~ Lawmakers File EACH Act to End Hyde Amendment, Lift Unjust Abortion Coverage Restrictions on Medicaid, Other Government Sponsored Plans ~
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), and U.S. Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Maxwell Frost (D-FL) in leading more than 180 of their colleagues in reintroducing the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Healthcare (EACH) Act, legislation to guarantee abortion coverage—regardless of how a patient gets their health insurance. The lawmakers’ bill follows the enactment of Trump and Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill, which will gut Medicaid, defund Planned Parenthood health centers, and push essential reproductive care further out of reach for millions of people.
The EACH Act ends the discriminatory Hyde Amendment and lifts unjust abortion coverage restrictions for those who depend on Medicaid and other government-sponsored plans. The bill affirms the fundamental right to abortion care and helps ensure everyone can get the reproductive healthcare they need, regardless of income, insurance, or zip code.
“As Republicans gut Medicaid, defund Planned Parenthoods nationwide, and continue their onslaught of attacks on our bodily autonomy, the Hyde Amendment and other federal coverage restrictions are discriminatory barriers that continue to prevent access to safe and legal abortion care,” said Senator Hirono. “Everyone deserves access to reproductive health care. By ending the Hyde Amendment and expanding coverage for abortion services, the EACH Act would help guarantee abortion access for all, protecting our reproductive rights and our ability to make decisions about our own bodies.”
Trump and Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill, which passed Congress earlier this year, will dismantle access to reproductive health care in every state. It will defund Planned Parenthood, block Medicaid reimbursements to health centers, and slash care for millions of people. It would also gut Medicaid, ripping coverage from at least 10 million Americans and cutting off access to essential maternity care, birth control, cancer screenings, and more.
In addition to Senators Hirono and Duckworth, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-MN), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Margaret Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
In addition to Representative Pressley, the legislation is cosponsored by more than 170 representatives.
The EACH Act is endorsed by over 50 organizations including the National Women’s Law Center, Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Center for American Progress, Guttmacher Institute, National Abortion Federation, URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, Pregnancy Justice, and National Women’s Political Caucus.
The full text of the legislation is available here.
A long-time champion for abortion access, Senator Hirono is committed to protecting the fundamental right to reproductive health care for all. Last month, Senator Hirono joined Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) in leading eight of their colleagues in a letter condemning the Trump Administration’s recent rescission of guidance that reaffirmed hospitals and providers’ obligations under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to provide medically necessary emergency abortion care, regardless of where the patient lives. Last month, Senator Hirono also joined her colleagues in participating in a spotlight forum titled “Under Attack: Republicans’ Escalating War on Reproductive Freedom.” At the forum, Senate Democrats heard from four panelists who have suffered the consequences of the Dobbs decision and subsequent Republican abortion bans firsthand and warned about how President Trump and Republicans are only escalating their attacks on women’s health care and working to make abortion impossible to access anywhere—a backdoor nationwide abortion ban. In June, she also reintroduced the landmark My Body, My Data Act, legislation to create a new national standard to protect reproductive and sexual health data.
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