Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Applauds Senate Democrats for Reintroducing Bill to Ensure Abortion Coverage
Washington, DC — Today, Senate Democrats, led by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Patty Murray (D-WA), introduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act, which would guarantee insurance coverage for abortion care without restrictions based on a person’s income, location, or insurance provider. An accompanying version of this critical bill was introduced by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives in January.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:
“For decades, the Hyde Amendment has barred people from accessing the abortion care they need because of their income, insurance, or where they live—causing real harm to communities of color, people with low incomes, and other historically oppressed communities. We thank Senators Duckworth, Hirono, and Murray for fighting to put an end to these discriminatory policies and working to guarantee reproductive freedom for all.”
The EACH Act, championed by reproductive justice advocates at All* Above All, would ensure that federal health plans and programs cover and provide access to abortion care by lifting existing coverage bans for those who receive their health insurance and care through the federal government, including those insured through Medicaid and Medicare, federal employees, Indigenous communities, pregnant people who are incarcerated or in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, service members, and people with low incomes in the District of Columbia. The bill would also prohibit the federal government from interfering with the private insurance market to prevent insurance companies from providing abortion coverage. Abortion coverage bans disproportionately harm those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.
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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 everybody. 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.