One in Four Obamacare Plans Cover Elective Abortions Despite Hyde Amendment Restrictions, GAO Finds

Twenty-six percent of Obamacare exchange plans cover elective abortions, even as the Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for such procedures, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.

The Hyde Amendment only allows federal money to be used to pay for abortions under limited circumstances: when the life of the mother is at risk, or when the pregnancy is the product of rape or incest. But the GAO report found one in four Affordable Care Act plans cover “non-excepted abortion services.” Of the 6,655 Obamacare plans on the market, 1,719 cover abortions outside of the federal exceptions.

Pro-life advocates have long voiced concerns about how the Hyde Amendment applies to Obamacare insurance plans and how effectively it prohibits taxpayer-subsidized insurance coverage from including abortion.

“Obamacare was the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion in American history after Roe v. Wade. Tax dollars have paid for the violent deaths of countless babies, in an end run around the longstanding protections of the Hyde Amendment. Democrats’ gaslighting is inexcusable,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. “While the Hyde Amendment has saved nearly 2.7 million lives in its 50-year existence, Obamacare is a glaring exception.”

Representatives Chris Smith (R., N.J.) and Robert Aderholt (R., Ala.) similarly said the report “confirms the very concerns that Republicans have raised for over fifteen years: the ACA fails to apply the longstanding and bipartisan Hyde Amendment law, which protects taxpayer dollars from funding abortion, both directly and through federal health plans.”

“The ACA allows premium tax credits to be directed towards health insurance coverage that includes elective abortion,” the pair added in a joint statement. “Federal taxpayer dollars—even from individuals living in pro-life states—are subsidizing plans that include elective abortion coverage for over 4.4 million people.”

Ultimately, about 4.4 million Americans have Obamacare exchange plans that cover non-excepted abortion services, out of about 19 million Americans enrolled, according to the report. The fourteen states that prohibit abortion coverage under ACA plans, however, do not allow these plans to cover non-excepted abortions.

According to the report, “analysis of state laws and CMS data shows that QHPs [qualified health plans] in 19 states provided non-excepted abortion services as a covered benefit.”

Abortion remains a long term battle in Congress, regardless of the overturning of Roe v. Wade back in 2022. Previously, under the One Big Beautiful Bill, Medicaid payments were blocked from groups like Planned Parenthood. But the ban expired after one year and Planned Parenthood regained access to federal Medicaid reimbursement in July.

It remains unclear if the ban will be reinstated.

“As a strong defender of life, I find the results of today’s GAO report deeply concerning,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told the Daily Wire, in light of the recent report. “American taxpayer dollars should not be used to subsidize elective abortions in violation of the longstanding Hyde Amendment.”

A January 2025 Marist/Knights of Columbus poll found a majority of Americans oppose public funds being spent on abortion.

“Pro-life voices warned from the start that its sham ‘accounting gimmick’ was a ruse to get pro-life holdouts’ votes,” Dannenfelser said. “We must always fight to protect unborn children and their mothers and keep American taxpayers entirely out of Big Abortion’s brutal business.”