Read the full report here.
Download the executive summary here.
Event: Separate and Unequal.
Washington, D.C.–Today the Center for American Progress released the report "Separate and Unequal: The Hyde Amendment and Women of Color," by Jessica Arons and Madina Agénor. According to Arons and Agénor, the Hyde Amendment is a policy that not only violates reproductive rights and principles of gender equity but one that undermines racial and economic justice as well.
Abortion policy in this country does not treat all women equally. Even before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, affluent women were usually able to access abortion safely through a network of private doctors or by traveling to other states or countries where it was legal, while poor women risked their health, fertility, and often their lives to end a pregnancy. Unfortunately, because of a policy known as the Hyde Amendment, similar disparities and injustices still exist today—nearly 40 years after the Supreme Court declared that all women have a constitutional right to abortion.
The Hyde Amendment prohibits Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care program for the poor and indigent, from covering abortion care in almost all circumstances. Most people think of abortion as a “woman’s issue,” which of course it is. But the Hyde Amendment intentionally discriminates against poor women, who are disproportionately women of color.
Because of the overlap among class, race, and ethnicity in our country, the Hyde Amendment is especially harmful to women of color. According to the most recent Census data, 25.8 percent of African Americans and 25.3 percent of Hispanics are poor, compared to 12.3 percent of whites and 12.5 percent of Asians. These differences hold true for women of reproductive age (15 to 44 years old) living in poverty as well. While 28.5 percent are African American, 27.2 percent are Hispanic, and 27.0 percent are Native American, 15.8 percent are white and 13.3 percent are Asian. The upshot: Women of color are more likely to rely on government health programs and therefore more likely to be directly affected by abortion funding restrictions such as the Hyde Amendment.
As we begin to implement health reform and evaluate what does and does not work in our health care delivery system, we should examine the consequences of abortion funding bans on the physical, emotional, and financial well-being of women and their families. And we should be vigilant in seeking opportunities to improve access to quality, timely, and affordable abortion care.
Repealing the Hyde Amendment and related restrictions will not, by itself, ensure full equality for women of color and low-income women. But doing so is a necessary precondition.
Jessica Arons is the Director of the Women’s Health and Rights program at the Center for American Progress. Madina Agénor is a doctor of science candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health, and she was an intern for the Women’s Health and Rights program at the Center for American Progress.
Read the full report here.
Download the executive summary here.
Event: Separate and Unequal.
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