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Abortion Coverage for Women Enrolled in Federal Employees Health Benefits Program

Excerpt from the full fact sheet:

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) is the network of insurance plans that covers more than eight million federal employees, their dependents, and retirees. It was created by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act of 1959 and has been in effect since 1960. 1 The FEHB Act authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to contract with qualified carriers to provide benefits. The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill provides funding for FEHB and for almost 25 years, anti-choice lawmakers have used this legislative vehicle as an opportunity to deny women beneficiaries their right to choose:

  • From 1983 to 1993, anti-choice lawmakers annually banned federal employees from choosing a health-care plan that covered abortion.
  • In 1993 and 1994, Congress reversed course and allowed federal employees to choose among health-care plans that covered abortion. In 1994, 178 FEHB plans out of 345 offered abortion coverage.
  • In 1995, a new anti-choice majority in Congress reinstated the ban. It has been continued annually since.

Download the fact sheet (PDF)

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