Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, spoke on the House floor about the need to apply Hyde Amendment protections to legislation extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits that were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funds from being used for elective abortions. It was not included in the original ACA passed in 2010 or when President Biden expanded ACA subsidies during the pandemic. Smith has advocated for including these protections since the ACA’s enactment.
Smith stated, “Mr. Speaker: today, the House of Representatives is considering legislation to extend the COVID-era Affordable Care Act premium tax credit (adding more than $80 billion to the deficit over three years, according to CBO), which, unless amended, continues to force taxpayers to subsidize plans that cover abortion on demand.”
He continued, “Hyde Amendment protections need to be added to this bill. Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the killing of an unborn child by dismemberment or baby poison pills.”
Smith highlighted that 12 states require all ACA marketplace plans to cover abortion on demand and referenced his own state of New Jersey as one example.
“The House, however, has passed my bill, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, on four separate occasions—in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2017, and has been again introduced in this Congress—which would, among other provisions, have added Hyde protections to the ACA, but the Senate never acted,” Smith said.
He recalled a conversation with Henry Hyde of Illinois regarding lives saved due to this amendment: “I remember the day…when my friend and author of the amendment…first learned that about one million children were alive because of his amendment. He was overcome with joy knowing that a million mothers were spared the agony of post-abortion pain…”
Smith cited estimates suggesting over 2.6 million children have not been aborted due to restrictions created by Hyde Amendment language within federal Medicaid and Health and Human Services programs.
“It’s time to add Hyde to the ACA,” he said.
Smith addressed concerns regarding mifepristone—an abortion pill—referencing a report released by Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) in April 2025: “On April 28, 2025, the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) released a report entitled ‘The Abortion Pill Harms Women: Insurance Data Reveals One in Ten Patients Experiences a Serious Adverse Event.’ This report…is the first in an ongoing series.”
He shared findings from EPPC’s study based on insurance data covering over 865,000 prescribed mifepristone abortions between 2017-2023: “Key Finding: The report found that more than one out of ten (10.93%) women who take…mifepristone experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging or another serious adverse event within 45 days.” Smith noted this dataset is much larger than those used for FDA approval processes.
Smith criticized changes made under Obama and Biden administrations that weakened safety protocols around mifepristone approval as being based on older clinical trial data involving fewer participants.
Regarding public opinion about taxpayer funding for abortion services through federal dollars he said: “It is no wonder that polling has consistently shown that majority of Americans do not want their federal tax dollars to fund destruction of children through abortion.”
“Do not ignore or trivialize battered victim in womb. Unborn babies need Members of Congress to be their friend and advocate—not powerful adversaries,” Smith concluded.
Chris Smith represents New Jersey’s 4th congressional district and has served since replacing Frank Thompson in 1981. Born in Rahway in 1953,he currently lives in Manchester Township. He graduated from The College of New Jersey with a BS degree.Learn more about his background here.
