Forty-three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled abortion to be a constitutional right. Three years later, Illinois Republican Rep. Henry Hyde pushed Congress into banning almost all federal funds from being used for abortions.

That ban, an annual budget rider known as the Hyde Amendment, has saved more than two million children from death in the womb, according to a new report from Charlotte Lozier Institute Associate Scholar Dr. Michael New.

Naturally, Democrats want it gone. From my article at The Stream:

The Democratic Party’s platform promises to repeal of the Amendment because it “impede[s] a woman’s access to abortion,” as does party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Vice-Presidential nominee Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia has said he will subordinate his support for Hyde to Clinton’s agenda against it if their ticket wins in November.

The insanity here is pretty deep:

Likewise, the head of a Texas-based abortion group said in the press release that “Hyde hurts our clients and their families because it forces them to pay out of pocket for a procedure that should be recognized by our government as not only a basic human right, but a basic form of medical care that Texans of all socioeconomic backgrounds depend on.”

Any rational person knows that targeting an innocent human being for slaughter is immoral. Donald Trump has vowed to make Hyde permanent law, though as a #NeverTrump hold-out I’m less than optimistic he’ll follow through.

New told me he’s confident that Republicans will hold onto Hyde – it’s a law with broad public support – though if Democrats take the Senate and hold the White House all bets may be off as the butcher party will probably shut down the government just to overturn Hyde.

In statements issued yesterday, two leading House GOPers said they’ll hold tight to Hyde.

From Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI):

“No American taxpayer should be forced to pay for abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been the cornerstone of protecting conscience for 40 years and is responsible for saving more than 2 million American lives. Make no mistake: The Hyde Amendment will remain central in our fight for life until the day Roe v. Wade is overturned entirely.”

And House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA),who vowed to “continue to support the Hyde Amendment”:

“Thanks to the passage of the Hyde Amendment, millions of children have been saved from the horrors of abortion. In fact, recent estimates find that over 2 million people have been saved by theHyde Amendment. Thanks to the efforts of Chairman Hyde, the gift of life has been given to so many who did not have a voice. “When the Hyde Amendment was originally passed, both the House and Senate were composed overwhelmingly of Democratic Members. Forty years later, the Hyde Amendment has been renewed each appropriations cycle with few changes, supported by Congresses controlled by both parties, and Presidents from both parties.

As I noted in my Stream piece, the Hyde Amendment is imperfect – it allows federal funding in limited circumstances, and it has no effect on the abortion-inducing drugs and devices Planned Parenthood gets from the federal Title X program. Other sources of funding are either untouched or so convoluted even the Government Accountability Office couldn’t figure out whether the money was coming from the feds or states.

But more than two million people were born thanks to Henry Hyde. That’s got to mean something.