April 10, 2013
WASHINGTON—National Health Law Program (NHeLP) executive director Emily Spitzer issued the following statement reacting to President Obama’s budget for 2014:
“President Obama’s 2014 budget makes important inroads by restoring the ability of the District of Columbia to use its own money to cover abortion services for low-income women and easing restrictions on abortion coverage for Peace Corps volunteers. However, we still have significant work to do to make comprehensive and accessible health care a reality for all women.
Unfortunately, the President’s budget maintains a harmful federal policy — known as the Hyde Amendment — that withholds coverage for abortion for women insured through Medicaid, except in dire, limited circumstances. Low-income women and families pay the price for this unfair restriction, which limits their autonomy and puts their health, well-being and economic futures at risk.
Politics should never stand in the way of any woman receiving the health care she needs. Decisions about whether and when to have a child must be left to a woman and her family. It’s time for lawmakers to stop putting up roadblocks and make sure all women have affordable access to the full range of reproductive health services, including abortion, regardless of how they are insured.”
