Henry Hyde, lawmaker who led anti-abortion movement, dies at the age of 83

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and was a hero of the anti-abortion movement, died Thursday. He was 83.

Mary Ann Schultz, a spokeswoman for Rush University Medical Center, said Hyde died Thursday at 2:30 a.m. CST at that hospital. She said Hyde, who underwent open-heart surgery in July, was admitted for persistent renal failure related to his cardiac condition and suffered from a fatal arrhythmia.

Hyde retired from Congress at the end of the last session. Earlier this month, President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“During more than 30 years as a congressman, he represented the people of Illinois with character and dignity — and always stood for a strong and purposeful America,” Bush said in a statement Thursday.

The white-maned, physically imposing Hyde was a throwback to a different era, a man who was genuinely liked by his opponents for his wit, charm and fairness.

He made a name for himself in 1976, just two years after his first election from the district that includes O’Hare Airport, by attaching an amendment to a spending bill banning the use of federal funds to carry out abortions.

What came to be known as the “Hyde Amendment” has since become a fixture in the annual debate over federal spending, and has served as an important marker for abortion foes seeking to discourage women from terminating pregnancies.

As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, in 1998 he led House efforts to impeach Clinton for allegedly lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.