As public interest lawyers devoted to protecting and expanding reproductive rights, health, and justice, we talk a lot about constitutional rights. As important as it is to protect and clarify our constitutional rights, we know preserving constitutional rights is the floor, not the ceiling, when it comes to ensuring equitable access to abortion care.
Low-wage workers, immigrants, BIPOC communities are bearing the brunt of the economic fallout of the pandemic, as well as ongoing systemic racism. Since taking office, President Biden has taken first steps to address the harm, but there is so much more to be done.
No one should be denied abortion coverage because of where they live, how much money they earn, or how they get their health insurance. In December, we signed on to a letter urging the Biden-Harris Administration to eliminate the Hyde Amendment. In addition to blocking federal funds from supporting abortion coverage in Medicaid, the Hyde Amendment has been expanded to prohibit abortion care coverage in other federal programs including under the Indian Health Service, Medicare, CHIP, the military’s TRICARE program, federal prisons, the Peace Corps & federal employee benefits.
Additionally, people seeking abortion care should be able to receive their prescribed medication abortion in the way that makes the most sense for them, whether that is at a health center, their local pharmacy, or delivered to their home. Yet mifepristone, the first pill of the two-pill regime for medication abortion, is subject to burdensome federal rules that force patients to pick up the pills in person at the clinic for no medical purpose whatsoever. These days, that means patients are being forced to risk exposure to a potentially fatal disease to obtain medication for no reason.
Take Action! Send a Digital Postcard To the White House
In partnership with All Above All, we urge you to ask the Biden-Harris Administration to support equitable access to abortion care.
Click here to send a postcard requesting the Administration:
- Submit a budget without the Hyde Amendment and related insurance coverage bans on abortion
- Lift medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion during the pandemic and beyond.
Thanks for being with us in the fight!
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
February 2021: Our physical offices are still closed due to the pandemic but we are OPEN and working to serve your needs. Contact us here. Sign up for WLP’s Action Alerts. Stay up to date by following us on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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