There’s something deeply disturbing about the way Governor Wes Moore has chosen to spend $25 million of our money. While families across Maryland are struggling to pay for groceries, rent, and health care, and while our state government projects a $3 billion budget shortfall over the next five years (Maryland General Assembly, DLS Fiscal Brief, Jan. 2025), Moore found a way to funnel tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to expand abortion access.
How? By tapping into unused Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance surcharges and redirecting them into nonprofit grants aimed at supporting abortion services. According to reports, Maryland is the first and only state to use ACA surcharge funds in this way (Baltimore Banner, May 2025).
Let’s unpack what this really means: the state just found $25 million lying around—not for maternal care, not for foster kids, not to fix the foster system backlog or bolster our crumbling schools—but to fund abortion providers.
As a woman and a student of public policy, I’m not okay with this.
What About the Hyde Amendment?
Federal law—specifically the Hyde Amendment, first passed in 1976—prohibits federal funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or threat to the mother’s life. The reason this law still stands nearly 50 years later is because the majority of Americans—yes, even many who support legal abortion—do not believe taxpayers should be footing the bill. A 2023 Marist Poll found 60% of Americans oppose using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions, including 42% of self-identified pro-choice voters.
Moore’s workaround doesn’t technically break the Hyde Amendment—he’s using state-controlled ACA funds—but it does violate the spirit of what Hyde was meant to protect: the right of Americans to not be forced into complicity with abortion through their taxes.
Women Deserve Better Options
Here’s a radical idea: how about we invest that $25 million in programs that help women keep their babies? Maryland has fewer than 20 maternity homes, according to Maryland Right to Life, and many are operating under tight budgets. Foster care systems in Baltimore and Prince George’s County are overwhelmed. Adoption services and wraparound social support are woefully underfunded. These are life-affirming solutions that receive crumbs while the abortion industry gets a multimillion-dollar windfall.
Governor Moore’s move wasn’t about empowering women—it was about empowering Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and other abortion providers who already receive massive private donations and state-level support.
Let’s not forget that Planned Parenthood’s 2022–23 annual report showed over $670 million in government funding nationally and net assets of over $2 billion. Why, again, do they need another $25 million from Maryland taxpayers?
Budget Priorities—or Political Theater?
This is the same administration that claims Maryland can’t afford to fully fund the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future without raising taxes. It’s the same state government that delayed major infrastructure projects due to budget gaps. Yet suddenly, we’re flush with cash when it comes to abortion grants?
The math doesn’t add up—and the moral calculus is even worse.
Final Thought
I’m pro-woman. I believe in choice. But I also believe in moral responsibility, budget transparency, and true reproductive justice—which means supporting all options, not just the one that ends a life.
Governor Moore’s $25 million abortion giveaway is not leadership. It’s a betrayal of Maryland’s working families, moral conscience, and fiscal integrity.
We deserve better. Maryland’s women—and children—deserve better.
Chelsey Montgomery, Columnist for Direct Line News
contact Chelsey.Montgomery@mcgopclub.com
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
About The Author
