The Women’s Law Project supports the Will of Council resolution adopted today by Pittsburgh City Council directing our federal and state officials to repeal the Hyde Amendment and similar restrictions on public and private insurance coverage for abortion care.
Photo via @NewVoicesPGH
For 41 years, politicians have used the Hyde Amendment to deny coverage of abortion care for those enrolled in government-sponsored insurance programs, including low-income individuals who qualify for Medicaid, Native American women, residents who serve in the military, volunteer for the Peace Corps, or are serving time in federal prison. While 17 states use their own funds to provide insurance coverage for abortion, Pennsylvania is not among them – and goes even further than the federal government by prohibiting insurance coverage of abortion in plans purchased through the state exchange established by the Affordable Care Act.
“At a time when politicians across the country—and in Washington, DC—have relentlessly sought to undermine the health and well-being of our communities, Pittsburgh has, once again stepped up as a leader in the struggle for justice,” said Lexi White, Policy Manager of New Voices for Reproductive Justice.
Denial of public funding for abortion violates women’s autonomy, traps families in poverty, and sabotages women’s ability to participate equally in education, employment, and civic life. It is antithetical to our state Equal Rights Amendment and other state constitutional equal protection guarantees. The suffering, economic hardship and physical and mental health damage inflicted on thousands of Pennsylvania women by this insidious form of gender discrimination are intolerable.
The Women’s Law Project applauds Pittsburgh City Council for speaking out against this decades-long injustice and becoming the thirteenth municipality to go on record calling for the repeal of Hyde-type funding restrictions.
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing the rights of women and girls.
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