This Abortion Policy Needs to End
I sat in that relatively nondescript hotel ballroom, shuffling my notes, and it suddenly struck me: I was about to make history. I was about to testify before the Democratic National Committee Campaign Committee, to urge them that their platform should oppose the Hyde Amendment - a federal policy, originally passed in 1976, that denies abortion coverage to women enrolled in Medicaid. I was asking a powerful political body to demand the end of a 40-year-old policy that targets poor women and denies needed health care.
The room was filled with Democratic leaders and advocates from many walks of life. As a granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, I was honored to represent my community and give voice to the more than 4 of 5 Americans who agree that however we feel about abortion, we shouldn’t be allowed to deny a woman’s health coverage for it just because she’s poor. I was speaking in my role of co-director of the All* Above All Action Fund, but I was speaking from experience as well: I’ve seen firsthand what women go through when they have decided to end a pregnancy but don’t have the money to pay for it.
As a teenager, I helped a close friend navigate her decision about an unintended pregnancy. She was afraid to talk to her other friends and family, and had heard judgmental talk about women who’ve had an abortion. As she struggled to figure out where and how to get an abortion, I was by her side to provide support and information, so she could make the best decision for herself and her future. The stigma and hurdles she faced, within her own family and as a result of being low-income, left me determined to take down those barriers.
While not everyone in my family agrees with my work, and I’ve had to face down bully protesters more than once, I know fighting for women’s health and rights is my calling. When I ran ACCESS Women’s Health Justice, an abortion fund that raises money to provide assistance to people who can’t afford their abortion care, I saw the pain of families pushed to the financial brink, women trying to figure out what they might sell, which bills could go unpaid, how to make sure they still had money for the kids’ schoolbooks and clothes. Transportation was a huge issue: Through my work at the fund, we once provided a couple with gas money so they could get home from their procedure. Another time, a young woman had to travel 440 miles round trip for her procedure, but had no reliable transportation and no money for a bus ticket; our fund was able to help her. These stories, and others, stick with me. Every day, the Hyde Amendment causes irrevocable harm to women and families in this country.
The Hyde Amendment has been around for so long that many politicians view it as intractable, as though it is nothing more than ugly wallpaper that’s too much of a hassle to replace. Even the Obama administration has indicated as much, calling Hyde a “longstanding federal statutory restriction” and reinforcing Hyde when the Affordable Care Act was passed. But it’s not an acceptable political compromise to force women struggling financially out of safe abortion care. Nor is it acceptable that the Hyde Amendment forces 1 in 4 poor women seeking an abortion to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.
When Hyde was first passed, black women community leaders and policymakers opposed it, and in the ensuing years, women of color maintained that opposition. Yet we didn’t reach a critical mass until about five years ago, when, building on the groundwork laid by women of color, a determined and vocal group came together with a bold vision and what was perceived then as a radical agenda: We decided to make lifting abortion coverage bans a priority. More than that, we decided to transform the political landscape to make it a reality.
We went on to create All* Above All - the first national united campaign to end Hyde - and its political arm, the All* Above All Action Fund. Initially, this work consisted of a handful of people - mostly women of color - strategizing in small rooms about the seemingly impossible. As our movement grew, the rooms got bigger, and the impossible now seems possible. In 2013, cities began introducing and passing resolutions opposing Hyde in places like Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Then, in 2015, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., introduced the EACH Woman Act - groundbreaking legislation to end the Hyde Amendment. At the same time, a nationwide poll, conducted on behalf of our organization, showed voters supported such a bill by a margin of 56 percent to 40 percent.
But still it wasn’t quite enough to tip the scales.
It wasn’t until this year that a major-party candidate for the highest political office in the United States made the Hyde Amendment a campaign issue. Not only did Secretary Hillary Clinton make clear her opposition to the restriction, she made it a centerpiece of her women’s health agenda. Contrast that with Donald Trump’s jumbled rhetoric about punishing women who terminate a pregnancy if abortion were illegal, and the distinctions between the candidates couldn’t be clearer. Trump later walked back these comments, saying instead that doctors should be punished. But then he doubled down on his support for the Hyde Amendment.
When I testified before the committee, I thought about how far we’d come. I thought about all the women of color, all the young people, who’ve called or written their legislators, who’ve led “end Hyde bike rides,” who’ve chalked sidewalks and created art and raised the alarm on college campuses. I considered that, with the ongoing support of advocates, leaders, and the public, it just may be the first woman president who puts an end to Hyde once and for all.
Ending Hyde is about restoring dignity and fair treatment to poor women and women of color. It’s about making sure a woman who’s made the profound decision to end her pregnancy gets the care she needs without having to turn her life upside down. It’s about compassion and respect.
This month, the Hyde Amendment turns 40. And while four decades is a long time for injustice to endure, I am more certain than ever that its days of harming women are numbered.
I look forward to telling my daughter about the time a group of women who look like her went up against politicians who wanted to control women’s decisions. I’ll tell her about how we stuck together, built power, and grew a movement that eventually witnessed a presidential candidate speaking out on our side. And I’ll tell her about the day we won, and about the terrible policy we defeated, and how it’s no longer around to harm her or the people she loves.
Destiny Lopez is the co-director of the All* Above All Fund.
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