Hyde Amendment Has Saved 2.5 Million Babies, Study Indicates

CV NEWS FEED // Since it was first enacted in 1976, the Hyde Amendment has saved the lives of over 2.5 million babies. 

The amendment prohibits federal funds, including those directed to programs such as Medicaid, from being used to pay for abortions. 

“The Hyde Amendment is one of the most effective tools our nation has to protect the unborn,” Dr. Michael J. New stated in a new assessment from the Charlotte Lozier Institute. “During the past 40 years, it has saved literally millions of lives. It merits continued support.”

The Hyde Amendment was passed by Congress the same year as the Roe vs. Wade decision created an “abortion without limits” mandate for all 50 states. The amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, successfully reduced the number of children who would be killed as a result of the Supreme Court’s now-defunct ruling. 

New’s research indicates “that as of May 31, 2023, the Hyde Amendment has saved approximately 2,566,968 lives.” Many of those lives belong to members of impoverished ethnic groups. 

The amendment bears the name of its architect, Congressman Henry Hyde. CatholicVote’s Erika Ahern noted:

Hyde understood that law shapes citizens. Abortion isn’t a “private matter” – it  is a violation of the most basic duty citizens have towards each other, including the unborn. The Hyde Amendment, for which he fought so valiantly, codified into law the commonsense idea that American taxpayers should not be forced to fund the murder of their unborn fellow citizens.

“Ever since the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Hyde Amendment in 1980, the abortion rate in the United States has fallen almost every year,” New noted. 

The Hyde Amendment is not the only reason for this consistent decline in the abortion rate. Valid research shows that other pro-life laws, shifts in public opinion, and the fact that a higher percentage of unintended pregnancies are being carried to term in recent years are all playing roles in America’s abortion decline.