DeGette introduces new reproductive health bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), co-chair of the Congressional Pro-choice Caucus, introduced new legislation today aimed at increasing women's access to abortion care.

The legislation – cosponsored by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Patty Murray (D-WA), as well as Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Jan Shakowsky (D-IL) – seeks to overturn a decades-old law, known as the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal insurance coverage from paying for abortion services.

"For the first time ever, we have a pro-choice majority in the U.S. House of Representatives," DeGette said. "But, at the same time, we continue to face an administration and a Republican-led Senate that are both determined to make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion in this country. This bill would protect women's access to abortion services and, as co-chair of the Congressional Pro-choice Caucus, getting it passed is one of our top priorities."

The so-called Hyde Amendment, originally enacted over 40 years ago and still in effect today, not only prohibits low-income women on Medicaid from receiving coverage for abortion care, it also prohibits coverage for women in the military, federal employees and their dependents, Peace Corps volunteers, Native Americans, residents of Washington, D.C. – all of whom are typically covered by a federal health plan.

Banning government-sponsored insurance plans, such as Medicaid, from providing coverage for abortion services disproportionately impacts low-income women, young women and women of color.

These bans on coverage have forced one in four low-income women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. And studies have shown that a woman who is denied abortion care is three times more likely to fall into poverty, as compared to other women.

If the legislation that DeGette and others filed today – known as The EACH Woman Act – is approved, it would:

• Ensure women enrolled in government health insurance plans, such as low-income women on Medicaid and women in the military, and their dependents have coverage for abortion care;

• Ensure women who are enrolled in a government-managed health insurance program due to an employment relationship – such as federal employees and retirees – have coverage for abortion care; and

• Ensure women who receive their health care from a government provider or program have access to abortion care through these providers and programs.

The bill would also prevent federal, state, and local legislators from restricting or interfering with private health insurance providers that decide to offer abortion coverage.

A copy of the legislation is available here.