Daily Herald opinion: Removing Henry Hyde’s name from Wheaton courthouse feels petty. Because it is.
On Tuesday, the DuPage County Board surprised no one when it voted 10-5 to remove the late congressman Henry Hyde’s name from the Wheaton courthouse. What had been the Henry J. Hyde Judicial Office Facility since 2010 will now be known as the offensive-to-no-one DuPage County Judicial Office Facility. The vote was along party lines; 10 Democrats agreed, five Republicans disagreed and two Democrats — Lucy Chang Evans of Naperville and Lynn LaPlante of Glen Ellyn —- abstained, saying it was an issue the board didn’t need to take on.
Democrats, led by Board Chair Deborah Conroy, pushed the removal over Hyde’s namesake legislation from 1977, the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for elective abortions through Medicaid. (It was later amended to pay for abortions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.) They argued that because the Amendment restricted health care to poor women, Hyde’s name did not belong on the face of the courthouse, a building that stands for equal justice for all.
Unfortunately, the removal of Hyde’s name says a great deal more than the Democrats intended. To begin with, it reduces a great — yes, great — conservative thinker to a one-issue caricature. Yes, Hyde was opposed to abortion his entire adult life. He didn’t arrive at that opinion because it was politically expedient; he believed abortion was wrong. But he also walked the walk that his point of view required by pushing for expanded childcare and family leave legislation. Moreover, in 1981 he rejected the National Pro-Life Political Action Committee’s “hit list” of pro-choice congressmen and senators to target for defeat, saying it would create unhelpful discord among members who work best when they work together.
A renowned conservative, Hyde nevertheless was an original supporter of the Brady Bill, which called for background checks for gun buyers, and in 1994 supported a ban on semi-automatic weapons.
Over the years of his long public life, this editorial board didn’t hesitate to disagree with Hyde on proposed legislation that we felt was too conservative for the suburbs at large. But we also endorsed Hyde repeatedly, as a man of integrity who was respectful and willing to listen to the other side. He was truly an institution in DuPage County, a sincere and conscientious representative for his values and for his constituents, especially at that time. He and the late liberal senator Paul Simon were genuine friends — polar opposites in politics but with a mutual respect for the character each found in the other.
Naming buildings, schools, expressways and more for public servants of stature is a time-honored tradition in this nation. Besides honoring them, it keeps their legacy alive for future generations. Pulling Hyde’s name off the courthouse because his point of view on abortion is no longer the majority view in DuPage County feels petty. Names have been removed because the honoree was found to be corrupt, an unabashed racist or an abuser of children, to name a few. Hyde was none of those things.
DuPage Democrats wanted to send a message with the move, and they did. They just sent the wrong one.