Democrats negotiating over Biden's agenda face another obstacle: Federal funding for abortions

The cost of the bill containing President Biden's social safety net agenda is not the only flashpoint in the negotiations between moderate and progressive Democrats: a disagreement has emerged over whether a ban on federal funding for abortions — shorthanded in Congress as the Hyde Amendment — should be included in the bill.

Senator Joe Manchin, whose yes vote is crucial to the passage of the bill, called the Build Back Better Act, says he won't support the legislation without the Hyde Amendment, and some progressive Democrats say they won't vote for the bill if the amendment is in it.

The ban, named for abortion rights opponent GOP Representative Henry Hyde, first passed in 1976, prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. It is added to legislation that addresses federal spending for women's health, mostly to provisions involving Medicaid.