State Health Flexibility Act Includes Anti-Abortion Clause
From Ms. Magazine Feminist Wire:
A bill introduced by Congressman Todd Rokita (R-Ind) would force states to halt programs that provide funding for abortions for low-income women. The bill, HR 4160 (PDF)or the State Health Flexibility Act, was introduced in March and has been added to the Republican budget plan. The bill would move Medicaid to a block grant model in which states are given blocks of money and can individually structure their low-income healthcare plans. Although the Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal funding of abortion since 1976, 17 states have programs that use state money to cover abortions for low income women as part of their Medicaid plans. HR 4160 would make this practice illegal.
Sara Rosenbaum, a health law expert at George Washington University, says the bill "would block the only avenue left to states that wish to make safe and legal abortions accessible to low income women." Judy Waxman of the National Women's Law Center says the bill "would be a significant change from how current law operates today."
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