Senate GOP Tries to Restrict Abortion Services for Human Trafficking Victims
Senate Republicans slipped anti-choice language into a bipartisan, broadly supported human trafficking bill, outraging Democrats who are blocking further amendments to the bill until that language is taken out.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), lead sponsor of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, said the anti-choice provision in that bill was nothing more than the status quo. It’s the language of the Hyde Amendment, which for 39 years has discriminated against low-income and vulnerable women by restricting federal funding for abortion care.
But the use of that language in this bill would actually expand the Hyde Amendment, making its restrictions permanent and applied to private funds, not just taxpayer dollars. And the restrictions would specifically apply to the often underage, female victims of underground sex slavery in the United States.
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