Several pro-life groups and a leading Christian conservative criticized Donald Trump this week after he suggested Republicans should be more flexible on restrictions blocking taxpayer-funded abortion.
Trump made the remarks while addressing Republicans at a retreat for members of the U.S. House of Representatives, as lawmakers continue to debate next steps on healthcare policy following the expiration of certain Affordable Care Act subsidies.
During his comments, Trump referenced the long-standing Hyde Amendment, urging flexibility in negotiations. “You got to be a little flexible,” Trump told Republicans. “You got to work something. You got to use ingenuity. You got to work. We’re all big fans of everything, but you got to be flexible, you have to have flexibility.”
The Hyde Amendment, which has been attached to federal spending bills since the late 1970s, was enacted in the wake of the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. In recent years, pro-life groups have urged Congress to close what they describe as Affordable Care Act loopholes that allow federal subsidies to support insurance plans covering elective abortions.
In a statement released Tuesday, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, warned that Trump’s comments undermine a core Republican principle. “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,” she said.
Dannenfelser, who served as co-chair of Trump’s pro-life coalition during the 2016 election, added that calls for compromise represent “an abandonment of [the party's] decades-long commitment.”
Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, echoed that concern, describing any effort to weaken the Hyde Amendment as morally unacceptable. She said it is “extreme” to require “Americans to bankroll the taking of innocent human life.”
“For nearly five decades, the Hyde Amendment has served as a moral and legal firewall, protecting Americans from being forced to subsidize abortion through their tax dollars,” Tobias said in a statement. “Its principles must not be weakened, sidelined, or quietly erased through back-door funding schemes.”
She further criticized the Affordable Care Act, arguing that it marked a departure from prior norms. “[T]he Affordable Care Act broke with long-standing precedent by allowing abortion coverage to be embedded in subsidized health plans,” Tobias said. “No American should be forced to fund abortion as the price of helping families afford health care.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, also weighed in, responding to Trump’s remarks in a post on X. “Abortion and gender experimentation are not health care,” Perkins wrote.
“The only flexibility needed is for the government to allow taxpayers to get out of the abortion and gender mutilation business,” he added.
The controversy unfolds as Republicans hold a narrow advantage in the House, controlling 218 seats compared to Democrats’ 213. While a Republican-backed healthcare proposal could pass the House with a simple majority, advancing legislation through the U.S. Senate remains a greater challenge.
In the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats, at least seven Democratic senators would be required to support any GOP-led healthcare bill.
