Press Release Georgia
Memos & Media Guidance
Fact Check: Anti-Abortion Republicans are Lying About the Hyde Amendment in the ACA Fight
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Reproductive Freedom for All
RE: Fact Check: Anti-Abortion Republicans are Lying About the Hyde Amendment in the ACA Fight
DATE: December 16, 2025
Fact Check: Anti-Abortion Republicans are Lying About the Hyde Amendment in the ACA Fight
Note to press: As you continue your coverage of ongoing ACA negotiations, Reproductive Freedom for All experts are available to comment.
Background:
Claims that the Hyde Amendment is a “sticking point” in the congressional fight around expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits are false. As millions of Americans face skyrocketing insurance premiums, anti-abortion extremists are spreading disinformation about abortion coverage under the ACA and distracting from the fact that Republican lawmakers are doing nothing to solve the health care crisis they created. Democrats remain united around a clean three-year extension of the ACA tax credits to protect coverage and stabilize costs, which Republicans repeatedly refused to support.
What is the Hyde Amendment?Â
The Hyde Amendment is a harmful policy that has banned federal funding for abortion with only very narrow exceptions (i.e. life endangerment, rape, and incest) since 1976. For decades, it has been attached to federal spending bills to intentionally push abortion care out of reach and block people from making their own reproductive health care decisions. Hyde’s discriminatory ban on abortion coverage falls hardest on those who are already marginalized by our health care system, including everyday Americans who are working to make ends meet.
Bottom Line: The conversation isn’t actually about the Hyde Amendment — the ACA already prohibits federal funds from covering most abortion care. Republicans are trying to restrict what private insurance can and cannot cover when it comes to abortion. And they’re using Hyde as a front to prohibit abortion coverage nationwide, no matter how it’s paid for.
Facts vs. GOP Fiction
Myth: “The Hyde Amendment doesn’t apply to the Affordable Care Act.”
Fact: It does. The ACA explicitly incorporates Hyde and, for the first time, extended Hyde-like restrictions into the private insurance market. The Hyde Amendment already prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion care, with certain exceptions. Republicans are relying on lies and disinformation to distract from their refusal to keep health care affordable for everyday Americans.
Big Picture: This debate is not about Hyde; it’s about Republicans trying to prohibit any coverage of abortion care, no matter how it is paid for.
Myth: “This debate is about prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortions.”
Fact: It’s not. The ACA already incorporates the Hyde Amendment and prohibits federally funded ACA tax credits from being used to pay for abortion coverage. The ACA requires all insurance plans that cover abortion to charge an out-of-pocket premium to pay for that coverage, and to segregate those payments into a separate account.
Big Picture: Republicans are blatantly lying. They are using abortion as an excuse to oppose accessible and affordable health care. The truth is that they never intended to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits. They are using abortion coverage as a smokescreen to hide their refusal to make health care more affordable for everyday Americans.
Myth: “Republicans would support a plan that includes Hyde protections.”
Fact: Republicans are using the Hyde Amendment as an excuse to stall negotiations and run out the clock on extending ACA subsidies. And it’s not the first time they’ve done this—Hyde is already included in the ACA, and has been included as a rider every year since 1977 to federal spending bills. The Hyde Amendment made abortion care inaccessible for people in states across the country, including Medicaid recipients, even before Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Big Picture: Republicans created a health care crisis. Now, they’re attempting to shift the focus away from skyrocketing health care costs to advance their extreme agenda and pander to anti-abortion groups.
Myth: “Health care costs won’t rise under proposed GOP plans.”
Fact: If Republicans do not extend existing ACA enhanced premium tax credits, more than 22 million people could see their insurance premiums skyrocket overnight or lose coverage entirely. Premiums would rise by more than 114% on average for many of these families.
Big Picture: Republicans must own that they are more than doubling insurance costs for millions, all while using abortion as a scapegoat. They have hijacked this debate in order to cover up the fact that premiums could more than double, or families could lose coverage altogether.
Myth: “Republicans are only trying to ensure that abortion care isn’t covered with taxpayer dollars.”
Fact: The Hyde Amendment already does that. What Republicans are pushing would be the first-ever federal ban on abortion coverage in private insurance plans. This goes beyond their argument that abortion shouldn’t be covered with taxpayer dollars.
Big Picture: Restricting how private insurance can and cannot cover abortion is yet another attempt to ban abortion nationwide.
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.