President Donald Trump caused quite the stir among Republicans this week when he told them they should be willing to give a little on the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer money being used to fund abortions.
The comments were made on Tuesday at a House Republicans retreat at the Kennedy Center. AFN reported previously that multiple pro-life groups quickly responded in support of the amendment, discouraging Trump or any Republicans from taking such action.
Since then, White House Press Sec. Karoline Leavitt has come out to clarify the president’s statement. Bloomberg Government reports that, while some think Trump is changing his stance on the abortion issue, Leavitt assures that the Trump administration’s policies are not changing.
“It was President Trump who signed an executive order protecting the Hyde Amendment. It’s the Trump administration that has taken multiple actions on various fronts to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not funding the practice of abortion,” Leavitt said.
Instead, she says that that the comments were directed to Republicans and Democrats as it comes to finding a healthcare compromise. On Thursday, the House voted to extend Obamacare subsidies, a win for Democrats.
All Democrats and 17 Republicans supported the measure, marking a bipartisan rebuke of Republican leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson, who opposed the extension.
Can’t be flexible with life
Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a member of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, spoke with Tony Perkins on Washington Watch. He says that he is not flexible when it comes to the life of a child.
“There aren’t some children that are disposable and some children that are valuable. Every child is valuable, and so that's not an area that I'm flexible on,” says Lankford.
He does believe that Trump is a tenacious supporter of Hyde, agreeing with what Leavitt clarified Trump’s statement. He gives credit to Trump’s active engagement in stopping abortion.
“He's done what's called the Mexico City Policy. He's taken away funding from international abortions with taxpayer dollars. He has actually restored funding that Biden took away from pro-life grants that go to different states. He signed that bill where we defunded Planned Parenthood for this year,” lists Lankford. “There's been a lot of very, very strong pro-life things that he's done.”
He also points to Trump’s comment being a result of the pressure on trying to get a healthcare proposal.
“Democrats are saying they would reduce the cost of healthcare for all of those several million people that have Obamacare rates that are going up as long as there is abortion funding in it,” Lankford said. “Clearly that's a red line I'm not going to cross.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of War and the Indian Health Service within the Department of Health and Humans Services do not cover abortions. Currently, abortions are not covered with Medicare and Medicaid, and Lankford says he’s not willing to break that.
“We should not have it anywhere. But right now, the only place that funding for elective abortion exists and is subsidized is in Obamacare, and that needs to go away,” says Lankford.
Critics point out how abortion numbers have increased since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Research from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that in 2022, there was almost an average of 80,000 abortions per month, which increased over the years to above 98,000 abortions per month in 2025. Critics further comment that this is because of Biden-era policies that are still in place regarding the chemical abortion pill that can be shipped and does not require a doctor’s exam.
No shame but reverse this policy, too
“We have been very outspoken to the Trump administration. They should reverse all those policies. They're currently telling us they're studying that. They're reviewing it. The first Trump administration didn't allow this. They have had no shame in reversing other Biden policies. They should reverse this policy as well,” states Lankford.
With that information and Trump’s comment regarding Hyde, Lankford understands the concern from pro-life advocates. It is especially concerning as chemical abortion, as he says, is currently the dominant method for abortion in America.
“I've had several folks that have got me and said that President Trump's been very strong in the life issues. I've said that is entirely true in the first administration. He's moved on multiple different pro-life things in the first several months of his administration this time. But this issue about chemical abortion continues to hang out there,” Lankford said.
