Trump urges GOP to be ‘flexible’ on Hyde Amendment, igniting backlash from pro-life allies

Pro-life activists and groups are taking issue with President Donald Trump's remarks to Republican lawmakers to be "flexible" on a law that bans the use of federal funds for most abortions as health care talks continue in Congress. 

"Any healthcare plan that prioritizes a ‘deal’ over saving lives — in and out of the womb — deserves to die, not children," Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins said in a statement Tuesday following Trump's address. "Republicans need to fix what the Democrats profoundly broke. Former President Barack Obama destroyed the American healthcare system with Obamacare, driving up costs and pushing life-ending policies with taxpayer funds. The GOP must work not for any deal, but for the right deal." 

Trump joined Republican House lawmakers Tuesday morning at the newly renamed Trump–Kennedy Center during their annual policy retreat to discuss the party's agenda for the coming year — a high-stakes election cycle with the midterms just over a year away. Lawmakers are working to revive Obamacare enhanced subsidies after they expired in 2025, with some Republicans new restrictions on federal funds as they relate to abortion services under Obamacare plans. 

Trump said Tuesday lawmakers should be "flexible" on the Hyde Amendment — a long-standing appropriations rider enacted in 1976 — that bars most federal funding for abortion, including through Medicaid, with limited exceptions.

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"You have to be a little flexible on Hyde, you know that," Trump said. "You gotta be a little flexible. You gotta work something … we’re all big fans of everything. But you have to have flexibility." 

The comment set off criticism among conservatives and pro-lifers on social media, with many remarking they can't be "flexible" when it comes to the life a child. 

"No President Trump, we will NEVER compromise on the Hyde Amendment. NO taxpayer funding of abortions. Period," pro-life outlet Life News posted to X. 

"For decades, opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion and support for the Hyde Amendment has been an unshakeable bedrock principle and a minimum standard in the Republican Party. To suggest Republicans should be ‘flexible’ is an abandonment of this decades-long commitment. If Republicans abandon Hyde, they are sure to lose this November," SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. 

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"'You have to be a little flexible on Hyde' when passing healthcare legislation, President Donald Trump just told the House Republican retreat. The Hyde Amendment prevents your taxpayer money from funding elective abortions not carried out due to rape or incest. Hard pass," Eastern Orthodox priest Ben Johnson posted to X. 

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) told Politico after Trump's address that: "I’m not flexible on the value of every child’s life. Children are valuable, and so I’d have to get up to the context of what he meant by that." 

"I almost fell out of my chair," another lawmaker told the outlet under the condition of anonymity. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House Tuesday for additional details on Trump's comment and response to conservatives' concerns, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Just nearly a year ago, Trump doubled down on his support for the Hyde Amendment when he signed an executive order four days after he was sworn back into office titled, "ENFORCING THE HYDE AMENDMENT."

The executive order directed federal agencies to implement restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion, while reinforcing the long-standing Hyde Amendment and rescinding previous Biden-era orders that expanded abortion access. 

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"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," the executive order stated. 

Democrats campaigned against Trump in 2024 on claims he would wipe out abortion access and impose a national abortion ban, which the campaign brushed off as unrealistic. While some conservatives have previously taken issue with Trump for not being more vocal in his support of pro-life policies, including in 2024 when the GOP platform only mentioned abortion once, instead focusing on the preservation of life and returning power to the states when developing laws surrounding abortion.