This year marks 44 years of anti-abortion politicians propping up the Hyde Amendment, a measure that denies abortion coverage to those who are struggling to make ends meet. The harm falls hardest on people who are already marginalized by our health care system, especially women of color, young people, transgender, and non-binary people. Instead of perpetuating this harm, we need to ensure public insurance coverage includes abortion care so people can access the care they need.
Expanding abortion access is an economic justice issue.
We know that being denied an abortion can lead to financial distress. This means an increased chance of having debt that’s 30 days or more past due, negative public records like bankruptcies or evictions, a subprime credit score, and a cascade of negative financial consequences that can last for years after the birth year.
The Turnaway Study found that women who were denied an abortion were more likely to experience a range of economic injuries, including:
- a 4x greater risk of household poverty;
- a 3x greater risk of unemployment;
- an increase in public assistance that persists until women are timed out of these programs; and
- not having enough money to pay for food, housing, and transportation.
Additionally, access to abortion care benefits children and families by allowing people to take on the costs of having children when they are best able or to have the resources necessary to care and provide for the children they already have.
This year in particular reminds us that the precarity of US Supreme Court, police violence, wage gaps, and inequities in health care exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and abortion coverage bans aren’t separate issues. They are all rooted in systemic racism that denies the humanity of Black, Indigenous, and people of color and their ability to thrive in their own communities.
When we support access to the full range of reproductive health care, including birth control, maternity care, and abortion care, we start to put a dent in systemic economic injustice and racism. Join SiX and our partners at All Above All in pushing for an end to abortion coverage bans.
Click here to download the image above and share one of the messages below on social media:
- No one should be denied coverage for abortion just because they’re struggling to make ends meet. #BeBoldEndHyde
- The pandemic and unprecedented job loss have made it all the more clear: the time to end Hyde and all coverage bans are NOW. #BeBoldEndHyde
- Money or zip code should never dictate our ability to get the health care we need – and coverage bans like the Hyde Amendment do just that. It’s time for us to #BeBoldEndHyde.
- The Hyde Amendment has pushed abortion out of reach for people enrolled in Medicaid health insurance for more than four decades. We will end it. #BeBoldEndHyde