The order also reverses Biden-era policies that allegedly circumvented the amendment’s provisions.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order reaffirming the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding federal ban on taxpayer funding for elective abortions.
Trump signed the order, titled “Enforcing the Hyde Amendment,” on Jan. 24, stating that the amendment’s ban on using taxpayer dollars to fund or promote abortions represents a “longstanding consensus” among Americans.
The order not only reinforces existing law but also rolls back policies implemented under the administration of former President Joe Biden that allegedly circumvented the Hyde Amendment’s provisions.
“For nearly five decades, the Congress has annually enacted the Hyde Amendment and similar laws that prevent Federal funding of elective abortion, reflecting a longstanding consensus that American taxpayers should not be forced to pay for that practice,” Trump’s executive order reads. “However, the previous administration disregarded this established, commonsense policy by embedding forced taxpayer funding of elective abortions in a wide variety of Federal programs.”
The Hyde Amendment, first enacted in 1976, restricts federal funds from being used for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect, approximately 300,000 abortions were funded annually with federal taxpayer dollars.
Since the amendment is a “rider” to the annual appropriations bill and not a permanent law, it must be renewed by Congress each year. This gives lawmakers the opportunity to modify its language or do away with it. Republicans have unsuccessfully tried to make the ban permanent, while Democrats have tried to do away with the prohibition entirely.
Biden supported the Hyde Amendment for most of his political career but changed his position in 2019 while campaigning for president. His budget proposal for 2022 notably excluded the Hyde Amendment, sparking controversy.
In the executive action on Jan. 24, Trump revoked two key directives issued by Biden in 2022. Specifically, Trump nullified Executive Order 14076, which expanded federal efforts to protect abortion access after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade.
Also, Trump’s order revokes Executive Order 14079, which directed federal agencies to safeguard access to reproductive health care and counter state-level restrictions on abortion.
By Tom Ozimek
