Federal taxpayers subsidized 1,719 Obamacare health plans that cover elective abortion in 2026, and those plans enrolled an estimated 4.4 million people, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday at the request of U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) and Republican leaders in both chambers.

That is 683 more abortion-covering plans than GAO counted the last time Congress asked in 2014.

Aderholt chairs the House Values Action Team and the House Appropriations subcommittee that writes the Labor-HHS bill, the same bill that has carried the Hyde Amendment every year since 1976.

He has fought abortion funding inside the health law since before it passed.

In March 2010, he cosponsored a motion in the House Budget Committee to attach the Stupak pro-life amendment to the Obamacare reconciliation bill. Democrats killed it 17-19.

Alabama law bars abortion coverage in plans sold on the state’s exchange. Aderholt’s point is that the ban stops at the state line: Alabama tax dollars flow through the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits into abortion-covering plans in the states that allow them.

Aderholt and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, issued a joint statement after The Daily Wire first reported the findings.

“For far too long, pro-life Americans have been deceived by the ACA and strongarmed into paying for health plans that do not respect the sanctity of life,” the two said.

“American taxpayers deserve complete transparency and truthfulness as to where their hard-earned dollars are going — and under the ACA as it currently stands, that’s just not possible.

“Today’s GAO 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. 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.”

GAO also found that some insurers ignored the law’s consumer transparency provision, which requires plans to prominently disclose abortion coverage. The 2014 report flagged the same problem: Only six of 18 issuers surveyed told online shoppers whether a plan covered abortion.

The Hyde Amendment turns 50 on September 30.

Aderholt and Smith put the number of children it has saved at 2.6 million.

“We renew the call to enforce this critical, lifesaving protection within the ACA without further delay,” they said. “Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize plans that cover the elective killing of an unborn child by dismemberment or baby poison pills.

“Moreover, until Congress can pass legislation requiring full Hyde protections for all ACA plans, we urge the Trump Administration to reissue the Exchange Program Integrity Final Rule to ensure that consumers understand whether a plan subsidizes elective abortion.”

The 2019 rule required insurers to bill enrollees separately for abortion coverage. The Biden administration scrapped it in 2021.

The Trump administration has already moved on a related front. In March, the administration opened investigations into whether states that force every insurer to cover abortion are violating the Weldon Amendment.

A proposal to cut off premium tax credits for abortion-covering plans was also on the table during the failed fall 2025 negotiations over extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

The GAO request was signed by U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA); Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD); House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA); Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, M.D. (R-WY); House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN); House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-MI); House Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chairs: U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Andy Harris, M.D. (R-MD), U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO); Senate Pro-Life Caucus Chairwoman Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS); House Values Action Team Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-AL); Senate Values Action Team Chairman James Lankford (R-OK); Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID); Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA); House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY); and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO).

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.