George Weigel on Henry Hyde

"He was the most consequential Catholic legislator of his time."

 

Go read the whole very personal account.

Henry Hyde "The Father of the Modern Pro-Life Movement"

President Bush on Congressman Henry Hyde (to whom he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom):

“He used his persuasive powers for noble causes. He stood for a strong and purposeful America — confident in freedom's advance, and firm in freedom's defense. He stood for limited, accountable government, and the equality of every person before the law. He was a gallant champion of the weak and forgotten, and a fearless defender of life in all its seasons. Henry Hyde spoke of controversial matters with intellectual honesty and without rancor.”

See also: A Life for Life: Henry Hyde's Legacy National Review Symposium with Robert P. George, Kate O'Beirne, Tom DeLay, Carl Anderson, Helen Alvare and others.

The National Right to Life has a lengthy tribute - heralding him as "the father of the modern pro-life movement for his introduction and sponsorhip of the amendment which bears his name:

Perhaps Hyde's best-remembered commentary on the issue of abortion is this quote:

When the time comes as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, the final judgment, I've often thought, as Fulton Sheen wrote, that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no advocates, you are there alone standing before God – and a terror will rip through your soul like nothing you can imagine. But I really think that those in the pro-life movement will not be alone. I think there will be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world – and they will plead for everyone who has been in this movement. They will say to God, 'Spare him because he loved us,' – and God will look at you and say not, 'Did you succeed?' but 'Did you try?'

It is safe to say that Congressman Henry Hyde not only tried to save the most defenseless among us, but that he has succeeded on a level of which most can only dream. His efforts, his victories, his leadership and his friendship are deeply appreciated by the National Right to Life Committee and by pro-life citizens across this nation.

Henry Hyde - Tireless Defender of the Unborn, RIP

Rep. Henry Hyde, a Catholic from Illinois who recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his tireless work in Congress to protect the unborn, has passed away.

Requiscat in pace.

(Hat tip: Alexham at Vox Nova)


UPDATE
National Review's editorial on Rep. Hyde's passing: "The Honorable Mr. Hyde":

... He will be most remembered for the Hyde Amendment. First passed in 1976, when Hyde was new to Washington, it bans the public funding of abortions though Medicaid. The year before it passed, the federal government had financed 300,000 abortions for low-income women. Afterward, this number dropped essentially to zero — the women either found another way to pay for their abortions or chose life for their unborn children. The National Right to Life Committee has estimated, conservatively, that the Hyde Amendment has prevented at least one million abortions. That’s one million Americans who are alive today because of Henry Hyde.

The Hyde Amendment has proven remarkably durable, undergoing only one important revision. In 1993, Congress added rape and incest exceptions to the life-of-the-mother clause that had been in place from the start. It is without question the most important piece of pro-life legislation ever to pass Congress...

UPDATE # 2
More from National Review on Rep. Hyde's passing, this time from David Freddoso writing at The Corner:

Hyde at Notre Dame
Everyone remembers the famous [ED.: rather, infamous] Mario Cuomo speech at Notre Dame, in which he urged Catholics to keep right and wrong to themselves when it comes to abortion. But how many people remember that shortly after his speech, conservatives at Notre Dame invited Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) to speak on the topic of religion in public life?

The Associated Press covered his speech on September 24, 1984, as true today as it ever was ...

[More]

Henry Hyde to Get Presidential Medal of Freedom for Opposing Abortion

(Hat tip: PewSitter.com)

From LifeNews.com:

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former member of Congress Henry Hyde will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom next Monday for his work opposing abortion. For decades, after his landmark Hyde Amendment stopped federal funding of virtually all abortions, Hyde became the pro-life movement's elder statesman on Capitol Hill.

Hyde was first elected to the House in 1974 and served as chairman of the House International Relations Committee and the House Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001.

In those positions, Hyde advanced pro-life legislation and worked to stop using taxpayer dollars to subsidize abortions in other countries.

Hyde's lasting legacy will be the federal Hyde amendment, which has prevented federal tax dollars from being used to fund almost all abortions since 1976. The Supreme Court heard a case in 1980 challenging the law and upheld it as constitutional.

[More]

Catholic Republicans King, Hyde Release Open Letter to U.S. Catholic Bishops on Immigration

Catholic Congressmen Peter King and Henry Hyde, have joined Congressman Sensenbrenner on writing a letter to the USCCB concerning immigration reform. Here is the money paragraph:

Lastly, we know many of you are concerned about the House bill's provision making illegal presence a felony. We share that concern. As you should know, during the House debate, Chairman Sensenbrenner offered an amendment to reduce the bill's penalty for illegal presence from a felony to a misdemeanor. Unfortunately, this amendment was unsuccessful, primarily because all but eight of our Democratic colleagues decided to play political games by voting to make all illegal immigrants felons. A felony penalty is neither appropriate nor workable. We remain committed to reducing this penalty and working with you to this end.

