Every October, pro-choice supporters nationwide recognize October as Abortion Access Month. This year, the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) -- a Boston-based network of grassroots groups that help women and girls pay for abortions -- joined with other groups to launch the “Hyde -- 30 Years is Enough!” campaign calling for an end to the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion.
Before Hyde was enacted in 1976, federal Medicaid covered more than one-third of all abortions. Since 1977, it has paid for virtually none.2
Many other women who receive health care through the government are denied funding for abortions, including federal employees, women in the military and the Peace Corps, disabled women, residents of the District of Columbia, Native women using the Indian Health Service, and federal prisoners.3
Enforcement of the Hyde Amendment violates U.S. obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United States signed in 1948. Specifically, the Hyde Amendment violates non-discrimination clauses of international human rights law related to women’s rights to health; life; equality; nondiscrimination; privacy; be free of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment; and determine the number and spacing of their children.4
