Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Applauds Sen. Murray’s Funding Bill, Which Would Establish First-of-its-Kind Abortion Fund
For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 28, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
This historic funding bill would robustly fund reproductive health priorities, including Title X and Teen Pregnancy Prevention, while also eliminating the discriminatory Hyde Amendment
Washington, DC — Today, following her Republican colleagues blocking a bill that would have protected the right to contraception, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced a historic funding bill to protect and advance reproductive freedom, including through a first-of-its-kind federal abortion fund to cover the costs of services, childcare, travel, and other restrictive barriers for Americans seeking access to abortion care. The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) funding bill also eliminates the harmful and discriminatory Hyde and Weldon Amendments and robustly funds Title X, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, and efforts to address the maternal mortality crisis.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:
“Sen. Murray’s funding bill is a crucial step towards building a world where reproductive freedom is truly a reality for all of us. As MAGA extremists in Washington and across the country trample on the rights of their constituents and disregard the values and well-being of the people they were elected to represent, this bold legislation charts a new and much-needed path forward. We applaud Sen. Murray and thank her and other reproductive freedom champions for fighting for our fundamental rights in this pivotal moment.”
In June, the anti-choice supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the legal right to abortion in our country as we know it. This cruel decision opened the door for extremist state lawmakers to enact bans on abortion and roughly half the states in the country are at risk of doing so. Already, anti-choice extremists are enforcing bans on abortion in 13 states. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.