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The hearing starts off with important opening remarks from @rosadelauro on the disproportionate impact of the Hyde Amendment on Black and Brown Medicaid recipients. She says "this will be the last year" of the Hyde Amendment.
We had abortions! We say #BeBoldEndHyde!
We had abortions! We say #BeBoldEndHyde!
Thank you @rosadelauro for uplifting our voices, our need for access to abortion without barriers, and making sure we can testify about the harms of the Hyde Amendment.
#BeBoldEndHyde
#BeBoldEndHyde
Rep. Cole is reading his opening statement, which is patronizing AF. As people who have abortions—especially people of color—we don't need him telling us what to do with our lives, we need to be able to use our healthcare for all of our pregnancy experiences.
#BeBoldEndHyde
#BeBoldEndHyde
If Rep. Cole wants to cite #BlackLivesMatter 
on abortion, he should take a moment to listen to Black people and respect the demands of our movement, which include repealing the Hyde Amendment, defunding police, and ensuring Black people can lead without fear of white supremacy.
on abortion, he should take a moment to listen to Black people and respect the demands of our movement, which include repealing the Hyde Amendment, defunding police, and ensuring Black people can lead without fear of white supremacy.
The majority of people who have abortions are people of color. It's time that our voices are heard, our decisions are respected, and white supremacist politicians don't use our racial justice values against our own interests while feigning empty investment in our lives.
Our first #BeBoldEndHyde hearing witness is @HerminiaPalacio of @Guttmacher.
"1 in 4 cisgender women will have an abortion in their lifetime. Trans men and gender-nonconforming individuals require access to the full range of pregnancy-related care."
"1 in 4 cisgender women will have an abortion in their lifetime. Trans men and gender-nonconforming individuals require access to the full range of pregnancy-related care."
"As our country undergoes a racial reckoning, I want to be clear: The Hyde Amendment is a racist
policy." — @HerminiaPalacio, @Guttmacher
#BeBoldEndHyde
policy." — @HerminiaPalacio, @Guttmacher
#BeBoldEndHyde
"People get caught in a cruel cycle, in which delays
associated with raising the money leads to additional costs and subsequent delays." — @HerminiaPalacio @Guttmacher #BeBoldEndHyde
associated with raising the money leads to additional costs and subsequent delays." — @HerminiaPalacio @Guttmacher #BeBoldEndHyde
"Forcing someone who wants an abortion to continue a pregnancy is not only a violation of their reproductive autonomy; it is tantamount to requiring them, against their wishes, to accept the risks of pregnancy-, labor-related complications, incl preeclampsia, infections &
death."
death."
"I ask you to reflect on these overlapping and perverse indignities: The Hyde Amendment
disproportionately withholds abortion coverage from Black and Brown communities." — @HerminiaPalacio @Guttmacher
disproportionately withholds abortion coverage from Black and Brown communities." — @HerminiaPalacio @Guttmacher
Next witness: @prhdocs president & CEO and abortion provider @Reprorightsdoc!
"I’m here today on behalf of the people I care for, in the community I serve every day – people profoundly impacted by insurance coverage barriers, like the Hyde Amendment."
#BeBoldEndHyde
"I’m here today on behalf of the people I care for, in the community I serve every day – people profoundly impacted by insurance coverage barriers, like the Hyde Amendment."
#BeBoldEndHyde
"As an OB/GYN I see what happens when women don’t have access to services because they lack coverage and cannot afford to pay. Abortion services are no different." — @Reprorightsdoc, @prhdocs
"For my entire career the Hyde Amendment has been used to intentionally limit my ability to give patients the care they need." — @Reprorightsdoc, @prhdocs
Up next: @lilithfund ED & We Testify storyteller @amandabeatrizTX!
"My name is Amanda Beatriz Williams, and I am a queer Tejana and daughter of an immigrant, with a decade of experience in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement in Texas."
