Roe at Risk

When the Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade, it was a landmark moment in American history. Not only were women able to fully access an abortion and have full agency over their bodies and their health care, doctors and other medical professionals who performed these procedures were no longer acting unlawfully.

Since 1973, as access to abortion became enshrined in a woman’s experience in the United States, legislation that significantly hindered that right began to crop up. For example, in 1976, the Hyde Amendment was passed, which for 37 years has blocked federal funding for abortion services. This means that women on federally administered health care plans, like Medicare, Medicaid, servicewomen, and the Indian Health Service, cannot have an abortion that is covered under an insurance plan. Combined with the unfortunate reality that many women on these plans are low-income, and that 88% of counties in the United States do not have a clinic where abortions are performed, it is clear that although Roe may be the law of the land, it is certainly not the reality of the land. Findings from major reproductive rights organizations further confirm the many ways Roe rights are being chipped away. The Guttmacher Institute reports that more anti-choice state-level legislation was passed between 2011 and 2013 than the preceding decade! NARAL Pro-Choice America also released their annual “Who Decides?” study, an in-depth analysis of the many ways abortion is restricted in a way such that choice is a myth for many woman. While the focus is certainly on the states, there is legislation on the federal level that has serious implications for women across the country. The House of Representatives will soon consider the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7), a dangerous and severely limiting bill that no only further expands the reach and indelibility of the Hyde Amendment, it also restricts women on private health insurance from accessing an abortion by refusing federal tax credits for health needs for these procedures. WRJ Executive Director Rabbi Marla J. Feldman and Religious Action Center Director and Counsel Rabbi David Saperstein submitted a statement for the record to the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, in opposition to H.R. 7. You can read their statement here. Lift your voice and take action to urge your member of the House to oppose this bill!