EACH Act Would Improve the Lives of Countless Young People
On March 25, a coalition of United States senators and representatives introduced the Equitable Access to Care and Health (EACH) Act. If passed, the bill would restore abortion coverage for low-income people across the country, prevent politicians from interfering with or denying abortion coverage in insurance markets, and would undermine the Hyde Amendment, which bans abortion coverage in public insurance plans.
Statement from Kimberly Inez McGuire, Executive Director, URGE:
“It’s time for the racist Hyde Amendment — and all its tentacles in public policy — to end. It’s time for real abortion access in this country, including for the low-income people who’ve been sold a fiction of legal abortion without real access for longer than I’ve been alive. For decades, politicians have used the Hyde Amendment to deny millions of women, trans, and nonbinary people the abortion care they need, and this injustice has fallen hardest on young people, Black and brown folks, and those struggling to make ends meet. URGE is thrilled to support this bold legislation that would lift the abortion coverage bans that have already caused decades of harm.”
“Young Black, Indigenous, and Latinx women, trans, and nonbinary people have been hit hardest by the economic devastation caused by the pandemic and the flurry of cruel and unnecessary abortion restrictions that followed. For people struggling to make ends meet, having abortion coverage can make the difference between paying for rent or childcare, or being forced into impossible decisions, eviction, or worse. The EACH Act would make abortion care a real option for many in our communities, and we celebrate that without reservation.”
“For communities enduring the brunt of systemic racism exacerbated by COVID-19 and the inability to access essential health care services including abortion, the EACH Act brings us one step closer to a world in which true Reproductive Justice is a reality for all.”
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About URGE:
URGE envisions a liberated world where we can live with justice, love freely, express our gender and sexuality, and define and create families of our choosing. To achieve our vision of liberation, URGE builds power and sustains a young people’s movement for reproductive justice by centering the leadership of young people of color who are women, queer, trans, nonbinary, and people of low-income. As a state-driven national organization, URGE organizes our communities, provides a political home for young people, advocates for meaningful policy change, and shifts culture, working in states where the challenges and opportunities are greatest.
