The Boston City Council on Wednesday voted 12-0 to approve a resolution calling on Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which denies federal funding for abortion care, the Universal Hub reports (Universal Hub, 9/28).
Under Hyde, federal funding can only go toward abortion care in the limited instances of rape, incest or life endangerment (Women's Health Policy Report, 9/22).
The Boston resolution is sponsored by city council member Ayanna Pressley. She noted that while Massachusetts allows state Medicaid funding to cover abortion care, Massachusetts women in the Peace Corps or military, for example, are subject to Hyde restrictions because they have health insurance through the federal government. In addition, Pressley pointed out that the resolution would support women in 33 states that do not allow state Medicaid funding to cover abortion care (Universal Hub, 9/28).
Philadelphia City Council passes resolution calling for end to Hyde
In related news, the Philadelphia City Council on Thursday passed a similar resolution (R 160828) urging Congress to end Hyde, the Women's Law Project's blog reports.
According to the Women's Law Project blog, the vote makes Philadelphia the 11th city to approve a resolution calling for federal lawmakers to end Hyde.
Councilmembers Cindy Bass, Bill Green, Helen Gym, Kenyatta Johnson, Cherelle Parker and Maria D. Quiñones-Sánchez proposed the resolution last week. The measure urges Congress to pass the federal Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act (HR 2972), which would lift the ban on abortion coverage for women insured through public programs. The resolution also urges the state's General Assembly to cover abortion care in the state's public insurance programs and end a prohibition on abortion care in private plans sold through Pennsylvania's health insurance marketplace (Women's Law Project's blog, 9/29).
