‘A Massive Betrayal’: Trump Sparks Pro-Life Fury by Telling Republicans to Be ‘Flexible’ on Hyde Amendment

No one should accuse President Donald Trump of lacking political instincts, but in this case he has missed the mark.

When it comes to fighting abortion, he need not choose between politics and doing the right thing.

On Tuesday, Trump reportedly told House Republicans that in their negotiations with Democrats over a healthcare bill, the Republicans should be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, triggering backlash from pro-life advocates, including one group that called the president’s comments “a massive betrayal.”

“‘You’ve got to be a little flexible on Hyde,’ Trump told House Republicans, many of whom have been fighting to ensure the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion, makes it in the healthcare deal,” Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell of The Daily Signal reported Tuesday on the social media platform X.

“You’ve got to be a little flexible on Hyde,” Trump told House Republicans, many of whom have been fighting to ensure the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion, makes it in the healthcare deal.

— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) January 6, 2026

Mitchell’s report prompted a statement from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

“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. If Republicans abandon Hyde, they are sure to lose this November,” the statement read in part.

SBA Pro-Life America went on to characterize that potential abandonment as “a massive betrayal.”

Meanwhile, pro-life X users rejected Trump’s call for flexibility. One user, in fact, called the Hyde Amendment “the bare minimum” that pro-lifers would accept.

“You have to be a little flexible on Hyde” when passing healthcare legislation, President Donald Trump just told the House Republican retreat.

The Hyde Amendment prevents your taxpayer money from funding elective abortions not carried out due to rape or incest.

Hard pass. pic.twitter.com/rA54YsMBIv

— Rev. Ben Johnson (@TheRightsWriter) January 6, 2026

We are not flexible on Hyde Amendment protections for the unborn. Just sayin. @CWforA @YWforA

— Penny Nance (@PYNance) January 6, 2026

Republicans DO NOT have to be flexible on Hyde.

Hyde is the bare minimum – like breathing – for pro-lifers https://t.co/XPVGp4GfDN

— Madeline Alfonso (@madelineAAFF) January 6, 2026

“If Republicans abandon Hyde, they will be abandoning the American people,” another X user wrote. “No one should be forced to subsidize abortion against their conscience with their hard-earned tax dollars. If the Democrats can’t be ‘flexible on Hyde,’ then they’re the ones to blame.”

If Republicans abandon Hyde, they will be abandoning the American people. No one should be forced to subsidize abortion against their conscience with their hard-earned tax dollars. If the Democrats can’t be “flexible on Hyde,” then they’re the ones to blame. https://t.co/rv3nYvGtHD

— Gavin Oxley (@realgavinoxley) January 6, 2026

Viewed purely from a pro-life perspective, of course, abandoning Hyde would amount to a catastrophe.

Ironically, however, the same holds true when viewing the issue from a political perspective.

“If Republicans abandon Hyde, they are sure to lose this November,” the SBA Pro-Life America statement read.

Indeed, set aside the moral question for a moment. What if Trump and the Republicans’ more pragmatic strategists have miscalculated? What if doing the right thing also happens to make the most political sense?

After all, the list of Republican coalition members feeling “betrayed” has grown in recent months. It includes, for instance, those who daily await the arrests and prosecutions of deep-state traitors. It also includes those who have grown weary of the U.S. government’s hyper-focus on other nations’ interests.

Does Trump really want to add millions of pro-life Americans to that list? How might that work out for the Republicans in the 2026 midterms?

In short, one never needs a reason to do the right thing. But, in this case, doing the right thing also happens to align with Trump’s political interests.

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