Members Of Congress Introduce Groundbreaking Bill To Help More Women Afford Abortion
July 8, 2015
“A group of U.S. congressmembers — led by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) — introduced a landmark bill on Wednesday seeking to ensure that abortion services are more accessible to all women, regardless of their economic means to pay for the cost of the procedure themselves.
The Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act would restore insurance coverage for abortion services for women who rely on the government for their health care. It would also prevent private insurance companies from dropping coverage for abortion.
Effectively, the legislation seeks to undo the Hyde Amendment, a policy dating back nearly four decades that bans taxpayer funding for abortion services. Under Hyde, government programs like Medicaid can’t use federal dollars to pay for abortions, which cuts off low-income women’s insurance benefits for this type of reproductive care.”
