Hyde Amendment – Family Council

Family Council Joins Letter Urging Congress, President to Stand By the Hyde Amendment

Jan 12, 2026Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Hyde Amendment, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

On Friday, Family Council joined more than 70 other pro-life leaders and organizations in a letter urging President Trump and leaders in Congress to preserve the Hyde Amendment when it comes to Obamacare subsidies.

As we wrote nearly 10 years ago, the Hyde Amendment is a longstanding, bipartisan compromise that generally prevents federal money from paying for abortions. Experts estimate the Hyde Amendment has saved more than 2.6 million unborn children. However, that lifesaving compromise has recently come under attack.

Last week, amid calls from President Trump for Republicans to be “a little flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a three-year extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies without Hyde’s protections preventing publicly funded abortion.

In response, Americans United for Life’s Government Affairs Director, Brad Kehr, called the decision “the largest ever expansion of taxpayer funding for abortion.”

National Right to Life issued a statement, saying, “No federal dollar should ever pay for abortion. Not one. House members who walked away from that principle betrayed the children we fight for and the voters who trusted them. The Senate must stop this bill.”

In response, a coalition of pro-life organizations and leaders — including Family Council — sent a letter to President Trump, Vice President Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune urging them to stop public tax dollars from paying for abortions under Obamacare.

The letter says in part:

The Hyde Amendment is at the core of protecting and supporting life. It has saved 2.64 million lives since its bipartisan enactment in 1976. Even today, a nearly 60% majority of Americans do not want their tax dollars to pay for abortion or abortion coverage. Hyde policies are applied extensively to federal programs and have been over the last nearly fifty years.

Please stand with all Americans who do not want to be forced to pay for abortions. Americans elected a Republican trifecta in 2024, and Congress should not now scorn their widespread support by forcing Americans to fund abortion through a “flexibility” on Hyde.

Pro-abortion groups have often said, “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” But without the Hyde Amendment, even if you don’t like abortion and don’t have an abortion, you could still be forced to pay for an abortion with your taxes. We must stand up for the Hyde Amendment.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Nation’s Largest Abortion Provider Renews Opposition to Hyde Amendment

Oct 3, 2024Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Hyde Amendment, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

On Monday Planned Parenthood — the nation’s largest abortion provider — renewed calls for congress to end the Hyde Amendment and pass legislation paying for abortions with taxpayer funds.

The Hyde Amendment is a bipartisan budget provision that generally prevents taxpayer funds from being used to pay for abortions except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life or physical health are in jeopardy. Without the Hyde Amendment, public funding could be used to pay for abortions for any reason.

The Hyde Amendment is a bipartisan compromise that has existed since the 1970s, but debate over the measure has escalated in recent years.

For example, in 2016 and 2020, Planned Parenthood began calling for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment.

As a U.S. Senator, President Biden supported the Hyde Amendment, but he reversed his position during his presidential campaign in 2019 and 2020.

In 2020 and 2021 liberals in Washington began pushing to propose a federal budget that would permit taxpayer-funded abortions.

Planned Parenthood’s statement on Monday called for Congress to end the Hyde Amendment and pass the EACH Act — a law that would pay for abortions with taxpayer funds.

Public opinion polling has shown time and again that Americans overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer-funded abortion.

Abortion ends the lives of unborn children. Repealing the Hyde Amendment would hurt women and unborn children, and it would be grossly out of step with will of everyday Americans.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Arkansas A.G. Asks Congress to Restore Hyde Amendment to Federal Budget

Jun 23, 2021Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Hyde Amendment

On Monday Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge joined 21 other state attorneys general in signing a letter asking Congress to restore the Hyde Amendment to the proposed federal budget.

The Hyde Amendment is a bipartisan budget provision. It’s been on every federal budget since 1976.

It generally protects Americans from being forced to subsidize abortions with their tax dollars, except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life or physical health are in jeopardy.

Without the Hyde Amendment, federal funds could be used to pay for elective abortions.

Earlier this year President Biden proposed a $6 trillion federal budget, but the proposal did not include the traditional Hyde Amendment language to protect taxpayers from funding abortions.

If adopted, President Biden’s budget could open the door to publicly funded abortion in America.

The letter that A.G. Rutledge signed on Monday notes,

Nearly sixty percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, including “a majority of independents” and even “a notable proportion of Democrats.” . . .
Studies of the Hyde Amendment have found that it has saved the lives of millions of unborn children—saving 2.13 million lives in its first forty years alone, and saving over 60,000 lives per year today.
Taxpayer funding of abortion defies common sense, both fiscally and ethically, and is no way to “unify America.” We call on you to reject the President’s invitation to join in this perilous pursuit.

Public opinion polling shows Americans overwhelmingly oppose paying for abortions with taxpayer dollars.

Even though Americans are divided on whether abortion is right or wrong, generally speaking, most believe abortion should be completely illegal or legal only in a few cases.

In other words, getting rid of the Hyde Amendment would be grossly out of step with the rest of the country.