--- title: The Hyde Amendment Denies Women Their Right to an Abortion description: The Hyde Amendment keeps women of color, young people, the LGBTQ community, immigrants and lower-income people from accessing abortion care, writes Congresswoman Barbara Lee canonical: https://time.com/5660018/hyde-amendment-abortion/ author: Barbara Lee article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-08-23T18:26:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T12:03:06.772Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Hyde Amendment Denies Women Health Care og:description: Yes, abortion is health care og:url: https://time.com/5660018/hyde-amendment-abortion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt885ee9c1d917519d/698a01d2b3fce3771c0c56ee/gettyimages-1145344226.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Rallies Across U.S. Protest New Restrictive Abortion Laws og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Hyde Amendment Denies Women Health Care twitter:description: Yes, abortion is health care twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt885ee9c1d917519d/698a01d2b3fce3771c0c56ee/gettyimages-1145344226.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Hyde Amendment Denies Women Health Care. Yes, Abortion Is Health Care > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Barbara Lee](https://time.com/author/barbara-lee/) ## Barbara Lee Aug 23, 2019 6:26 PM UTC  People hold signs during a protest against recently passed abortion ban bills at the Georgia State Capitol building, on May 21, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Georgia "heartbeat" bill would ban abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected. The Alabama abortion law, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey, includes no exceptions for cases of rape and incest, outlawing all abortions except when necessary to prevent serious health problems for the woman. People hold signs during a protest against recently passed abortion ban bills at the Georgia State Capitol building, on May 21, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Georgia "heartbeat" bill would ban abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected. The Alabama abortion law, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey, includes no exceptions for cases of rape and incest, outlawing all abortions except when necessary to prevent serious health problems for the woman. Elijah Nouvelage—Getty Images by [Barbara Lee](https://time.com/author/barbara-lee/) ## Barbara Lee Aug 23, 2019 6:26 PM UTC This summer, we saw the [Hyde Amendment](https://time.com/5603055/hyde-amendment-abortion-joe-biden/) emerge as an issue among the Democratic presidential candidates. It was the first time many Americans had even heard about Hyde, and no one was talking about the real-life effects it had on low-income individuals. I was a congressional staffer when the Hyde Amendment was introduced in the ’70s, and I said then what I’m saying now: this restriction is dangerous, discriminatory and will continue to harm women across the country. The [Hyde Amendment](https://allaboveall.org/resource/hyde-amendment-fact-sheet/) – named after Congressman Henry Hyde who introduced the policy in 1976 – denies women enrolled in Medicaid insurance coverage for abortion care except in the case of rape, incest or a threat to the woman’s life. And we know that a federal prohibition on using Medicaid and federal funds for a health care service – and yes, abortion is a health care service – disproportionately affects black and Latina women, young people, the LGBTQ community, immigrants and lower-income folks, preventing them from being able to make personal healthcare decisions that are best for them and their circumstances. At the time it passed, Congressman Hyde made his true intention clear: “I certainly would like to prevent, if I could legally, anybody having an abortion, a rich woman, a middle-class woman, or a poor woman. Unfortunately, the only vehicle available is the…Medicaid bill.” Three years earlier, _Roe v. Wade_ had recognized that everyone had the constitutional right to abortion, but the Hyde Amendment meant that not all women could exercise that right. Since then, anti-abortion politicians in Congress have [expanded the Hyde Amendment](https://allaboveall.org/resource/hyde-amendment-fact-sheet/) to also ban coverage for Medicare and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees; employees of the federal government; Peace Corps volunteers; Native Americans; federal prisoners; immigrants held in detention centers; women who get their health care from publicly funded health centers; survivors of human trafficking; and low-income women in Washington, D.C. Medicaid is meant to ensure that low-income families can get health care they otherwise wouldn’t be able to access — at least not without forgoing basic necessities like heat and electricity in order to save the necessary funds — so for many, coverage can mean the difference between getting abortion care or being denied. When politicians place restrictions on Medicaid coverage of abortion, they force [one in four poor women seeking an abortion](http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/MedicaidLitReview.pdf) to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. And researchers have found that a [woman who seeks an abortion but is denied](https://apha.confex.com/apha/140am/webprogram/Paper263858.html) is more likely to fall into poverty than one who is able to get an abortion. Repealing the Hyde Amendment was once seen as a third-rail issue. When I first introduced the EACH Woman Act to repeal the discriminatory Hyde Amendment in 2015, I was told it was too divisive to ever gain any real support. But I was not deterred. In fact, today our movement in Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment has never been stronger. With the support of [more than 100 reproductive health, rights and justice organizations and thousands of women of color](https://allaboveall.org/resource/about-the-each-woman-act/) across the country, the EACH Woman Act — which I, along with Congresswomen Jan Schakowsky and Diana DeGette, reintroduced this year — now has 164 co-sponsors. I have also worked consistently to change the narrative around this issue. In 2016, I made sure that the Democratic Party platform included language in support of repealing the Hyde Amendment. The [party’s platform position ](https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/ensure-the-health-and-safety-of-all-americans/)on “securing reproductive health, rights and justice” states that “every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured.” This year, almost all of the Democratic presidential candidates have made repealing the Hyde Amendment a key component of their campaigns. It took decades to get us here, but here we are. Equal access to health care, including abortion, is now a standard for our party as it always should have been. Yes, our party can and should have diversity in thought, but limiting access for low-income people and people of color is not a place we have room to negotiate. I could not be more proud that our party, our presidential candidates and [the majority of American voters](https://allaboveall.org/resource/polling-reprohealth-and-economic/) believe that all women, including low-income women enrolled in Medicaid, should have health insurance that covers reproductive healthcare, including abortion. The Hyde Amendment should be banished to the past like the relic it is. Times have changed – and it’s past time to keep up. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5660018/hyde-amendment-abortion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5660018/hyde-amendment-abortion/"},"headline":"The Hyde Amendment Denies Women Health Care. 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