A year ago, pro-life Americans had reason to cheer President Trump. He signed an executive order directing federal agencies to enforce the Hyde Amendment and pledged to end federal tax funding of elective abortion. It was a clear promise that the government would not conscript citizens into paying for a practice that millions regard as the taking of innocent life.
Could it now be today that promise is in question? The president’s recent suggestion that Republicans should be “a little flexible” on Hyde in negotiations has sent a jolt through those of us who are passionately pro-life. This is not a routine policy debate; it is a test of whether a commitment on the most fundamental of issues will stand when the bargaining begins.
Hyde, enacted in 1976 and named for Congressman Henry Hyde, does not outlaw abortion but instead bars the use of federal funds for elective procedures. The amendment rests on a principle that commanded bipartisan respect across the political divide, that in a nation deeply at odds over abortion, Washington should not force every American citizen to pay for it. Analysts estimate that more than 2.6 million children are alive today because public funds were not used to end their lives. These are not statistics; they are classmates, co-workers, husbands, wives, and parents who would not have been born.
Our laws already recognize that conscience matters. We do not force a physician to perform an abortion against their beliefs or a nurse to assist in one. Hyde simply extends the same respect to taxpayers. It says that a citizen who believes abortion ends a human life will not be compelled to finance it. Weakening that commitment would tell millions of Americans that their convictions count for nothing once the negotiations begin.
At Colorado Christian University, we have built our institution on the conviction that every human being possesses inherent dignity from the moment of conception until natural death. This is not a political talking point; it is a biblical conviction held by millions of Americans that God is the Author of Life. In 2023, at CCU we trademarked “Pro-Life U” to make that commitment unmistakable. Each year, we send students to the March for Life in Washington as young leaders who see defending the preborn as the defining human-rights issue of our generation.
The current tension is not only moral, but it is also deeply personal. Donald Trump famously wrote The Art of the Deal and defined his own political style as one that prizes leverage and dramatic breakthrough, and in some areas of public policy, those instincts can undoubtedly be useful. His DNA of dealmaking has achieved much for the American people, but there are things no leader should put on the table. The old warning that a man who stands for nothing falls for anything seems prescient here. If the protection of unborn life and the consciences of taxpayers can be traded away to get one more bill across the finish line, what principle will be safe tomorrow?
Polls show that about six in 10 Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortion, with even higher opposition among Republicans, the very people who put the President in the White House. Diluting Hyde would run against that consensus and deepen the cynicism of voters who already suspect that their deeply held beliefs matter less in Washington than the next headline.
Pro-life leaders have sounded the alarm. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, has warned that any retreat from Hyde would be “a massive betrayal.” When those who claim the pro-life banner begin to treat the protection of unborn life as a bargaining chip, they do lasting damage to the credibility of the cause itself. Hyde has been called the most popular pro-life provision of the last half-century explicitly because it draws a clear moral line that ordinary citizens can understand and defend.
Whenever humanity has denied dignity to a class of human beings, history has judged that denial with profound regret. It will be no different with abortion.
Abraham Lincoln, when facing his own national moral crisis, observed that “important principles may, and must, be inflexible.” The sanctity of human life is one such principle. On the sanctity of human life, there can be no “flexibility,” no careful trimming, and no artful deal.
From Pro-Life U in Lakewood, Colo., we stand firm and call upon President Trump and every member of Congress to hold the line on Hyde. The lives of millions of unborn children, and with them the conscience of our nation, hang in the balance.
Eric Hogue is the president of Colorado Christian University, the leading interdenominational Christian university in the Rocky Mountain region. Hogue is known for his roles as a former political candidate; practicing theologian and pastor; and long-tenured radio, television and media professional. He is the author of The Winning Side of the Ask: The Heart and Skills of the Donor-Centric Professional Fundraiser, a book dedicated to helping nonprofits design a thriving philanthropic culture.
