{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://degette.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/democrats-seek-reversal-of-ban-on-federal-abortion-funding", "Democrats Seek Reversal of Ban on Federal Abortion Funding", "2016-08-16", "2016", "2016-08", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Diana DeGette", "D000197", "degette.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "NEW YORK \u2014 The law that bans federal funding for Medicaid coverage of most abortions is now in the spotlight some 40 years after it was passed by Congress, emerging as an election issue in the national debate over the procedure.\nFirst approved in 1976, and renewed annually ever since as part of the congressional appropriations process, the Hyde Amendment makes exceptions in cases of rape or incest, or when a pregnancy endangers a women\u2019s life.\nFor most of its existence, the amendment had broad bipartisan support in Congress, but that\u2019s now changed. At their recent national convention, Democrats for the first time included in their platform a call for the Hyde Amendment to be repealed. Their presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, is embracing that stance, even as it risks creating friction within the party.\nIT\u2019S COMPLICATED\nThe amendment\u2019s supporters depict it as essential in ensuring that taxpayers who oppose abortion do not have to subsidize it. Critics assail the policy as discriminatory, making it difficult for low-income women to obtain a legal medical procedure that\u2019s readily accessible for more affluent women.\n\u201cAccess to abortion shouldn\u2019t depend on your zip code, and it shouldn\u2019t depend on your pocketbook,\u201d said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.\nFor now, repeal of the Hyde Amendment is a long-term goal, not an imminent likelihood. Even if Clinton wins, Democrats would need improbably large gains in Congress to have a chance of ending the policy during her first term.\nAn extra complication: A handful of Democratic senators support the amendment, including Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Clinton\u2019s own running mate \u2014 Tim Kaine of Virginia. Abortion-rights leaders were dismayed when Kaine reiterated his personal opposition to repeal.\n\u201cWe sincerely hope that he will continue to educate himself on what Hyde means to the most vulnerable women in this country and join us in fighting this injustice,\u201d said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.\nPARTY POLITICS\nIn the House, Democrats have introduced a bill that would nullify the Hyde Amendment and require the federal government to ensure abortion coverage in public health insurance programs, including Medicaid. No one from the chamber\u2019s Republican majority is among the measure\u2019s 119 co-sponsors.\nDespite the political obstacles, advocates of repeal are upbeat as they succeed in drawing more attention to the amendment.\n\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re as far away as people might think,\u201d said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a leading abortion-rights supporter. \u201cWe got tired of tacitly accepting that a ban on Medicaid money was acceptable.\u201d\nWHO\u2019S AFFECTED\nThe amendment is named after its initial sponsor, Republican Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, who made clear from the start that the policy would target low-income women.\n\u201cI certainly would like to prevent, if I could legally, anybody having an abortion, a rich woman, a middle-class woman or a poor woman,\u201d he told Congress in 1977. \u201cUnfortunately, the only vehicle available is the (Medicaid) bill.\u201d\nAccording to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, about half of U.S. women getting abortions have family income below the federal poverty line. The typical $500 cost for a first-trimester abortion is burdensome to many of them.\nGuttmacher estimates that if Hyde were repealed, the number of annual abortions among Medicaid-covered women would likely rise by about 33,000.\nMEETING THE DEMAND\nYamani Hernandez, executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, one of the groups urging the amendment\u2019s repeal, said the network gets about 116,000 inquiries per year, and is only able to help about 30,000 women. Its abortion assistance in 2014 totaled $3.5 million.\nHernandez says women calling the network\u2019s hotline are often mothers already struggling financially to raise children who worry that bearing another child would push them deeper into poverty.\n\u201cWe have to trust people\u2019s decisions,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cWealthy people get to do that all the time \u2014 make the choices that are right for their families. People with lower incomes are expected to have their choices dictated to them.\u201d\nACTING BEYOND HYDE\nEven with the Hyde Amendment in place, there are 15 states \u2014 acting either voluntarily or under court order \u2014 that cover a wide range of abortions for low-income women with state Medicaid funds. These states are Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.\nIn Illinois and Arizona, court rulings say state Medicaid funds should cover all medically necessary abortions. However, abortion-rights activists say relatively few women in those two states end up receiving such abortion coverage.\nThe remaining states restrict Medicaid coverage of abortion to the limited cases allowed under the Hyde Amendment. South Dakota goes a step further, barring coverage even in cases of rape and incest.\nWith Congress unlikely to repeal the amendment any time soon, action is expected at the state level. In Illinois, some Democrats are pushing legislation that would expand the availability of Medicaid-covered abortions. In West Virginia, abortion-rights supporters are braced for efforts by abortion opponents to make such abortions less available.\nPUBLIC OPINION\nThe Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group, is mounting a door-knocking campaign in three battleground states that emphasizes Clinton\u2019s views.\nThe group\u2019s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, says the repeal issue has the potential to divide Democrats, and she would like to see Republican nominee Donald Trump speak out in support of the Hyde Amendment.\n\u201cHe\u2019s insane if he lets that go by the wayside,\u201d Dannenfelser said.\nOn the other side, abortion-rights activists are eager to maintain momentum after achieving a major victory in June when the Supreme Court struck down tough anti-abortion restrictions in Texas.\n\u201cHyde is one of the harshest remaining barriers to abortion,\u201d said Destiny Lopez of All above All, a coalition seeking the amendment\u2019s repeal. \u201cYoung people, people of color \u2014 they understand this is about their communities unfairly bearing the brunt.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://degette.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/democrats-seek-reversal-of-ban-on-federal-abortion-funding"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9682360105216503, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}