Constitutional Background & Issues
The Hyde Amendment, first adopted in 1976, and renewed each year in the federal budget, is a legislative provision barring the use of certain federal and private insurance funds, including Medicaid, to pay for abortions. Exceptions only include saving the life of the mother, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. When federal coverage provides for all pregnancy-related health care, except abortion, it interferes with private health decisions. In the Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade, the Court specifically stated that the government had no role in individuals' private decisions (under the Fourth Amendment), which includes abortion. The Hyde Amendment makes abortion nearly inaccessible for millions of low-income women, therefore denying them the right to make these constitutionally protected decisions.
Impact on Minors
In many cases, a lack of financial aid options coerces many low-income teenagers into continuing their pregnancy. Though the young woman could decide to put their child up for adoption, as an alternative to abortion, her body is still subject to carrying a child for nine months. Giving birth is more dangerous than the abortion procedure, as there are more possible complications that could occur while giving birth, therefore putting the young woman at risk.
Young people are more likely to have difficulty absorbing the full cost of an abortion. Forty percent of minors, ages 12 to 17, live in poverty in the United States. These teenagers, and their families, are highly reliant on Medicaid/insurance funding for their healthcare needs. The Hyde Amendment, and its limitations on government funding for abortions, unfairly disadvantages young people. Teenagers are forced to pay high out-of-pocket expenses for the procedure, with no assistance from Medicaid/insurance. For individuals just establishing their livelihoods, paying out-of-pocket expenses is extremely damaging. If the young woman does decide to include her family in her abortion decision, the medical expenses take a major toll on her entire family, putting her siblings and parents in a difficult situation. For young impoverished women, who likely need increased access to this right, as childcare requires money: either keeping the child or having an abortion has similar financial costs attached to it. Therefore, the government is pushing teenagers, and their families, further into poverty. I know a lot of people that have had an abortion. Most of my friends and a lot of my family members have. I just know that every time I know somebody who has to go through that, it’s a struggle having to come up with the money because they’re very rarely covered by health insurance. So, even my friends that have insurance still have to pay out-of-pocket for their abortions, and you know it’s unexpected. I mean women don’t know that they’re going to have to have one, we don’t plan for that. We don’t put away a fund for it or anything. So it’s really an unexpected expense, and I know a lot of people that have been really burdened by it." -- An Anonymous 24 year old Non-Hispanic White Woman |