WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- In a press call just before the 53rd annual March for Life, a key national pro-life organization pushed the Trump administration to safeguard the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion, and to reinstate stronger restrictions on mifepristone, a pill commonly used for early abortion.
In comments to reporters Jan. 22, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, praised reports from earlier the same day that the State Department would expand the Mexico City policy -- which prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that perform elective abortions overseas -- to include U.S.-based NGOs operating abroad. She also lauded a Small Business Administration review of allegations Planned Parenthood illegally received $88 million in COVID-19 pandemic-related loans, as well as National Institutes of Health cuts to funding for research using aborted fetal tissue.
But Dannenfelser pointed to the Hyde Amendment and regulations on mifepristone as "the No. 1 and No. 2 priorities of the pro-life movement" for their policy goals.
In September, the Food and Drug Administration, which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services, notified the drug manufacturer Evita Solutions that its generic version of mifepristone was approved, despite previous indications from FDA and HHS officials that mifepristone would undergo a safety review. On its website, Evita Solutions calls mifepristone "an effective, safe way to terminate early pregnancy."
The approval of the drug sparked outcry from pro-life advocates who were eager to reverse some of the abortion-related policies implemented by the Biden administration, notably its eased restrictions on mifepristone. But in December, the White House rejected a call from SBA, which works to elect pro-life candidates to public office, for FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to be fired after allegations he was slow-walking a safety review of mifepristone in addition to the FDA's approval of the new generic.
Members of Congress, including the co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus, have said that they are still seeking confirmation from the Trump administration that a pledged safety review of mifepristone was underway.
Speaking with media, Dannenfelser also pointed to Trump's comments in a Jan. 6 speech to House Republicans where he told them to be "flexible" on the Hyde Amendment in negotiations on health care subsidies.
"Not only has this administration not moved when it absolutely could move, but they added, of course, a generic version of the abortion drug, making it far more accessible and far cheaper," she said. "So, this is not the direction that we were hoping for. We're happy about what has been announced today. But again, the most urgent and and effective thing that could be done would be to assure the pro-life movement that the Hyde Amendment is safe, as it was written by Henry Hyde -- not some miasma of it, or some permutation or whisper of it, or spirit of it, but Hyde itself -- and the restoration of Trump's own first administration's policy on abortion drugs."
The Hyde Amendment, which was named for the late Republican Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois, is not permanent law. It must be attached to individual appropriations bills in order to take effect. Supporters of the Hyde Amendment argue it prevents taxpayer-funded abortions and related conscience issues, while critics argue it reduces access to abortion.
Dannenfelser said the Trump-Vance administration should roll back the Biden administration's actions on mifepristone to what was in place during the Trump-Pence administration.
SBA recently indicated it would withhold support in the midterms to candidates who voted not to include the Hyde Amendment in ongoing negotiations on subsidies granted in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
"We are in those battleground (states)," Dannenfelser said. "We are door-to-door in all those battlegrounds. We certainly are not going to assist someone who is undermining the bedrock that the Hyde Amendment has been in the Republican Party, and in the country, for so long."
Speaking on the same call with media, Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical Christian and conservative politician in Iowa, a state where caucus elections take place early in the presidential nominating process, said that "having taxpayers pay for abortion, that's going to be a non-starter" in the upcoming 2028 Republican primary.
"If you're a 2028 presidential candidate, it will be a non-starter in the midterms as well," he said.
Dannenfelser said if Republicans neglect "the most important urgent items in the pro-life movement," and "they ditch the Hyde amendment," then "I think what we see ahead is another shift in politics that they will absolutely regret."
"I'm not predicting that," she said. "I'm just saying it's happened before, it can happen again."
She argued that some politicians see pro-life voters as a "cheap date," but that is a miscalculation.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House Jan. 16 he recorded a video message for the 2026 March for Life. Vice President JD Vance is expected to address the rally in person.
"What an incredible thing it would be" for Trump and Vance to address Hyde and mifepristone in their comments to the rally, Dannenfelser said.
The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion. After the Dobbs decision, Church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the Church's concern for both mother and child, and they have called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can increase the risk of abortion.
