Mermaid Musings

The Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding for abortions, is an indefensible obstruction to women’s reproductive freedom. All the debate on Stupack-Pitts and Nelson-Hatch has revealed the true purpose of Hyde: to prevent women from having abortions. No, that’s not even right, it is to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term. Preventing abortions actually entails preventing unwanted pregnancy. Restricting access to abortion just makes abortion dangerous for women, it doesn’t really prevent abortions from occurring.

I am hopeful that health care reform can proceed now without incorporating restrictions on abortion services, but the struggle for reproductive justice is far from over. Following the whole Stupack-Pitts debacle, I wrote to my congressman to demand to know what he was doing about this craziness (since I know he is supportive of abortion rights). His response, while confirming his commitment to comprehensive reproductive health care, contained this phrase:

There is a long-standing federal law which prohibits spending federal funds on abortion services, and this is not changed in the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Instead, the Stupak-Pitts amendment extends beyond the currently acceptable compromise in federal law.

Naturally, I took issue with this. And I share with you my response:

Thank you for your recent letter in response to my concerns about the Stupack-Pitts Amendment. I am grateful for your adamant opposition to this amendment. However, I have to take issue with your contention that the Hyde Amendment is an ‘acceptable compromise.’ The Hyde Amendment is what made Stupack-Pitts possible. The Hyde Amendment, restricting federal funds from women seeking abortions, is not a compromise - it is a tool used by those opposed to abortion to restrict access. It is one of the most unjust pieces of American law in existence. It says to poor women that they do not have the right to reproductive freedom because they cannot afford to pay for it.

I understand that it is not politically feasible to use health care reform to address this hideous injustice to our health care system. As Stupack-Pitts-Nelson-Hatch have demonstrated, there are greater forces willing to use health care reform to further their own anti-abortion agenda. However, I urge you to take leadership in opposing and repealing the Hyde Amendment. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the issue of abortion was a private one to be settled by a woman and her medical care provider. The Hyde Amendment is an unjust obstruction to poor women’s access to their basic human rights.