Fiscal Note
No appropriation required.
Title
Calling for increased funding for comprehensive reproductive health care.
Body
WHEREAS, women need access to safe, affordable, and comprehensive reproductive health care throughout their lives, including screening for cancer and sexually transmitted infections, contraceptive services, abortion care, prenatal care, and labor and delivery services; and
WHEREAS, reproductive health is a vital component of a woman’s overall health, and reproductive freedom is vital to a woman’s safety, well-being, and ability to participate equally in society; and
WHEREAS, on January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a historic and landmark decision, ruled in Roe v. Wade that the U.S. Constitution safeguards a woman’s ability to make her own personal medical decisions about when or whether to have children; and
WHEREAS, in the last 42 years, access to abortion care has allowed women to participate more fully in society, saved lives, and strengthened families; and
WHEREAS, we must always guard against efforts to deliberately erode the availability and affordability of abortion and undermine the protections provided by Roe v. Wade; and
WHEREAS, the majority of Americans continue to support safe, legal abortion; and
WHEREAS, federal and state laws that place obstacles in the paths of women seeking abortion care take away those women’s ability to make decisions and threaten the health of families; and
WHEREAS, one such restriction is the Hyde Amendment, passed by Congress on September 30, 1976, which for nearly 39 years has impeded access to abortion care for low-income women enrolled in Medicaid; and
WHEREAS, women enrolled in Medicaid are denied coverage for comprehensive pregnancy-related care that includes abortion care, because of unnecessary and unfair bans on such coverage imposed by federal and state lawmakers; and
WHEREAS, the government, by partially or fully subsidizing health insurance and health care servi...
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