Last week, President Donald Trump pressured Republicans to be “flexible” for the sake of dealmaking when it comes to maintaining the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old provision that prohibits federal tax dollars from funding abortion.

This is a troubling statement, yes. But it’s also a direct contradiction to his executive order from less than a year ago that reinforced the Hyde Amendment, a move that signaled robust endorsement of this longstanding pro-life provision in national health care policy.

Allowing taxpayer-funded abortion by sacrificing the Hyde Amendment for cheap political points is a line that cannot be crossed. We did not vote for this level of capitulation; in fact, we voted for the exact opposite.

When the message is relayed that the life issue is negotiable, abortion funding does not merely creep forward, it accelerates. Once government-run health care becomes a vehicle for subsidizing abortion, the policy is morally disqualified, regardless of how it is branded or budgeted. The pro-life base understands this, even if Washington does not.

As it now stands, the pro-life political reality in 2026 is sobering: Ballot initiatives have gone the wrong way with more losses than wins post-Dobbs. Chemical abortion is on the rise. Abortion deaths nationwide have increased.

It is clear we are fighting an uphill battle until every life in America is protected. So, when it comes to abortion, we must demand honesty and firmness — not flexibility and compromise — from our national leaders.

If conservative leadership wants to rebuild trust on health care, then they should tell the truth about Obamacare, reject taxpayer-funded abortion, and stop pretending a bad thing can magically become good because it scores a political “victory.” A bad idea on a good day is exactly what keeps voters away.

For more than a decade, voters have watched conservatives campaign against Obamacare, which is essentially a socialist takeover of health care, to later treat it as permanent or merely in need of adjustment. This disconnect has done real damage and created a deep lack of confidence that the GOP is able to deliver a genuine health care overhaul. And still the question lingers: Why should we even be trying to touch this third rail? In 2017, it was a clear failed attempt for Republican leadership to edit the law on socialized medicine. Just because we once again are in the governing majority does not mean that we have to own the mistakes of the opposing party. The unconstitutional expansion of government into health care is irredeemable.

At the center of this erosion of trust is an issue that will not disappear with well-written talking points or suggestions of compromise: that the fusion of nationalized health care with taxpayer-funded abortion is unequivocally a nonstarter. For pro-life voters, this is not one issue among many — it’s a non-negotiable.

The removal or watering down of the Hyde Amendment is dead on arrival for conservatives. This is not extreme; it is responsible governance, and it is our position. This is why clarity from House and Senate leadership matters so much right now.

There is no room for “flexibility” when it comes to abortion. This very idea is fundamentally broken and incompatible with a culture of life.

Stop pretending that compromise, masquerading as “flexibility,” on the life issue can ever produce lasting victories or pretending that a negative can become positive because it gave us a political victory.

Our message must be loud and clear: the Hyde Amendment is a fundamental provision, not a bargaining chip.

Republicans in Congress cannot give an inch or cede any ground to the death cult when it comes to protecting life through the Hyde Amendment. This is a hill to die on.

Jonathan Alexandre is vice president of Governmental Affairs and senior counsel for Liberty Counsel and Liberty Counsel Action.