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In 1976, conservative Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois introduced a bill that would ban the use of federal funding for abortion expenses except in instances of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother.
Today, the Hyde Amendment, which has been added as a rider to federal budget appropriation bills since 1977, prohibits abortion coverage for approximately 74 million Medicaid recipients.
It also prohibits the federal government from covering abortion in health programs for federal employees, federal prisoners, those who rely on Indian Health Services, active military members and veterans, among others.
I’m a social work health scholar who studies vulnerable people’s access to reproductive health care. Now that the Hyde amendment has become a focus for some candidates in the 2020 presidential election, I believe it’s important to understand who it affects and how it can be repealed.