The Hyde Amendment has saved 2,678,274 lives over the last 50 years, despite Democrat efforts to undermine and repeal it. It is time to shore up and expand Hyde.

What is the Hyde Amendment?

On September 30, 1976, Rep. Henry Hyde’s (R-IL) amendment preventing taxpayer funding of abortion became law. Since then, Congress has repeatedly renewed the crucial amendment defending unborn lives by stopping taxpayer dollars in the annual Health and Human Services funding bill from paying for abortions and health insurance plans that cover abortions. As the Hyde Amendment isn’t permanent and must be renewed every year, this historical achievement has relied on leaders like President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune to protect the unborn and Americans’ consciences for the last fifty years.

Most Americans do not want their tax dollars paying for the death of unborn children: Multiple polls, including four separate Marist surveys show opposition near or exceeding 60% to public funding of abortion.

Tomorrow marks 50 YEARS of the Hyde Amendment — a critical safeguard that has helped save 2,678,274 unborn lives and protect taxpayers from being forced to fund abortion.
But Hyde must be renewed every year. After 50 years, it’s time to make Hyde permanent.

Watch SBA’s Marilyn… pic.twitter.com/SQS4uk2Wl3

— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) September 29, 2026

However, Democrats continue to fight to repeal or sideline the Hyde Amendment, remove protections for the unborn, and force American taxpayers to fund the deaths of unborn babies.

• House and Senate Democrats are united against Hyde and in favor of radical pro-abortion legislation bringing Massachusetts-style abortion up to birth to the nation. And Democrats have made clear that they will eviscerate Hyde within 100 hours of taking power.
• D.C. and 18 states currently circumvent the Hyde Amendment by subsidizing abortion through Obamacare tax credits (and those health plans are subsidized by federal taxpayer dollars, meaning by you and me, even if we live in pro-life states).
• State ballot initiatives and laws legalizing abortion up-to-birth paired with efforts to eliminate and bypass Hyde will lead to taxpayer funding of increasing numbers of painful late-term abortions of healthy babies.

Democrats Campaigning Against Hyde and for a National Abortion up to Birth Law

Last time the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, Democrats passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan without Hyde and President Joe Biden signed it into law in 2021. In July that year, House Democrats passed a major appropriations bill without Hyde with 219 votes. Following this, every Democrat senator except former Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) tried to pass a $3.5 trillion spending bill without the Hyde Amendment in August 2021. And since 2016, the Democratic Party Platform has called for the end of the Hyde Amendment.

And just recently, House Democrats announced that they would repeal the Hyde Amendment in the FIRST 100 HOURS should they win the majority this November.” They’re going to use their “Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act of 2025 to do so. 201 House Democrats in this Congress co-sponsored this radical legislation, which not only eliminates Hyde restrictions but guarantees that taxpayer dollars will be spent on abortion.

At the same time, 208 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed on to the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) to bring abortion-up-to-birth to the entire nation. That law would effectively remove all real protections for the unborn nationwide by putting the profiting abortionist in charge of deciding when a baby is viable and whether he is allowed to abort the baby anyway. This terrible choice mirrors the language in Massachusetts’s new abortion law and pro-abortion ballot initiatives across the country.

States are Circumventing Hyde Through Obamacare Tax Credits

Following the passage of Obamacare in 2010, which was intentionally funded outside of Hyde, the federal government offered significant subsidies to thousands of plans across the United States, many of which provided coverage for abortions. While President Trump tried to rein in this outrageous use of taxpayer dollars during his first term, through the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Exchange Program Integrity,” President Biden reversed this change after taking office.

Now the situation is dire. A 2026 U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that 18 states and the District of Columbia have insurance providers covering abortion in cases that the Hyde amendment prohibits federal funding for. In fact, the report found 1,719 such plans across Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and D.C. In fact, over one in four of all qualified health plans subsidized by Obamacare throughout the entire nation cover abortions that Hyde prohibits funding for. And those plans are subsidized nationally, not only by the residents of those states.

New Radical Abortion Laws and Taxpayer-Funded Abortion

If Democrats take Congress and abandon the Hyde Amendment, the impact will be catastrophic for the unborn. But given recent radical pro-abortion moves by Democrats, America cannot afford even a continuation of federal funding for abortion coverage through Obamacare tax credits.

If more states legalize abortion up to birth, the Obamacare tax credits could be used for late-term abortions in every state where babies are unprotected in the third trimester. In some states, healthy babies with an audible heartbeat who can feel pain will be killed and taxpayers will subsidize this horror. Massachusetts, which just passed a barbaric up to birth abortion law, has 48 plans that cover abortion. Virginia, where voters are considering a ballot initiative legalizing abortion up to birth, has 23 plans that cover abortion. New York has a whopping 334 such plans.

And while just the status quo already pushes taxpayer dollars to pay for up to birth abortions, Democrat plans to pass WHPA and abolish Hyde would also lead to taxpayer funding of abortions up to birth in every state where Obamacare plans cover abortions.

SBA Pro-Life America Communications Director Kelsey Pritchard explained that this was just one more reason why Hyde must be extended and expanded:

“We are incredibly grateful for the protections Hyde has afforded to the unborn and the consciences of every American taxpayer. Our passionate advocates have visited millions of voters’ homes to send pro-life candidates back to the House and Senate to preserve Hyde and stave off radical up to birth abortion laws. But the fight doesn’t end there. We need to expand and make permanent the Hyde Amendment and make abundantly clear that taxpayer dollars should not fund abortions in any state, let alone 18 of them. A baby in Massachusetts, Maryland, or New York is just as precious, just as worthy of rights and protection as a baby in any other state.”