After becoming the first president in history to attend the March for Life this week, President Donald Trump enacted some changes that impact abortions in the U.S. These include enforcement of the Hyde Amendment.
A Fact Sheet issued Saturday explained that Trump “signed an Executive Order to end the use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion,” by enacting the amendment. Per the Congressional Research Service, this amendment refers to annual funding restrictions that Congress has regularly included in the annual appropriations acts for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies.
“The Order recognizes that, for nearly five decades, Congress has enacted the Hyde Amendment and a series of additional laws to protect taxpayers from being forced to pay for abortion,” said the White House Fact Sheet. “Contrary to this longstanding commonsense policy, the previous administration embedded federal funding of elective abortion in a wide variety of government programs.”
It also said the order rescinds two orders from former President Joe Biden that the Fact Sheet claims “violate” the Hyde Amendment, Executive Order 14076, related to the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and Executive Order 14079, which categorized abortion as healthcare.
“Federal overreach and taxpayer dollars will no longer force violations of faith and conscience or impede the ability of states to determine life policies through a vote of the people,” per the Fact Sheet. It added that Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum reinstating the Mexico City Policy to stop the use of federal taxpayer dollars for abortion overseas.
During Biden’s term, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed decades of abortion with the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Three of the six justices who voted in favor of Dobbs were appointed by Trump during his first term in office.
As of May 2024, 63% of Americans said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the Pew Research Center. The Associated Press also reported in July that support for legal abortions increased following the Dobbs decision. However, a Knights of Columbus/Marist poll from this month also indicates that nearly 60% of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion.
“Today’s executive actions build on the long list of accomplishments from the first Trump Administration to support the sanctity of every human life and prevent taxpayer funding of abortion,” said the Fact Sheet. POLITICO reported that Trump’s executive orders during this first week of his second term “revive some anti-abortion policies from his first administration – including restrictions on federal funding for family planning and other health programs abroad that discuss abortion as an option or provide referrals for the procedure.”
According to the outlet, Vice President JD Vance told attendees at the anti-abortion March for Life event that Trump would be “the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes.” The Cincinnati Inquirer also reported that Vance said he wants “more babies in the United States of America.”
Previously, Audacy has reported that infant deaths and abortions actually increased after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision as strict abortion laws popped up across the country. Even Trump has said he’s opposed to some of those strict regulations, specifically a six-week abortion ban that passed in Florida.
Trump’s moves came with backlash from various groups this week.
“With tonight’s actions, the new administration doubled down on its plans to restrict abortion access. It also is blatantly opening up abortion providers and seekers to harassment and threats by anti-abortion zealots who break the law,” Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center said Friday. “Trump’s orders make the agenda clear – this administration will dismantle abortion access both here in the U.S. and abroad. But we know the vast majority of Americans support abortion access – and we will continue to take that stand.”
President and CEO Mini Timmaraju of Reproductive Freedom for All also said her organization will “fight back” against the actions.