#BeBoldEndHyde
"My name is Amanda Beatriz Williams, and I am a queer Tejana and daughter of an immigrant, with a decade of experience in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement in Texas."
#BeBoldEndHyde
"I am also a proud abortion storyteller with We Testify, an organization dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who have abortions, to change the conversation to one of compassion and remind us that everyone loves someone who had an abortion." — @amandabeatrizTX
"During the year 2019, 68 percent of @LilithFund clients were people of color, 45 percent were uninsured, 42 percent did not have paid employment and they traveled an average of 158 miles to reach the abortion care they needed." — @amandabeatrizTX #BeBoldEndHyde
"The harms of the Hyde Amendment are further compounded by additional state restrictions, including state-mandated ultrasounds, medically inaccurate and biased counseling, and a mandatory 24hour waiting period that forces Texans to needlessly delay their care." — @amandabeatrizTX
"In addition to affording the abortion care, there are costs for travel to one’s nearest clinic, lodging for overnight stays, lost wages from missed work, and child care for the nearly 60 percent of our clients who already have children." — @amandabeatrizTX #BeBoldEndHyde
"The average distance traveled by our clients in 2019 before the pandemic was 158 miles, about the distance from DC to Philly, but during the pandemic when our callers were forced to travel out of state for their care, it increased to 635 miles, more than DC to Louisville, KY."
"For many of our hotline callers, expenses like groceries, rent, and childcare were already difficult to afford, but with so many losing their jobs this year, paying out of pocket for an abortion can be next to impossible." — @amandabeatrizTX, @lilithfund #BeBoldEndHyde
"I know this personally because the stress was all too real for me. When I was 19 years old and a freshman at the University of Houston, I had an abortion." — @amandabeatrizTX, @lilithfund #BeBoldEndHyde
"While my decision was clear, the path to coming up with the money to pay for my care was difficult and nerve-wracking. I was privileged enough to borrow money, and make an appointment." — @amandabeatrizTX, @lilithfund #BeBoldEndHyde
"When I arrived for my procedure, I was overwhelmed by the kind support I received from clinic escorts, the clinic staff, and my provider, who all made me feel comfortable and safe." — @amandabeatrizTX, @lilithfund #BeBoldEndHyde
"I keep them in mind every time we are able to help someone get the care they need. Everyone having an abortion deserves to be met by people who support them and care for them in loving and respectful ways, every step of the way. We deserve to be trusted." — @amandabeatrizTX
"I also want to leave you with the story of another Texan, Rosie Jimenez, whose legacy we continue to honor in our work every day. Rosie was a beloved mother of a young child, student, and young Chicana living in McAllen, Texas in the 1970’s."
"Rosie was enrolled in Medicaid, but Medicaid did not cover an abortion at a clinic in her hometown, due to the recently passed Hyde Amendment. Instead she sought a cheaper, unsafe procedure and ultimately died due to complications."
"Rosie became the first known person to die as a result of the Hyde Amendment. To be clear: Rosie died because of Hyde." — @amandabeatrizTX #BeBoldEndHyde
"When each of us can make our own decisions about our reproductive health care, when we can forge families we love on our own terms, we have more control over our lives and our economic security." — @amandabeatrizTX #BeBoldEndHyde
"It’s long past time to strip the Hyde Amendment from federal appropriations legislation and help ensure that everyone, whoever they are, wherever they live, however they get their health insurance, can get the abortion care they need safely, and without political interference."
Thank you @amandabeatrizTX for testifying on behalf of all of us who have abortions.
When we testify, we change the conversation.
#BeBoldEndHyde
When we testify, we change the conversation.
#BeBoldEndHyde
What's next? @amandabeatrizTX says that we need to expand access to abortion and all healthcare.
#BeBoldEndHyde
#BeBoldEndHyde
"What's at stake here is the policy that is discriminating against Black and Brown people. We are telling them that they are not worthy and that we will not uphold their constitutionally protected right to abortion." — @amandabeatrizTX #BeBoldEndHyde
@Reprorightsdoc says we need access to all support systems, including prenatal care, healthcare, food, schools, and reproductive healthcare. "This is not either/or, it's both/and."
