#HelloHyde seeks to celebrate the supposed one million lives “saved” by denying low-income individuals with Medicaid insurance access to abortion care. As the product of an unplanned pregnancy, I find this goal to be offensive, malicious, and enraging.
Women should not be forced to continue an unwanted pregnancy no matter where they live, their involvement in the criminal justice system, or how they receive coverage for their care.
California offers abortion care coverage under a program called Medi-Cal—rejecting the federal funding ban on abortion care imposed by Hyde Amendment, which turns 40 this month.
"These types of extreme proposals are wildly unpopular with the public and have failed every single time they have been put before voters," Amanda Allen, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Broadly. "It's blatantly unconstitutional and shows the true colors of abortion opponents: to punish some who need reproductive health care."
Ending the Hyde Amendment would likely not end litigation about Medicaid funding for abortion. Of course, that doesn’t mean advocates shouldn’t push for a repeal of Hyde’s restrictions, which legalize anti-poor discrimination.
The analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families singles out a dozen states lacking even a single workplace protection for new parents–beyond what's required by federal law. These states also severely curb abortion-care access in health insurance.
Neither the U.S. House of Representatives nor the U.S. Senate have finalized the items on the legislative agenda. But if all goes as planned, lawmakers will leave Washington, D.C., by the end of the week and won’t return until at least November—potentially later.
In Malawi and other countries, we've witnessed the human costs of making abortion illegal or inaccessible. And, due to this policy, Peace Corps volunteers experience similar barriers to abortion as the people they serve in developing nations.
"It's more than a little sad that this is what passes for health care. They're just making it up as they go along, and it's replacing actual clinics that were providing health care," Blake Rocap of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas said.
