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The Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act, sometimes called simply the Helms Amendment, is a 1973 amendment, passed by the U.S. Congress in the wake of the Roe v. Wade decision by the United States Supreme Court, to limit the use of US foreign assistance for abortion.
Named after North Carolina senator Jesse Helms, the amendment states that "no foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions." In addition, this amendment overturned previous rulings that state that the unborn is not a "person" yet and therefore does not have constitutional rights, changing the stance on abortion not only in funding but also in the courts. However, if one is able to afford an abortion, the amendment allows for post-abortion care.