NEW YORK, Jan. 31 -- The Center for Reproductive Rights issued the following news release:

Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today reintroduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act, alongside Pro-Choice Caucus Co-Chairs Congresswomen Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and 100 other Members of Congress. The EACH Woman Act is a piece of legislation which would ensure all women have access to health insurance coverage for abortion services, no matter how much money they make, what insurance plan they have, or where they live.

"No woman should ever be denied her constitutional right to an abortion simply because she cannot afford to pay for one," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

"The EACH Woman Act is a critical step in improving abortion access for low-income women and in sending a strong message that we won't stand idly by while the current administration and Congress try to take us backwards."

The EACH Woman Act--which was initially introduced in 2015 during the 114th Congress--would put an end to dangerous and discriminatory Hyde Amendment-- a federal prohibition on Medicaid and Medicare recipients using their health insurance to access safe and legal abortion care except in extremely limited circumstances. First passed in 1976, this discriminatory policy has had a severely disproportionate impact on those who already face significant barriers to health care, including abortion services, such as low-income women, immigrant women, young people, and women of color. While Congress must currently act each year to renew the Hyde Amendment, politicians in the House of Representatives voted just last week to make the policy permanent.

In response to the long-standing discriminatory bans on health care coverage for abortion, reproductive justice, health, and rights organizations launched a bold new campaign, All* Above All, to build support for lifting bans on abortion coverage that disproportionally harm low-income women and communities of color. The Center is proud to be a member of this campaign.

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CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man is accused of theft and insurance fraud after investigators said he submitted life insurance claims for three children whose deaths could not be substantiated.

Thompson Nagbe Jr., 37, made two fraudulent life insurance claims on policies he enrolled in through his employer, according to a Linn County criminal complaint.

Nagbe initiated a claim May 6, 2024, for death benefits for his daughter, Comfort Nagbe, who he said died in a motorcycle accident in Liberia, according to the fraud bureau of the Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services. The $30,000 claim was approved and paid to Nagbe one month later.

Then, on June 10, 2025, Nagbe submitted claims for the deaths of his twin children, Gifty and Victor Nagbe, who — according to Nagbe — died in a motor vehicle accident.

An investigation determined those death claims were fraudulent, and death benefits were not paid, according to the criminal complaint.

A subsequent investigation concluded that Nagbe submitted fraudulent death certificates for all three children, and none of the deaths could be verified. Also, investigators said Nagbe made numerous inconsistent statements to a fraud investigator regarding the circumstances of the children's deaths.

Nagbe faces charges of first-degree theft, a Class C felony, and two counts of insurance fraud-presenting false information, Class D felonies. A $20,000 surety bond was posted Thursday for Nagbe's release from the Linn County Jail, according to court records.

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