President Donald Trump has faced backlash from pro-life leaders after urging Republican lawmakers to show “flexibility” on the Hyde Amendment during a recent meeting at the Kennedy Center. The comments, made amid efforts to advance healthcare legislation, came just two weeks before the National March for Life in Washington, D.C.
The Hyde Amendment, first enacted in 1976, bars most federal taxpayer funds from covering abortions, with exceptions for rape, incest, or threats to the mother’s life. It has been included in annual federal budgets with broad bipartisan support and is credited with saving over 2.6 million unborn lives, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Michael New, a senior associate scholar at the institute, praised its track record: “Since it was first passed in 1976, the Hyde Amendment has had a great track record of protecting the conscience rights of taxpayers and protecting unborn babies. Forty-nine years later, we are still seeing the fruits of the Hyde Amendment as tens of thousands of unborn lives are saved.”
Pro-life figures argue that any compromise on the amendment would betray core Republican principles and lead to taxpayer-funded abortions on demand. Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, stated on X: “The GOP must stand firm for human life. No exceptions. No inch given. If you sacrifice Hyde, you sacrifice innocent human children.”
Randall Terry, founder of Rescue Resurrection, called Trump’s request “absurd,” comparing it to asking slaves to compromise with their masters. He emphasized that the pro-life movement’s priority is protecting babies and mothers, not party loyalty: “This is where we’re going to be tested. I’ve been very concerned about pro-life groups wanting their pictures taken with the president more than they want to show pictures of the victims of this genocide.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, warned: “For decades, opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion and support for the Hyde Amendment has been an unshakeable bedrock principle and a minimum standard in the Republican Party. To suggest Republicans should be ‘flexible’ is an abandonment of this decades-long commitment. If Republicans abandon Hyde, they are sure to lose this November.” She added that yielding to Democratic demands would be a “massive betrayal,” referencing 15 congressional losses in 2010 tied to similar issues.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council declared: “We will not compromise on Hyde. Abortion and gender experimentation are not health care. The only flexibility needed is for the government to allow taxpayers to get out of the abortion and gender mutilation business.”
Ryan T. Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, argued: “It is unjust to force tax payers to pay for abortion. It is also politically unpopular. Congressional Republicans should hold the line on Hyde.”
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