The issue: For over 40 years, the Hyde Amendment has been added to annual appropriations (spending) bills. This policy denying insurance coverage of abortion to those enrolled in federal health plans and programs disproportionately harms Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities and is a painful example of how systemic racism permeates our federal laws and regulations.

The good news: We are thrilled that the House has introduced spending bills eliminating the Hyde Amendment and similar abortion coverage bans, ensuring that each of us can make our own decisions about our future and health with dignity and economic security.

Our task: Urge your Representatives to pass clean appropriations bills free of abortion coverage bans!

Every year, Congress embarks on the appropriations process to decide how the federal government will spend money on programs impacting the daily lives of women, children, and families. Each of the 12 House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees drafts a spending bill that must pass the Subcommittee, the full Appropriations Committee, and the full House and Senate. A conference committee then meets to work out the differences between the House and Senate bills before sending the final versions to the president’s desk.

This year, for the first time in decades, the House has introduced a spending bill that does not ban Medicaid insurance coverage of abortion through the Hyde Amendment. Hyde language has also been removed from additional spending bills impacting federal employees and dependents, Peace Corps volunteers, pregnant individuals in federal prisons and detention centers, and Washington, DC residents.

Now, Representatives (particularly Appropriations Committee members) must reject efforts by anti-abortion lawmakers to add these discriminatory and immoral coverage bans back into the bills. Instead, they must pass clean bills to ensure respect, dignity, and equal access to the resources necessary to control our bodies, families, and futures, including insurance coverage of abortion.

*For DC residents, we continue working towards full voting representation in the US Congress. Click here to tell the Senate to make DC a state!