After President Donald Trump encouraged flexibility from Congressional Republicans on a longstanding pro-life policy to achieve a health care deal, the U.S. bishops issued a reminder that “authentic health care upholds the dignity of all human life.”
In a Jan. 6 speech at a caucus retreat, Trump told House Republicans that they “got to be a little flexible” on the Hyde Amendment — a longstanding policy that prohibits federal funding of abortion services — to reach a deal on health care subsidies.
The Hyde Amendment, a budget policy, has been in place since 1976.
“Authentic health care upholds the dignity of all human life, and health care policy must not violate this dignity,” Bishop Daniel Thomas, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said in a Jan. 7 statement.
“In upholding this core principle, the U.S. bishops have long opposed any proposals to expand taxpayer funding of abortion and will continue to do so, including, if necessary, in the current debates in Congress over health care affordability plans,” he said. “We urge Congress to work creatively to enact legislation that does not compromise the dignity of the human person, and that ensures access to authentic, life-affirming care.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which works to elect pro-life candidates to public office, said in a statement, “For decades, opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion and support for the Hyde Amendment has been an unshakeable bedrock principle and a minimum standard in the Republican Party.
“To suggest Republicans should be ‘flexible’ is an abandonment of this decades-long commitment,” she said. “If Republicans abandon Hyde, they are sure to lose this November.”
The health care negotiations in Congress come after the expiration of premium subsidies for people with insurance policies from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), former President Barack Obama’s health care law, commonly known as “Obamacare.”
The subsidies, or tax credits, expired at the end of 2025. Lower- and middle-class households used the subsidies to reduce the out-of-pocket enrollment costs.
Health policy researcher KFF found that approximately 24.3 million Americans access health care through the ACA marketplace, and almost 22.4 million receive subsidies in the form of advanced premium tax credits. A KFF analysis showed ACA marketplace premiums are expected to spike an average of 114% in 2026.
A family of four with a household income of $40,000 is expected to pay $840 more annually, while a family of four with a household income of $110,000 is expected to pay more than $3,200.
Pew Research data released in 2025 found 36% of Catholic households make under $50,000, including 18% making under $30,000, a figure below the federal poverty line for a family of four.
Trump has touted a proposal to replace the ACA subsidies — which typically run through insurance companies — with direct payments to taxpayers for use on a range of health care expenses, including insurance premiums.
“Let the money go directly to the people,” Trump said before his Hyde Amendment flexibility comments.