[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 146 (Tuesday, September 27, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H5919-H5920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             HYDE AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call for an end to the 
discriminatory Hyde amendment, which has harmed too many women for far 
too long.
  This week marks 40 years since the Hyde amendment was first passed. 
For 40 years, politicians have denied the full range of comprehensive 
health services, including abortion coverage, to women just because of 
their income, employer, or ZIP Code. This must stop.
  This bill was passed in 1976 to prevent low-income Medicaid 
recipients from exercising their constitutional rights. I was here 
working as a staffer for my predecessor, Ron Dellums, when this 
amendment first passed. We fought tooth and nail against it then. We 
knew that this harmful rider would help pave the way for decades of 
harsh, unfair restrictions.

                              {time}  1015

  Now, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, each year I have 
fought the fight against Republican efforts to double down and to 
expand the Hyde amendment.
  In fact, in 2016, the Hyde amendment now affects more than just 
Medicaid recipients, to include: Federal employees and their 
dependents, military servicemembers, Native Americans, Peace Corps 
volunteers, immigrants, Federal prisoners, and the residents of 
Washington, D.C.
  The discriminatory Hyde amendment also disproportionately impacts 
low-income women and women of color. More than half of the women 
subject to the Hyde amendment are women of color.
  We also know that when those who seek abortion care are denied, they 
are much more likely to fall into poverty than a woman who is able to 
access care.
  The Hyde amendment is just wrong. It is not only the Hyde amendment. 
Since 2010, State legislatures have adopted 334 abortion restrictions, 
further expanding the hardship of abortion coverage like the Hyde 
amendment; again, politicians making decisions for women that they have 
no business even thinking about. Women deserve the right to privacy and 
the right to make their own healthcare decisions.
  From shutting down clinics to creating longer wait lines, these 
restrictions impose the greatest burden on low-income women, 
immigrants, women of color, and young people.
  Now, it is not our job, as elected officials, to make family planning 
decisions for women. Politicians need to get out of personal healthcare 
decisions for women.
  Let me be clear. A woman's access to abortion should never depend on 
her ZIP Code, her employer, or her income. Whether you agree with women 
having abortions, that is not the issue. The issue is we should not 
discriminate against women who are denied the full range of 
comprehensive health services.
  Secondly, politicians need to stop interfering with women's personal 
decisions about their body. That is why I, along with Congresswoman 
Schakowsky, Congresswoman DeGette, and 70 of our colleagues, offered 
and introduced the EACH Woman Act, H.R. 2972. This legislation would 
end the discriminatory Hyde amendment and ensure that all women can 
exercise their fundamental right to privacy and their fundamental right 
to choose.
  Specifically, this bill ensures that, first, if a woman gets her care 
or insurance through the Federal Government, she will be covered for 
all pregnancy-related care.
  Secondly, it means that Federal, State, and local legislators will 
not be able to interfere with the private insurance market to prevent 
insurance companies from providing a full range of healthcare services, 
including abortion coverage.
  Right now, we have over 120 cosponsors working to stop politicians 
from interfering with a woman's reproductive rights, and we are 
building a coalition of elected officials, grassroots organizers, faith 
communities, and women who are ready to see this discriminatory and 
dangerous law taken off of the books.
  So, as we mark 40 years of this terrible policy, I urge my colleagues 
to be bold and to support the EACH Woman Act. Together, we will end the 
Hyde amendment to ensure equal access to all healthcare services, 
including abortions for all women, not just for some who have the 
resources to ensure that their right continues as they make their own 
personal healthcare decisions.

[[Page H5920]]

  These are their own constitutional rights. We should not interfere 
with any woman's right to make these decisions. So let's move forward. 
Support the EACH Woman Act.
  I want to commend all of the young women and men across the country 
who are really working to turn back the tide of this terrible amendment 
and who are working to pass the EACH Woman Act.

                          ____________________