We define Reproductive Justice as the Human Right of all ... enormous impact on the policies that will matter to us and
On 40th anniversary of Hyde Amendment, low-income and Black women are being denied critical health care When a woman becomes pregnant, U.S. law supposedly grants her the right to end the pregnancy. But if that woman is low-income and cannot afford the cost of abortion care, she runs into trouble, trouble in the form of a law called the Hyde Amendment, which politicians have used ever since its passage to prohibit the use of public funds to pay for abortion care. Today is BOLD Day, the 40th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment. In practice, Hyde disproportionately affects low-income women and women of color. On this day and every day, we take bold action against Hyde, speaking out and holding lawmakers accountable to break down barriers to abortion access in the communities that are hit hardest. Forty percent of Black people in the U.S. receive worse health care than their white counterparts, and Black women are subject to myriad barriers to reproductive care. For low-income women who depend on Medicaid, coverage for services can mean the difference between receiving abortion care or being denied entirely, which, when severe restrictions are in place, forces one in four low-income women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. Denying women abortions often has the effect of pushing them even further into poverty. Public opinion reflects the lived experience of many women in the U.S. A poll conducted by Hart Research Associates found that 86 percent of respondents agree that politicians should not be allowed to deny reproductive health care to poor women, regardless of their personal views on abortion. Respondents were much more likely (by a margin of 17 points) to feel that politicians should not interfere with women’s personal health decisions — like by covering childbirth but denying abortion under Medicaid — than to support a ban on federal funding for abortion care. New Voices for Reproductive Justice is part of All* Above All, a coalition to expand abortion access and to collectively build a future without Hyde. We seek a future in which politicians cannot interfere with decisions about abortion care, regardless of a woman’s income, health insurance or zip code. As organizers and advocates in the critical battleground states Pennsylvania and Ohio, we’re acutely aware that bad policy has human consequences. As it stands, the Hyde Amendment targets women who are most vulnerable to political interference. As 334 restrictions on abortion access have been passed across the country since 2010 — meaning that The Beatty Building | 5907 Penn Avenue, Suite 340 | Pittsburgh, PA 15206 412.363.4500 (o) | www.newvoicespittsburgh.org |
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clinics have shut down, waiting times have increased, and women face ever more medically unfounded red tape before accessing care — the Hyde Amendment ensures that even when a woman can travel long distances, take time off and make the difficult arrangements for her abortion, Medicaid and other public funds will not cover it. We will not rest until we see the repeal of the Hyde Amendment and the passage of the EACH Woman Act, which would lift the bans standing in the way of women and their health care coverage, and for which support in Congress and beyond is growing by the minute. The EACH Woman Act would ensure we can receive vital care while being treated with dignity and respect; it’s co-sponsored by 78 national, state and local organizations including abortion funds, labor unions, LGBTQ+, women’s health organization and groups representing Black, Latina and Asian American Pacific Islander communities, and youth organizations. The best way to ensure a future without Hyde is to raise our voices and make our votes count. New Voices is currently mobilizing in our own communities of Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Philadelphia to get Black women registered and ready to vote. We’ll play a critical role in the upcoming election with our Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE) program, the Voice Your Vote! Project, which will in turn have an enormous impact on the policies that will matter to us and the tens of thousands of Black women, women of color and LGBTQ+ people of color we serve in Pennsylvania and Ohio in the coming years. By getting out the vote, we can elevate our own voices and advocate for our reproductive health, rights and justice. Let’s hold candidates accountable and demand that they support access to reproductive health care for all women. In the meantime, on the 40th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, let’s take a step back to remember that imperiling women’s access to critical health care is not the will of the people; it’s a tool of politicians. The Hyde Amendment imposes serious obstacles on women already struggling to access affordable health care, especially low-income women and women of color. Let’s work together — through organizing, advocacy and the ballot — to end yet another barrier to quality, equitable reproductive health care. Black women will not wait another 40 years.
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New Voices for Reproductive Justice is the premier Reproductive Justice and Human Rights organization across Pennsylvania and Ohio with a mission to build a social change movement dedicated to the health and well-being of Black women and girls, the leadership of women of color and the Human Rights of marginalized communities. For the last 12 years, New Voices has served 50,000+ women of color through leadership development, community organizing, policy advocacy and culture change. We define Reproductive Justice as the Human Right of all women/people to control our bodies, sexuality, gender, work and reproduction.
