Washington, DC — This week, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) will introduce the Equal Access to Health Insurance Abortion Coverage Act (EACH) in the US House and Senate. Jamille Fields AllsbrookDirector of Women’s Health and Rights at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
The legal right to an abortion is meaningless if people cannot afford and have access to medical care. The EACH Act would take a necessary step towards ensuring equitable access to abortion for all by guaranteeing abortion insurance without restrictions based on a person’s income, insurance provider or geography.
Restrictions on abortion insurance, including the Hyde Amendment, disproportionately harm women of color, particularly black and Hispanic women — who make up a disproportionate share of the Medicaid program because of systemic racism and poverty — as well as Native American women who receive health care from the Indian Health Service . These same communities are among the hardest hit by the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, further deepening these systemic inequalities.
It is high time for a comprehensive, proactive abortion policy that addresses the legal, cultural and systemic barriers that have made abortion rights out of reach for so many – especially people of color, people on low incomes, LGBTQ people, young people , people with disabilities, migrants and people in rural areas. This means building a cultural and systemic framework that values abortion as an essential health care critical to health equity, reproductive autonomy, racial justice, and economic justice. The EACH Act is an important part of this work to ensure meaningful access to abortion for all.
For more information or to speak to an expert, please contact Colin Seeberger at [email protected] or 202.741.6292.
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