#BeBoldEndHyde
#BeBoldEndHyde
Pssst! @RepAndyHarrisMD, we're not "Medicaid women". We're people who are enrolled in Medicaid health insurance.
Put some respeck on our name!
#BeBoldEndHyde
Put some respeck on our name!
#BeBoldEndHyde
AYYYEEEEE! @RepBarbaraLee gives a huge shoutout to @AllAboveAll and our coalition to #BeBoldEndHyde!
Thank you for sponsoring the EACH Woman Act, Rep. Lee and for always sharing your abortion story!
Thank you for sponsoring the EACH Woman Act, Rep. Lee and for always sharing your abortion story!
"Henry Hyde said that those who would be impacted would be little ghetto kids." — @RepBarbaraLee on hearing the language around conservatives pushing the Hyde Amendment when she was a Congressional staffer.
#BeBoldEndHyde
#BeBoldEndHyde
In response to @repmarkpocan's question, @HerminiaPalacio explains how stigma works to "systematically stigmatize people who have abortions as 'other'" and that justifies not covering their healthcare as our nation has for mental health, HIV/AIDS & other illnesses. #BeBoldEndHyde
Rep Moolenaar cites anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers as options for healthcare, but like does know they don't give out actual healthcare or anything close to medically accurate information? We've been to them! https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-it-was-like-to-get-a-later-abortion #BeBoldEndHyde
Anti-Abortion witness Christina Bennett just said, "every women's story is different."
Yep. We agree. Listen to us and let us make the decision that's best for us.
Here are nine different stories for you to read too: https://wetestify.org/we-testify-storytellers-statement-on-hearing-the-impact-on-women-seeking-an-abortion-but-are-denied-because-of-an-inability-to-pay/
#BeBoldEndHyde
Yep. We agree. Listen to us and let us make the decision that's best for us.
Here are nine different stories for you to read too: https://wetestify.org/we-testify-storytellers-statement-on-hearing-the-impact-on-women-seeking-an-abortion-but-are-denied-because-of-an-inability-to-pay/
#BeBoldEndHyde
"We do give [our abortion decisionis] the thought that it deserves and to assume we don't give it the thought that it deserves is insulting." — @amandabeatrizTX
#BeBoldEndHyde
#BeBoldEndHyde
"As a mother myself, I know what it is to parent and I believe my patients when they say this is the best decision for them...instead of coopting language from the Movement from Black Lives, we should be providing support." — @Reprorightsdoc #BeBoldEndHyde
"The patients I take care of are making thoughtful decisions."
Thanks for speaking up for and trusting us, @Reprorightsdoc #BeBoldEndHyde
Thanks for speaking up for and trusting us, @Reprorightsdoc #BeBoldEndHyde
"I've cared for patients who have mistakenly gone into [CPCs] and been held hostage and unable to leave...they're coercive...deciding that your healthcare is different than mine because of your inability to pay, that is coercive." — @Reprorightsdoc #BeBoldEndHyde
“The Hyde Amendment is racist and our inability to respond is racist.” — @amandabeatrizTX with the mic drop!
#BeBoldEndHyde
#BeBoldEndHyde
"There is no right without access," explains @amandabeatrizTX. " @lilithfund & @abortionfunds across the country work to ensure that people can access their constitutionally protected right and a big piece of that is to repeal Hyde."
#BeBoldEndHyde
#BeBoldEndHyde
Fact: refusing to give us the healthcare we want is not helping us.
People who have abortions already have kids. We already know what it is to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term. Respect us and our expertise on what we need for our lives.
#BeBoldEndHyde
People who have abortions already have kids. We already know what it is to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term. Respect us and our expertise on what we need for our lives.
#BeBoldEndHyde
