Whose Choice? How the Hyde Amendment Harms Poor Women

This report exposes the harms perpetrated by the Hyde Amendment—the law that prohibits federal Medicaid dollars from paying for abortion services except in the most extreme circumstances. The interviews with women, abortion clinic counselors, and Abortion Fund staff described in this report offer insight into the struggles that low-income women endure to pay for their abortions, often forgoing basic necessities for themselves and their families and risking their health. In making a case for repeal, this report also discusses the successes and challenges of a few states that allow state funds to cover abortion. The U.S. government has a responsibility to respect and ensure each person’s right to autonomy, particularly the right to make fundamental decisions about childbearing and family, and to access medical services necessary to lead a healthy life. The stories told in this report demonstrate that the government is abdicating its responsibility to poor women by failing to repeal the Hyde Amendment.