Democrats seek repeal of ban on federal funding of abortion

NEW YORK (AP) — The law that bans federal funding for Medicaid coverage of most abortions is now in the spotlight some 40 years after it was passed by Congress, emerging as an election issue in the national debate over the procedure.

First approved in 1976, and renewed annually ever since as part of the congressional appropriations process, the Hyde Amendment makes exceptions in cases of rape or incest, or when a pregnancy endangers a women's life.

Critics assail the policy as discriminatory, making it difficult for low-income women to obtain a legal medical procedure that's readily accessible for more affluent women.

In the House, Democrats have introduced a bill that would nullify the Hyde Amendment and require the federal government to ensure abortion coverage in public health insurance programs, including Medicaid.

The amendment is named after its initial sponsor, Republican Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, who made clear from the start that the policy would target low-income women.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, about half of U.S. women getting abortions have family income below the federal poverty line.

Hernandez says women calling the network's hotline are often mothers already struggling financially to raise children who worry that bearing another child would push them deeper into poverty.

Even with the Hyde Amendment in place, there are 15 states — acting either voluntarily or under court order — that cover a wide range of abortions for low-income women with state Medicaid funds.

The group's president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, says the repeal issue has the potential to divide Democrats, and she would like to see Republican nominee Donald Trump speak out in support of the Hyde Amendment.