More abortion restrictions were enacted throughout the United States from 2011-2013 than in the entire last decade. According to the Guttmacher Institute’s “>Support the Women’s Health Protection Act: 1. The Women’s Health Protection Act, S 1696/HR 3471, was introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representative Judy Chu (D-CA). This bill aims to support women’s health, reproductive rights, and religious liberty by protecting against onerous, medically-unnecessary restrictions that state lawmakers have imposed on facilities and staff that provide abortion; such laws have made safe, legal abortion more difficult to access. This bill would create federal protections against state restrictions that fail to protect women’s health and which intrude upon personal decision-making. It would make unlawful any policy or regulation which singles out abortion services for limits that are more burdensome than those imposed on medically comparable procedures; those which do not significantly advance women’s health or the safety of abortion care; and which make abortion services more difficult to access.
2. “>Lift Bans on Abortion Coverage in Federal Health Plans: Since the enactment of the Hyde Amendment in 1977, Congress has withheld coverage of abortion care for women who are enrolled in most federal health plans, including low-income women, federal workers, and US servicewomen. By denying this coverage based on income or source of insurance, Hyde restricts a woman’s ability to make her own reproductive health decisions except in cases of rape, incest, or when her life is at risk. Especially hard hit are low-income women enrolled in Medicaid, which includes nearly 1 in 7 women of reproductive age, of whom a disproportionate number are women of color. As states expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the number of women harmed by this ban will increase.
41 years after Roe v. Wade and we’re still dealing with this issue. At this point we know we’re in it for the long haul so let’s work together, send emails, make calls, and do what we can to stop the increase of restrictions and urge more states to follow California’s lead.
