(Oregon Right to Life) — As the federal Hyde Amendment marks its 50-year anniversary this month, a prominent pro-life research organization estimates the amendment has saved about 2.7 million unborn lives nationwide.
The Hyde Amendment – named for its sponsor, the late pro-life Rep. Henry Hyde – was added to the federal government’s annual Departments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare Appropriation Act on September 30, 1976. The amendment specifically “[p]rohibits using funds appropriated by this Act to perform abortions except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term.” Congress has passed the Hyde Amendment as part of the annual bill each subsequent year, and it has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, estimates that 2,678,274 unborn lives have been saved by the Hyde Amendment over the past fifty years.
“The Hyde Amendment’s greatest impact is in preventing federal Medicaid dollars from covering elective abortions,” wrote Charlotte Lozier Institute Senior Associate Scholar Michael J. New, Ph.D.
Raimundo Rojas, Outreach & Events Director of National Right to Life, also noted that “[t]he Hyde Amendment saves lives because taxpayer funding changes abortion decisions. When Medicaid pays for abortion, more abortions occur. When it does not, many women carry their children to term.”
RELATED: Internationally Recognized Pro-Life Apologist Answers Toughest Pro-Choice Arguments
Though the federal Hyde Amendment has had a tremendous life-saving impact during the past five decades, states that route their own Medicaid funding to bankroll abortions unfortunately have been able to circumvent the federal amendment’s effects within their own borders.
Oregon is among 21 states that use significant taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. Oregon abortions – which are legal in the state for any reason up to the moment of birth – reached their highest number since 2009 last year, with 10,495 abortions compared to 10,801 in 2009, according to Oregon Health Authority (OHA) data. The news came as pro-abortion Oregon lawmakers approved massive spending in recent years to backfill millions of dollars in funding for the state’s Planned Parenthood facilities in the wake of temporary federal cuts. Roughly 80% of Oregon abortions are paid for using tax dollars.
“When will Oregonians finally say, ‘enough is enough’?” Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson said in a press release responding to the 2025 Oregon data. “We cannot become numb to this ongoing tragedy.”
READ: Oregon Abortions Last Year Reached Highest Rate Since 2009
While states like Oregon have undercut the Hyde Amendment through state Medicaid funding, the amendment still has a major impact on saving lives in most of the United States.
“Although some states use their own taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions for women enrolled in Medicaid, the lack of funding at the federal level has meant that, in states that do not pay for abortion, which still constitute the majority of the states in the country, lives are saved every year thanks to Henry Hyde,” New wrote.
Henry J. Hyde, who was Oregon Right to Life’s keynote speaker at its 1999 auction fundraiser, was a pro-life Catholic Republican congressman from Illinois who served for 32 years in the U.S. Congress and eight years in the Illinois legislature before his retirement in 2006. In addition to sponsoring the Hyde Amendment, he also backed the federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act and fought against legal assisted suicide. In honor of his life-long work to protect the unborn and vulnerable, he was named a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. Hyde passed away in 2007 at 83 years old. Pro-life advocates remember Hyde as a key figure in the right to life movement in the United States.
Oregon Right to Life is actively involved in lobbying for pro-life legislation, defeating dangerous bills, spreading pro-life education, and promoting access to life-affirming alternatives and care for women and families across the state. For more information about how Oregon Right to Life is advocating for the most vulnerable and to get involved, visit ortl.org/what-is-oregon-right-to-life.
