Restrictions on Low-Income Women's Access to Abortion

Several federal laws, most notably the Hyde amendment, bar access to abortion care for most low-income women who rely on the federal government for their health care.  Women affected by these bans include clients of Medicaid and Medicare, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and the District of Columbia's public health care programs.

As per the Hyde amendment, none of the funds appropriated by Congress may be used for abortion, unless the woman's life is in danger, or if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.  Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, Pub. L. 109-149, 119 Stat. 2833 (2005) (Enacted Annually Since 1977).

While all 50 states have the option of providing state funding for abortion services, the District of Columbia's use of its own funds is dictated by Congress through the appropriations process.  It thus is limited in how it can provide abortion care to its low-income residents.  Currently, the District cannot even use its own privately raised funds to provide abortion care to its low-income residents. Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, The District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-115, 119 Stat. 2396 (2005) (Enacted Annually Since 1979).