Current Actions

  • Tell President Obama: Present a Clean Budget to Congress

    End bans on abortion coverage in the 2014 federal budget. Restore Medicaid funding. Restore dignity.

    Every year politicians use the budget process to deny abortion coverage for women enrolled in any federal insurance plan. This includes: everyone eligible for Medicaid, Medicare beneficiaries, Federal employees and their dependents, Peace Corps volunteers, Native Americans receiving health care through Indian Health Services, women incarcerated in federal prisons and detention centers, military servicemembers and their dependents, and low-income women in the District of Columbia.

    It doesn't have to be this way.

    President Obama can present a clean budget to Congress, free of discriminatory restrictions. He can take this opportunity to remove barriers to abortion access so that all women may live their lives with dignity.

    Add your voice. Send this message to the White House:

    Aim high in the next budget, President Obama! End discriminatory abortion funding bans that take away a woman's ability to make her own decision about having an abortion just because of her income. Present a clean budget to Congress, free of abortion funding restrictions.

    Use the letter below or edit with your own text. After you add your name, your letter will be delivered to the White House immediately.

  • Tell President Obama to end bans on Medicaid coverage of abortion

    Tell President Obama: End bans on Medicaid coverage of abortion so that low-income women can make their own decisions about whether to have an abortion.

    Voters spoke loud and clear in 2012: President Obama ran for his second term on a party platform strongly supporting the right to abortion regardless of the ability to pay, and he won resoundingly.

    By enormous margins, women delivered that victory.

    Now is the time to seize the opportunity for bold action. In this next term, we ask the President to listen to women, whose votes were decisive and who said that abortion was the most important issue in the 2012 election. Aim high. Dream big. Let's take this historic occasion to remove barriers to abortion access so that all women may live their lives with dignity.

    Add your voice. Fill in your information below the letter and send this message to the White House:

    Aim high in your next budget, President Obama! End discriminatory abortion funding bans that take away a woman's ability to make her own decision about having an abortion just because of her income.

    You can use the letter below or add your own text. After you add your name, your letter will be delivered to the White House immediately.

  • Act Now To Stop Senate Attack On Women

    Help Stop the Attack on Women's Health and Rights!

    On May 5, 2011, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” (S. 906), a copycat bill based on the recently passed House bill of the same name (H.R. 3). “It is time for a single, government-wide prohibition on abortion funding,” Senator Wicker announced.

    This bill is a sweeping intrusion into the rights and personal lives of women. It would make life harder for the many women and families already struggling to make ends meet. It would deny women the ability to make their own decisions about whether and when to have a family.

    Every woman, whether she is enrolled in a safety net health program like Medicaid, or has other health insurance coverage, should be able to take care of her health and make important decisions, based on her circumstances and her family’s needs.

    The bill would put up new, dangerous roadblocks to make it more difficult than ever for a woman to obtain a safe, legal abortion. It would:

    • -- Permanently restrict abortion coverage in the federal Medicaid health program, worsening the effects on women of the damaging Hyde Amendment
    • -- Permanently reinstate the ban on abortion coverage in the District of Columbia, preventing D.C. from using its own locally raised tax revenues to provide abortion care
    • -- Force more women than ever to use money they need for rent and food to cover the cost of an abortion
    • -- Deny abortion funding in cases where continuing the pregnancy could permanently damage women’s health, for example, when a pregnant woman needs treatment for cancer
    • -- Push women to risk their lives and health in order to end a pregnancy if they cannot find an affordable abortion
    • -- Ban abortion coverage in the new health care exchanges and drive up the cost of health care by imposing new taxes on employers and individuals who pay for abortion coverage through health plans

    Our laws should NOT force women to choose between the basic necessities of life and the ability to have an abortion. Our laws should not jeopardize the health and future of women and families, especially those who are already suffering the most during this economic crisis.

    Help STOP S. 906 in its tracks! Send a message to let your Senators know you oppose this dangerous bill!

  • Help Stop the Attack on Women's Health and Safety!

    On January 20, 2011, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) introduced a dangerous bill he’s calling the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” (H.R. 3).

    This bill would make life harder for women and families already struggling to make ends meet. It would deny women the ability to make the best decisions about whether and when to have a family.

    Every woman, whether she is enrolled in a safety net health program like Medicaid, or has other health insurance coverage, should be able to take care of her health and make important decisions, depending on the circumstances and her family’s needs.

    The bill would put up new, dangerous roadblocks to make it more impossible than ever for a woman to obtain an abortion, a legal medical procedure. It would:

    • -- Permanently restrict abortion coverage in the federal Medicaid health program, worsening the effects on women of the damaging Hyde Amendment
    • -- Force more women than ever to use money they need for rent and food to cover the cost of an abortion
    • -- Push women to risk their lives and health in order to end a pregnancy if an affordable abortion is not available to them
    • -- Ban abortion coverage in the new health care exchanges and put new taxes on employers and individuals who pay for abortion coverage through health plans

    Our laws should NOT force women to choose between the basic necessities of life and the ability to have an abortion. Our laws should not jeopardize the health and future of women and families, especially those who are already suffering the most during this economic crisis.

    Help STOP H.R. 3 in its tracks! Send a message to let your Representative know you oppose this dangerous bill!

  • Letter to President Obama

    Abortion funding restrictions come from a number of different places—Congress, state legislatures, the White House. 

    Even though Congress passes the federal budget containing the Hyde Amendment every year, the President has an opportunity to strike the Hyde Amendment from his version of the proposed budget before sending it to Congress.

    So let the President know that you support every woman’s ability to make the decision that’s best for her and her family. Add your voice to the conversation and make sure that the President knows he’ll have your support when he takes a stand for women.

  • Make sure women can get the abortions they need – Sign the petition!

    Today, hundreds of thousands of women go hungry, risk eviction, and pawn their possessions as they attempt to raise money for an abortion. Some are never able to raise enough money and are forced to continue the pregnancy.


    Repealing the "Hyde Amendment," which forbids federal funding for abortion in the Medicaid program, could change all that. If we repeal the Hyde Amendment, a woman would be able to obtain an abortion regardless of her income. Medicaid would again cover abortion care like it does every other health care service a women needs. Congress also denies abortion coverage to military personnel and their families, women receiving care from Indian Health Services, and people on disability insurance.

    Sign the petition below and join our call for coverage of abortion in public insurance programs as a part of comprehensive health care for all. Please also join our call for support for low-income women to care for their children with dignity. Take a stand for reproductive justice and a world in which all women have the power and resources necessary to make healthy decisions about their bodies and their families.

    Petition:

    It is time for Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment and restore Medicaid coverage for abortion. We must close the gap between the legal right to abortion and genuine access to care. I call on my Senators and House members to repeal the Hyde Amendment and ensure dignity and justice for all women.