Bills
| 3.23.22

Should Women Have Access to Abortions Through Medicaid, Medicare, and Other Government Health Programs? (H.R. 2972)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 2972?

(Updated July 19, 2021)

This bill would require the federal government to cover abortion services under Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The government would also be charged with preventing any restrictions on that coverage. 

Under current law, the Hyde Amendment prevents federal funds from being used for abortions. That ban would end if this bill were made into law. The federal government would also be required to:

  • Ensure abortion coverage through public health insurance programs (including Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP);

  • As an employer or health plan sponsor, ensure abortion coverage for its participants and beneficiaries;

  • As a provider of health services, ensure that abortion care is available to (eligible) people its facilities or in the facilities of companies it contracts with to provide medical care.

This legislation would bar the federal government from prohibiting, restricting, or otherwise inhibiting insurance coverage of abortion care by state or local governments, or by private health plans. State and local governments would be barred from the same activities.

Additionally, this legislation expresses the sense of Congress that the federal government should serve as a model for the nation in terms of ensuring the coverage of abortion care through its role as an insurer, employer, and health care provider. It also adds that Congress believes restrictions on coverage of abortion care in the private insurance market must end.

Argument in favor

The federal government should not restrict women’s health care options — Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP should cover abortion services. State and local governments also need to be held to covering abortions.

Argument opposed

Federal funding is already prevented from covering the cost of abortions — and women still find ways to get abortions. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund something they morally object to.

Impact

Women covered by Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, or private health insurance that otherwise would be denied abortion services, medical facilities and their employees who work in that insurance network, state and local governments, and the federal government.

Cost of H.R. 2972

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced this legislation because she believes that:

“Each and every day, the rights of women are under attack in America —  today, we push back because every person has a right to healthcare. The EACH Woman Act is a bold and groundbreaking step forward. This legislation would ensure that every woman can access ALL of her healthcare options, regardless of how much money she earns or where she lives. Regardless of how someone personally feels about abortion, none of us, especially elected officials, should be interfering with a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions.”

The Hyde Amendment — which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions unless the pregnancy arose because of incest, rape, or to save the mother’s life — was originally passed in 1976. Since then, it has undergone two updates, one in 1981, and the most recent which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1993 which added the exceptions for cases of rape and incest.

Critics of this legislation, and supporters of a bill that would do the exact opposite — the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act — sometimes come from a platform of moral obligation to oppose abortion: 
"Ultimately, why is restricting taxpayer funding for abortion important to millions of Americans? Americans personally opposed to abortion do not want their tax dollars paying for the  procedure, but more importantly, abortion funding restrictions save lives."

Media:

Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Flickr user masha_k_sh)