EDIT: Our article was strictly based on reports from other cited sources. Politifact claims those sources to be false. There’s no evidence that Pelosi was sneaking any funding toward abortion services in the bill.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/16/blog-posting/no-pelosi-wasnt-caught-trying-add-abortion-funding/

Earlier today, Nancy Pelosi held a press conference where she claimed that “we just need to make a decision to help families right now. We need to operate not as business as usual but in an emergency status, where we have to get the job done.”

Q: Would House Dems stay if compromise isn’t reached on the coronavirus response bill in the next 24-48 hours?@SpeakerPelosi: “We don’t need 48 hours, we need to just make a decision to help families right now… I’m not sticking around bc they don’t want to agree to language” pic.twitter.com/6B2V3cPxk6

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2020

The Daily Caller spoke with multiple officials at the White House regarding the proposed legislation, some said that Pelosi sought to include a potential way to guarantee federal funding for abortion into the coronavirus economic stimulus plan.

EXCLUSIVE: White House Officials Allege Speaker Pelosi Pushed To Include Hyde Amendment Loophole Into Coronavirus Stimulus Plan https://t.co/KRkK3PGLYW

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 12, 2020

One official said, “A new mandatory funding stream that does not have Hyde protections would be unprecedented. Under the guise of protecting people, Speaker Pelosi is working to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent covering abortion — which is not only backwards, but goes against historical norms.”

The Hyde Amendment blocks clinics that perform abortions from receiving federal funding, and Democrats have pushed the Trump administration to end it since he was elected in 2016.

Another official referred to the provision as a “slush fund” and yet another questioned, “what the Hyde Amendment and abortion have to do with protecting Americans from coronavirus?”

Also in the bill was a government-mandated paid sick leave program, which would be permanent. If the bill were to pass, businesses would be federally required to provide seven days of paid sick leave, with or without a pandemic.

The Dems’ coronavirus bill is a joke. It uses the pandemic as an excuse to push through policies that have nothing to do with disease prevention. https://t.co/Ky0Sw2te00 via @billybinion

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) March 12, 2020

Democrats are trying hard to spin this, but it appears they have forgotten the meaning of partisanship.

House Democratic bill would provide:

✔️Paid sick leave

✔️Free #coronavirus testing

✔️Food aid for pregnant women, elderly and children

✔️Enhanced unemployment benefits

✔️Protection for healthcare workers

GOP rejection of this common-sense bill is absurd and heartless https://t.co/PrcMZ8JqGl

— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 12, 2020