The Hyde Amendment’s 50th Anniversary: Enough is Enough

OUR STATEMENT

Today is the 50^th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, a budget rider that bars federal insurance programs from covering abortion care. Physicians for Reproductive Health President and CEO, Dr. Jamila Perritt, shares reflections:  

“Today is the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, a budget rider that prevents people in our communities, particularly the most impacted in our communities, from accessing abortion care. Today marks not only the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, but also the first year we can say the Hyde Amendment has been around longer than Roe v. Wade. Let me say this as directly as possible: this year means federal restrictions on abortion have lasted longer than federal protections for abortion. Fifty years is fifty years too many.   

“For five decades, the Hyde Amendment has barred federal insurance programs like Medicaid, the Indian Health Service, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program from covering abortion care with very narrow, dehumanizing exceptions. The effects of the Hyde Amendment fall disproportionately on Black and Indigenous patients of color, patients experiencing poverty, people with disabilities, and people living in rural areas. As a DC-based ob/gyn and abortion provider, I see patients burdened with the cost of abortion care, forcing them to choose between basic living needs and life-saving health care. The Hyde Amendment is a zero-sum constraint that is not about patients’ health and autonomy, but instead about punishing people for making informed decisions about their bodies, families, and futures. Enough is enough.  

“Hyde has harmed generations of people seeking abortion care. Women like Rosie Jimenez, the first known person to die because of Hyde Amendment restrictions, should still be here. No one, no matter what insurance they have access to or who they are, should be denied abortion care, full stop. Insurance should mean more health care access, not more restrictions, and policymakers should be working to implement more supportive programs for people with federal health insurance, not damning them to health complications and poverty traps for seeking abortion care.

“While things are difficult, there is still hope. The EACH Act, federal legislation that has been around for over a decade, aims to end the Hyde Amendment, and this year, the EACH has the highest amount of support for its ever seen with over 200 co-sponsors. We do not need another Hyde Amendment anniversary—we need to repeal the Hyde Amendment for good.”