Washington, D.C. — Today marks the historic bicameral introduction of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Woman Act. The bill was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Diana DeGette (D-CO) and introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and a group of original co-sponsors, including Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). The EACH Woman Act is both groundbreaking and commonsense in its goal: to ensure insurance coverage for abortion care for every woman, regardless of her income or geography. Jamila Taylor, senior fellow and director of Women’s Health and Rights at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement following the bill’s introduction:
Every woman deserves access to the full range of pregnancy-related options, including abortion care, free from political interference. However, as a result of the Hyde Amendment, Congress has for decades denied women access to abortion care simply because they receive insurance through the government—penalizing women who don’t have the income or coverage to pay for it, particularly low-income women. The Hyde amendment also disproportionately restricts women of color’s access to abortion care, further contributing to the alarming rates of black maternal mortality in the United States.
The Trump administration has also recently attempted to limit private insurance coverage of abortion. This type of political interference is shameful and has persisted for far too long. The EACH Woman Act rebuts these punitive efforts and expands abortion coverage so that all women are able to access abortion care, free from political interference and regressive policies.
The bill is the latest example of this Congress demonstrating why women’s representation in government matters, as it is being introduced following the election of a record number of women, especially women of color, who are leading the charge in expanding women’s rights.
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For further information or to connect with a policy expert, please contact Colin Seeberger at [email protected] or 202-741-6292.