Hyde, Henry John (1924-2007), was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007. Hyde, a Republican, represented Illinois.
As a representative, Hyde gained national attention for his opposition to abortion. The Supreme Court of the United States had declared abortion legal in 1973, but Hyde drafted an amendment to an appropriations bill stating that Medicaid would not pay for abortions unless the mother’s life was in danger. The bill, including the Hyde Amendment, became law in 1976. Abortion supporters fought it in courts, but the Supreme Court upheld the measure in 1980, ruling that the government had no obligation to pay for even most medically necessary abortions. Since 1976, Congress has continued to attach the amendment to annual funding bills for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and for its successor, the Department of Health and Human Services.
Hyde was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001. In that post in 1998, he chaired the committee’s hearings on the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. The House impeached Clinton, but the Senate found him not guilty in 1999. For more details, see Clinton, Bill (Domestic events) . Hyde served as chairman of the House International Relations Committee from 2001 to 2007.
Hyde was born in Chicago on April 18, 1924. He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946, during and after World War II. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1947 and received a doctor of law degree from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago in 1949.
Hyde served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1967 to 1974. He was majority leader of the Illinois House in 1971 and 1972. In 1974, he was elected to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He took office in 1975. He was reelected every two years between 1976 and 2004. Hyde did not seek reelection in 2006. He died on Nov. 29, 2007.
See also Abortion (Abortion in the United States) .
