Pro-life groups are turning up the heat on Republicans to stop federal Obamacare subsidies from funding insurance plans that include coverage for elective abortions.
More than 100 pro-life and conservative organizations and leaders have urged Republicans to bring the Affordable Care Act in line with the Hyde Amendment, the annual budget provision barring federal funds from paying for most abortions.
That means rejecting Senate Democrats’ proposed one-year extension of the Biden administration’s 2021 “temporary” expanded subsidies unless the deal specifically includes Hyde Amendment language.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said her organization “strongly opposes and will score against any offers by Senate Democrats that attempt to pass a ‘clean’ extension of the Affordable Care Act Enhanced Premium Tax Credit subsidies — even for one year.”
“Any such attempts that do not explicitly include Hyde protections would extend taxpayer-funded abortion through these subsidies,” she said in a Friday letter to members of the Senate.
So far Republicans have been disinclined to accept the Democrats’ offer, calling it a “nonstarter.”
The Hyde Amendment has been included in federal budgets for more than 40 years, but the 2010 Affordable Care Act funds its insurance subsidies through a permanent appropriation, allowing the measure to bypass the annual congressional appropriations process.
“They created this workaround essentially, and that’s how they’ve been able to subsidize abortion,” Kelsey Pritchard, spokesperson for SBA Pro-Life America, told The Washington Times.
“The subsidies can go to healthcare plans that cover abortion, and that means our taxpayer dollars are funding abortion,” she said. “So we’ve been telling everyone: If you are going to extend the subsidies, you have to make sure they’re Hyde compliant. That should be nonnegotiable.”
Yet another reason why Schumer’s built-to-fail offer is dead on arrival pic.twitter.com/DRrjMtT99O
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 7, 2025
Under the ACA, insurance plans receive federal subsidies through two mechanisms: premium tax credits and cost-sharing reduction payments. Both are set to expire at the end of the year without a continuing budget resolution.
Democrats argue that ACA’s Section 1303, which requires healthcare providers to collect separate payments for their abortion coverage, keeps the Obamacare federal subsidies from being applied to abortion.
The problem? Pro-life advocates said that in practice, the line items aren’t being kept separate, and even if they were, the provision still doesn’t prevent abortion providers from collecting federal funding.
“This ‘accounting gimmick,’ colloquially known as the ‘abortion surcharge,’ allows health insurance plans on Obamacare exchanges to cover elective abortion and still receive taxpayer funds; so long as they collect the surcharge,” said an Oct. 22 letter from 100-plus pro-life groups to members of Congress.
“If they [Democrats] intended to apply the Hyde Amendment they could have used the Hyde Amendment. They didn’t,” the letter said.
Named for the late Republican Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, the Hyde Amendment prohibits taxpayer funded for abortion, with exceptions for rape, incest and for pregnancies that jeopardize the life of the mother.
Polling shows that about 60% of Americans oppose taxpayer funding for elective abortion.
Ms. Pritchard said pro-life groups are urging Republicans to “stay true to your pro-life values.”
“This is a low bar. We’re asking them to stay consistent on where the Republican Party has been on this for the last 15 years,” she said. “This is a pretty low ask, and something that pro-life voters across the country expect their Republicans to represent them on.”
The government shutdown over the continuing budget resolution began Oct. 1, making it the longest such shutdown in U.S. history.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.