Henry Hyde, A Pro-Life Hero

In 1976, a freshman congressman from Illinois named Henry Hyde attached a single sentence to the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, declaring: “None of the funds contained in this Act shall be used to perform abortions except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term.” Fifty years ago today, the Hyde Amendment became the law of the land. It has saved millions of lives since. 

As we mark the anniversary, we should remember that the Hyde Amendment—the single most consequential legislation in the history of the pro-life movement—almost didn’t happen. And it wouldn’t have happened at all without the leadership of Congressman Hyde. 

When Rep. Hyde introduced his amendment, the pro-life movement was at a crossroads. It was focused on passing a Human Life Amendment, which would have overturned Roe v. Wade and protected children from the moment of conception. But despite their best efforts, pro-lifers consistently fell short of the required threshold to pass a constitutional amendment in both Congress and state legislatures. Worse still, while the Human Life Amendment stalled out, federal programs like Medicaid had begun paying for elective abortions, and the practice was spreading quickly.

Rep. Hyde refused to accept the status quo. He insisted, “If we can’t save them all [right now], we can at least save some.” His office began working with the pro-life community to introduce a straightforward annual appropriations amendment to stop the practice of using American taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions. 

This was a bold position, especially for a new member like Rep. Hyde. But when no other leaders came forward, Rep. Hyde took a stand and became a true champion for the unborn.

It wasn’t an easy fight. President Gerald Ford, a Republican, vetoed the first appropriations bill containing the Hyde Amendment over concerns that the bill spent too much taxpayer money. However, when Congress came together and overrode the president’s veto, the Hyde Amendment officially became law. Since Rep. Hyde took this courageous stand, pro-lifers have worked tirelessly to ensure that the amendment is signed into law by the president every year.

So, did Rep. Hyde’s courageous stand work? The answer is a resounding “yes.” According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, Rep. Hyde’s amendment has exceeded all expectations. As of September 30, 2025, the Hyde Amendment was credited with saving an estimated 2,646,474 lives. All these children—many of whom are now likely parents themselves—are alive today thanks to the bravery of a freshman lawmaker from Illinois.

Rep. Hyde served thirty-two years in Congress and never stopped making the case for life. Politicians always say they are for the little guy, but as he reminded the House, “there is no one literally more little than an unborn child in the womb, defenseless.”

It was this dedication to “the little guy” that led one of us, Congressman Moore, to pursue working for Rep. Hyde upon first arriving in Washington. Hyde’s unwavering commitment to the unborn and basic respect for the dignity of every human life informed everything he did, and it continues to inspire us both every day as we try to carry on his legacy.

First and foremost, that means continuing to fight for the basic principle that American taxpayers should never be forced to subsidize abortions. The Hyde Amendment guarantees this annually, but programs like Obamacare have effectively bypassed the amendment’s protections. In fact, earlier this month, the Government Accountability Office found that 1,719 of the 6,655 taxpayer-subsidized plans on Obamacare exchanges cover elective abortions.

Of course, the Hyde Amendment itself also remains under near-constant attack. In 2019, then-candidate Joe Biden—who had supported the Hyde Amendment for nearly forty years—reversed his position and declared that he would work to strip this language from any funding bill that came across his desk. And in 2021, the Democrat-controlled House Appropriations Committee advanced a Labor-HHS appropriations bill that failed to include the Hyde Amendment.  

To confront the risk of a future Congress abandoning the Hyde Amendment, in January 2025, Rep. Chris Smith, who served alongside Rep. Hyde in Congress, introduced H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act. His bill would make the Hyde Amendment permanent. Both of us proudly support that bill and believe that this important legislation deserves a markup and floor vote. 

On the anniversary of Rep. Hyde’s great achievement, House leadership should commit to passing this bill, and we must continue pushing for these permanent protections until they are the law of the land.

Rep. Hyde died in 2007, without living to see the fall of Roe v. Wade. But he had already said what he would say to those still in the fight:

When the time comes, as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, the final judgment, I’ve often thought, as Fulton Sheen wrote, that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no advocates, you are there alone standing before God, and a terror will rip through your soul like nothing you can imagine. But I really think that those in the pro-life movement will not be alone. I think there will be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world, and they will plead for everyone who has been in this movement. They will say to God, “Spare him because he loved us,” and God will look at you and say not, “Did you succeed?” but “Did you try?”

Henry Hyde tried. He fought with all his might, and he succeeded. We have the watch now, and we will continue this fight until every life is protected.