Rep. Hyde to Sen. Durban: One Catholic to Another . . .

Here is the text of a letter [.pdf format] Illinois Congressman Henry J. Hyde sent today to Senator Durbin, in response to his questioning of Judge John Roberts, Jr.:

I read with some interest comments attributed to you in news reports detailing your Monday meeting with the President's Supreme Court nominee, Judge John G. Roberts, Jr.

While we may disagree on various domestic and international issues, we have also found common ground over the years on numerous matters of importance to all Americans. As Catholics, we certainly share a common experience, including the awful legacy of anti-Catholic bigotry that permeated American politics well into the 20th century.

"Irish Need Not Apply" signs were common in the storefront windows of Chicago's neighborhoods until a few years ago, a bias driven largely by the Catholic faith shared by most Irish-Americans. I want to believe you do not wish to turn back the clock on that ugly period of our history, and that's why these comments attributed to you concern me.

No one of our faith -- or that of any other denomination or religion -- should be excluded from public office for his or her religious values. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution unequivocally prohits a litmus test: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States."

"Practicing Catholics Need Not Apply" cannot become a rallying cry of modern day religious bigots who would seek to drive from the public square all federal office candidates of faith. I hope that your question to Judge Roberts, if accurately reported, does not constitute an opening salvo in a process in which the candidate's faith will constitute sufficient justification for denying him a speedy confirmation.

Very truly yours,

Henry J Hyde
Chairman

Via ConfirmThem.com, a project of Redstate.Org.

Hyde to Vatican?

From Robert Novak:

Republican sources are reporting that Rep. Henry Hyde [Catholic and Republican] of Illinois might cut short his last term in Congress to become U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

The Vatican post, considered a plum appointment by Catholics, has been vacant following the departure of Jim Nicholson to become secretary of Veterans Affairs for President Bush's second term. Hyde is a prominent Catholic layman and a leading foe of abortion.

The 80-year-old Hyde is serving his last two years as chairman of the House International Relations Committee under Republican self-term limits.

He is expected to announce his retirement this spring after 16 terms in Congress.

The congressman has been quoted that he "would surely consider it."

The Hyde-Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment

David already added the update to his post on the 20th, but it's worth mentioning twice, in case you missed it. This past Saturday heralded the first pro-life victory of the second term of the Bush administration with Congress' approval of the Hyde-Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment:

"We applaud Congress' recognition that hospitals and other health-care providers should have a right to choose not to be involved in destroying life," said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, a spokeswoman for the bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.

"Over a million abortions are done every year by willing abortion providers in this country," Ruse said. "It is outrageous to suggest that Catholic health-care providers and others with moral objections should be forced into the practice of abortion."

"The threat of discrimination is not theoretical, it is real," said Ruse. "Already, hospitals in Alaska, New Jersey and New Mexico have been discriminated against because of their pro-life policies."

Current federal law already protects "health-care entities" from having to perform or provide for abortions.

The Hyde-Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment was needed because current law had been misinterpreted to protect only individual physicians and training programs, leaving hospitals, health plans, nurses, and other health-care participants without protection. (Zenit.Org 11/23/04).

The bill was sponsored by Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), a prominent Catholic in the pro-life movement, and Representative David Weldon of Florida (R-Fl.). (As David pointed out, the legislation was passed despite vehemently opposition by "pro-choice" Catholics[?] Maria Cantwell, Olympia Snowe, and Barbara Mikulski).

Several other aspects of the spending bill which may be of interest to our readers:

• Culture of Life Foundation reports:
  Funding for abstinence education went from $75 million to a little more than $104 million, an increase of 39 percent and more than $29 million from last year's budget. Though the new amount falls short of President George Bush's request of $181.9 million, it still makes headway into achieving parity for abstinence funding versus funding for "safe-sex" programs. A recent study by the Heritage Foundation revealed that the government spends $12 on safe-sex education and contraception promotion for every one dollar spent on abstinence education.
  (See also: "Abstinence Education Funds Hit Record Levels in Congressional Bill" LifeNews.com. Nov. 22, 2004).
  

• Family Research Council: "In the same bill, Congress also banned the patenting of human life, another key win for life. The legislation limits the ability of biotech companies from killing and exploiting human life for economic gain."
  

• There are reports that the bill enforces the Mexico City Policy banning U.S. money to U.N. programs which perform or promote abortion. I'm still researching this aspect, although NARAL released a statement on the 22nd protesting that "language that would have restored previously canceled funds to the United Nations Fund for Population Assistance (UNFPA) was stripped from the omnibus." For the past four years the Bush Administration had blocked funding to the UNFPA "because of the agency's support for China's population control program that involves forced abortions and sterilizations" (LifeNews.com). If anybody has more on this, please comment).
  

The bill is expected to be signed by Bush by December 3.