The pro-life rule from Rep. Henry Hyde, the late Illinois lawmaker, dates back to 1976 to prevent taxpayers’ dollars from paying for women’s abortions.
Back in January, during a speech to Republican lawmakers at a GOP retreat, President Donald Trump urged them to be "flexible" on the Hyde Amendment when negotiating health care legislation with Democrats.
"You have to be a little flexible on Hyde, you know that," said Trump. "You gotta work something. You have to use ingenuity. You gotta work."
Trump's comment, which was immediately criticized by the pro-life community, was walked back the very next day by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. She said the president's pro-life positions had not changed.
"The president did not change the administration's policy," said Leavitt. "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."
Despite the press secretary’s denial, Thomas Jipping of Advancing American Freedom told AFN everyone heard what the president said and why he said it.
Asked for his own personal reaction, Jipping said he was shocked at Trump’s comment.
"We should hold the line on that," Jipping urged. "Democrats and liberals should be the ones to be flexible when it comes to forcing people to pay for abortions."
While Republicans have been the ones protecting Hyde in recent years, Jipping recalled a time when even Democrats supported the legislation, too.
