Hyde Amendment

In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in 1980, an estimated 300,000 abortions were performed annually using federal funds. The original Hyde Amendment was passed on September 30, 1976, by the House of Representatives, with a 312 –93 vote to override the veto of a funding bill for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). It was named for its chief sponsor, Republican Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois. The measure represented one of the first major legislative gains by the United States anti-abortion movement following the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. Congress later altered the Hyde Amendment several times. The version in force from 1981 until 1993 prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions, "except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term". On October 22, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994. The Act contained a new version of the Hyde Amendment that expanded the category of abortions for which federal funds are available under Medicaid to include cases of rape and incest.

In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in 1980, an estimated 300,000 abortions were performed annually using federal funds. The original Hyde Amendment was passed on September 30, 1976, by the House of Representatives, with a 312 –93 vote to override the veto of a funding bill for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). It was named for its chief sponsor, Republican Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois. The measure represented one of the first major legislative gains by the United States anti-abortion movement following the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. Congress later altered the Hyde Amendment several times. The version in force from 1981 until 1993 prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions, "except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term". On October 22, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994. The Act contained a new version of the Hyde Amendment that expanded the category of abortions for which federal funds are available under Medicaid to include cases of rape and incest. ==State actions== 17 states have a policy to use their own Medicaid funds to pay for abortion beyond the Hyde Amendment requirements, and an estimated 20% of abortions are paid through Medicaid. As of 2021, 16 states use their own state funds to pay for elective abortions and similar services, exceeding federal requirements. Consequently, the cutoff of federal Medicaid funds prompted some states to provide public funding for abortion services from their own coffers. Over time the number of states doing so has gradually expanded, either through legislation or consequent to judicial rulings. Specific stipulations have been put in place by some state governments. Some of these provisions remove restrictions that have been put in place at the federal level while others are used to further extend the reach that Hyde Amendment has put into place. For example, in Iowa, in order to receive an abortion under the Medicaid program, approval must be given from the governor. In Iowa, Mississippi, and Virginia, a provision has been made for the case of fetal impairment. ===Stupak-Pitts (2010)=== The Stupak–Pitts Amendment, an amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act, was introduced by Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan. It prohibits the use of Federal funds "to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion", except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother, and was included in the bill as passed by the House of Representatives on November 7, 2009. However, the Senate bill passed by the House on March 21, 2010, did not contain that Hyde Amendment language. As part of an agreement between Rep. Stupak and President Obama to secure Stupak's vote, the President issued Executive Order 13535 on March 24, 2010, affirming that the Hyde Amendment would extend to the new bill. ===2018=== In 2018, Republicans proposed adding the Hyde Amendment to the Affordable Care Act in the 2018 spending bill, in exchange for increased funding to reduce insurance premiums and adding re-insurance. However, this was rejected by Democrats. Former Speaker Paul Ryan had said that he would not bring measures to the floor on reducing ACA premiums without adding the Hyde Amendment language. ===Crenshaw Amendment (2025)=== The Crenshaw Amendment was a legislative provision introduced by Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas which took the same approach as the Hyde Amendment, but with gender transition procedures. Dubbed "the new Hyde Amendment" by Crenshaw, it would have prohibited the use of Federal funds in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Affordable Care Act from paying "for specified gender transition procedures" for both children and adults alike. The provision would have defined these procedures to mean "those that are intended to change the body of an individual to no longer correspond to the individual's biological sex (male or female), including specified surgeries, implants, and medications (e.g., hormones)," and exclude "procedures that are provided to an individual under the age of 18 with the consent of a parent or legal guardian and that are intended to (1) rectify early puberty, genetic disorders, or chromosomal abnormalities; (2) reverse prior gender transition procedures; or (3) prevent imminent death or impairment of a major bodily function." This legislation was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025. On June 26, 2025, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that the amendment violated the Byrd Rule, meaning that it would need to get 60 votes in the Senate in order to remain in the bill. Instead of bringing it up for a vote, Senate Republicans chose to remove the Crenshaw Amendment from the final bill entirely, shortly before voting to pass the final bill. If it had passed, the amendment would have taken effect in 2027. In the aftermath of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Trump Administration took administrative action to prevent Medicaid from paying "for specified sex trait modification" for children in Medicaid starting in 2026. ==See also== Abortion in the United States Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act, an amendment from 1973 that restricts US federal funding for abortion overseas Rosie Jimenez, the first woman known to have died due to an unsafe abortion after the Hyde Amendment was passed Types of abortion restrictions in the United States Mexico City policy ==References==

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