Sen. Murray Introduces Historic Funding Bill, Eliminates Hyde Amendment and Includes First-of-Its-Kind Federal Abortion Fund

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS), issued the following statement on the release of the FY23 LHHS funding bill which includes a historic new federal abortion fund to address the post-Roe health care crisis and eliminates the Hyde amendment—an unjust federal abortion coverage restriction for those who depend on government-sponsored plans for their health care. The funding bill would also invest $512 million in the Title X family planning program, an 80 percent increase above the of FY22 funding.

“Right now, we are living through the devastating consequences of a post-Roe health care crisis. Women are being forced to stay pregnant against their will, birth control is under attack, maternal mortality rates are worsening, and lives are at risk. We need lifesaving solutions—and that’s what this bill delivers.”

“This bill creates a new, historic federal abortion fund that provides women the support they need to get abortion care in a post-Roe America—covering child care, travel expenses, and more. It does away with the unjust Hyde Amendment that for too long has prevented millions of women from having abortion care covered by their insurance—even in states where it is legal. It makes critical investments to address the maternal mortality crisis. And it will make it easier to get birth control by boosting our national family planning program, helping women get contraceptive care at the same place they get primary care, and finally cracking down on insurers that aren’t following the law and forcing women to pay extra costs for their birth control.

“In the face of Republicans’ unprecedented attacks on our reproductive freedom, I won’t shy away from bold solutions. Every single person deserves to have full control over their own bodies, lives and futures: that’s the future I fight for every day, and that’s the future this bill would help deliver.”

Senator Murray’s FY23 LHHS funding bill includes investments in:

• A historic new Reproductive Health Care Access Fund. The bill invests $350 million for a new fund to expand access to care for women seeking abortion services, including assistance to cover the costs of services, travel, child care, lodging and other barriers that impede access. This also includes support for health providers to support expanded hiring, construction and renovation to expand capacity in states where abortion remains legal.
• The Title X Family Planning Program. The bill invests $512 million, an increase of $226 million, for the Title X-Family Planning program, to provide birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, and other critical preventative health care services at clinics nationwide.
• A new program integrating contraceptive care into primary care. The bill invest $50 million in new funding to support grants for training and quality improvement efforts to make contraceptive care available within health centers and primary care settings.
• The HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR). The bill invests $60.25 million, an increase of $20 million, to expand OCR’s capacity to enforce federal civil rights laws that prohibit discriminatory restrictions, such as limiting access to reproductive health care.
• A new HHS Reproductive Health Ombudsman. The bill invests $10 million to establish a Reproductive Health Ombudsman to: oversee reports of failure by insurers to adequately cover birth control costs; disseminate information to help individuals connect with Title X clinics, STD clinics, and abortion funds; and provide information on safety-related to self-managed abortions.
• Addressing the maternal mortality crisis. To address the rising levels of maternal mortality, which disproportionately impact women of color, the bill invests $496 million to combat the crisis, a nearly 160 percent increase. This includes $164 million for CDC’s Safe Motherhood and Infant Health initiative, an increase of $81 million, and $55 million for HRSAs State Maternal Health Innovation Grants, an increase of $26 million, to address critical gaps in maternity care service delivery.
• Teen Pregnancy Prevention. The bill invests $130 million, an increase of $29 million, to expand evidence-based prevention approaches to prevent teen pregnancy and STIs among adolescents and young adults.

Additionally, the bill includes a directive from the Committee to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to:

• ensure patients understand their rights under the ACA to access birth control without cost sharing and update guidance for clinicians to improve patient accessibility of contraceptives.
• identify violations from insurers, such as where patients are inappropriately charged cost sharing or have the judgement of their health care provider disregarded,
• and take enforcement actions for non-compliance with these requirements.

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