Women and Families: EACH Woman Act ‘Needed Now More Than Ever’

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- The National Partnership for Women and Families issued the following statement by President Debra L. Ness on the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act:

"We applaud Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), alongside Pro-Choice Caucus Co-Chairs Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), for introducing and championing the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives today to help ensure all women have access to abortion care, regardless of their income or source of their health insurance. Coming on the heels of the passage of H.R.7, an attempt to make the dangerous Hyde amendment permanent, the expanded Global Gag Rule reinstatement, and many other attacks on reproductive health care from the Trump administration and new Congress, this critical legislation to lift bans on abortion coverage is needed now more than ever.

"If enacted, the EACH Woman Act would restore abortion coverage for women enrolled in Medicaid and other government-managed health insurance programs, currently prohibited by the Hyde amendment and similar callous anti-choice restrictions. The bill would also put an end to laws that prohibit private health insurance coverage of abortion care, removing harmful barriers to this essential health care service.

"We need more leaders in Congress who understand that the health, well-being and economic security of women depends, in many ways, on their freedom to plan if and when to have children. We strongly encourage the House to pass this essential legislation."

The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, access to quality health care and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. More information is available at www.NationalPartnership.org.

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