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Top Capitol Hill Democrats are intent on preserving a four-decade ban on taxpayer-financed abortions despite calls from their party's presidential candidates to abandon it, arguing that attempts to undo the longstanding consensus will fail and won't be worth scuttling a key education and health funding bill. While presidential candidates such as Democratic front-runner Joe Biden hustle to rewrite their positions on the so-called Hyde Amendment, legislative veterans such as Rep. Rosa DeLauro have worked behind the scenes to smooth the waters for the provision. (Taylor, 6/10)

House Democratic leaders are unlikely to allow a floor vote on a measure that would lift a ban on federal funding for abortions, dealing a major blow to progressive lawmakers who want to strip the Hyde Amendment from an upcoming spending bill. The proposed amendment, offered by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and other progressive Democrats, would "ensure" coverage for abortions in federally funded health programs, including Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program. (Hellmann, 6/10)

An amendment to repeal a 42-year-old prohibition on using federal public health funds for abortions won't be part of the debate on a nearly $1 trillion appropriations bill covering the Department of Health and Human Services and several other agencies. That was the view Monday night of Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who co-sponsored a proposal to repeal the Hyde amendment, which the appropriations package (HR 2740) headed to the House floor this week would continue. The language is named for its author, the late Rep. Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill. (Mejdrich and McIntire, 6/10)

The Hyde Amendment has sharply limited federal funding for abortions since 1976. But it’s back in the news again after former vice president Joe Biden suddenly reversed his position and said he now supports taxpayer funding for abortions. As Biden came under fire for his stance — before he reversed himself — one of his top rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), tweeted that he had “consistently voted against the Hyde Amendment.” (Kessler, 6/11)