hyde-anniversary-2013-final_smallby Kelli

Abortions are expensive. A first trimester abortion costs an average of $470. A second trimester abortion at 20 weeks costs an average of $1,500.

So what do you do if you can’t afford an abortion and you definitely can’t afford a baby?

If you happen to be one of the 12 million women who depend on Medicaid and other federal insurance programs, you are pretty screwed, thanks to the Hyde Amendment….

In the name of abortion rights, human rights and reproductive justice, it is time to repeal Hyde. Reproductive rights activists often focus on abortion’s legality and physical accessibility — where women can receive abortion care and how far along into a pregnancy the procedure is legal; but the fight for safe and legal abortion means nothing if it isn’t accessible to everyone.

I shouldn’t have to mention that providing coverage for abortion care leads to better economic outcomes for both the women who have abortions and for the institutions that would otherwise have to provide childcare service.

But, for some readers and most politicians, these nuances are what matter most for their public support of repealing Hyde. Sadly, the value of a woman’s life, autonomy and dignity aren’t always enough to influence policy. Often in a political context we see financial outcomes superseding socially just policy. Hyde is neither a socially just policy nor an economically sound one.

I currently have $342 in my savings account. If I didn’t admit that having less than $470 makes me nervous, I would be lying.

Like I said, abortions are expensive. But so is the cost of injustice.

So, happy anniversary, Hyde. Here’s to another year of classism, sexism, and broad-based discrimination lovingly provided by the United States government.

*This article refers to abortion care patients solely as women, but not all people who have abortions identify as women.

~ Carly Manes, discussing why she believes every woman deserves to have a “free” abortion, The Michigan Daily, September 29

[Graphic via NARAL Pro-Choice America]

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