In another shift in federal policy, President Donald Trump strengthened a long-standing policy barring the use of taxpayer funds for elective abortions.
Trump signed the executive order on Jan. 25 that enforced the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of any federal funds for elective abortions. This move by the president also revoked two executive orders from the outgoing administration that expanded access to reproductive healthcare services.
“It is the policy of the United States, consistent with the Hyde Amendment, to end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion,” Trump wrote in the executive order.
The Hyde Amendment, named after former U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., was passed in 1976 before being revised in the early 1990s to include exceptions to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape and incest.
Dr. Dorothy Fink, the acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, emphasized the department’s commitment to upholding the new directive.
In a statement, Fink said, “For nearly 50 years, the Hyde Amendment has protected taxpayer funds administered by the department from paying for elective abortion. Pursuant to the President’s Executive… the department will reevaluate all programs, regulations, and guidance to ensure Federal taxpayer dollars are not being used to pay for or promote elective abortion, consistent with the Hyde Amendment.”
The revoked executive orders – 14076 and 14079 – were established in 2022 and expanded access to reproductive healthcare services and safeguarded abortion and federal funding in response to shifting state laws following stricter abortion bans or limitations after the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Republicans in the House and Senate reintroduced The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025, which would make the Hyde Amendment permanent.
Currently, Congress must vote every year to include Hyde Amendment restrictions in appropriations bills for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., filed the bill in the U.S. Senate, and Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, filed it in the U.S. House.
Both the Hyde Amendment and the Mexico City Policy restrict abortion funding. However, while the Hyde Amendment limits domestic federal funds, the Mexico City Policy blocks U.S. aid to international groups.
The policy prevents foreign organizations that receive U.S. government aid from providing or promoting abortion services in their country.
President & CEO of the National Abortion Federation Brittany Fonteno said in a statement that it was a “harmful policy that stifles global support for abortion access, limits public health programs, and asserts control over people’s right to make decisions about their own bodies.” Fonteno continued that while no surprise, “this action will endanger already vulnerable people by further curtailing their access to accurate information and safe reproductive health care services.”
“This move is dangerous,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “Elected officials should not be interfering in personal medical decisions in this country or anywhere in the world. We must reverse and end the global gag rule permanently, full stop. Planned Parenthood will do everything we can to protect sexual and reproductive health and rights in the U.S. and around the world.”
