ACLU STATEMENT ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HYDE AMENDMENT, WHICH BANS ABORTION COVERAGE IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS

The following information was released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, a harmful annual budget rider that bans abortion coverage in the Medicaid program and has since been expanded to apply to virtually all federal health plans and programs.

Since it was first enacted on September 30,1976, this discriminatory policy has, by design, pushed abortion care out of reach for low-income people who struggle to make ends meet, especially Black, Latine, and Indigenous people. Under Hyde and compounded by the reproductive care crisis that followed the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 patients seeking an abortion are forced to cobble together the funds to pay out of pocket, with this time-sensitive care often being delayed as a result. For too many patients, the financial barrier created by Hyde forces them to continue a pregnancy against their will.

Voters across the country agree that all forms of pregnancy-related care, including abortion, should be covered by health plans, regardless of one's income or source of insurance. Recent polling shows that more than two-thirds of registered voters support Medicaid coverage of abortion demonstrating a strong desire to lift the Hyde Amendment.

In response, Jessica Arons, Director of the Liberty Division for Policy and Government Affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), issued the following statement:

"Every person should have the freedom to make the decisions about pregnancy that are best for them including whether to have an abortion without political interference. The Hyde Amendment takes that important, personal decision away from millions of people, especially women with low incomes and women of color.

"A half century of this despicable policy is enough. Hyde was the first step in eroding the federal right to abortion, and rectifying it needs to be the first step in restoring that right. We call on Congress to not only protect the right to abortion but also ensure meaningful access to care by passing the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act, which would end this cruel and insidious policy by eliminating the Hyde Amendment and all abortion coverage bans."

The Hyde Amendment denies abortion coverage to 7.7 million women of reproductive age insured through Medicaid, half of whom are women of color. Other related bans deny coverage to Indigenous people, people who are serving in the military, veterans, federal employees, District of Columbia residents, and those who are imprisoned or detained by the federal government (including by Immigration and Customs Enforcement).