HR-7 Will Make Abortion Care Hard For Everyone

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, also known as HR-7. Although the Hyde Amendment already ensures that a woman cannot receive federal financial assistance when receiving abortion care, HR-7 would make that into permanent law. But there are many women who will lose abortion insurance coverage even if they're not on a federal insurance plan.

The Hyde Amendment declares that women who are on federally funded insurance plans like Medicaid cannot use that insurance for abortion care. It also means that women who are federal government employees, military members, or Native American on federal plans cannot have the medical service covered. However, it could also interfere with women who are on private insurance plans as well.

As Vox detailed, if a woman buys an insurance plan through the Affordable Care Act exchanges, she'll see a much more difficult time receiving abortion care. If she chooses a plan that covers abortion, she will not receive subsidies to pay for the insurance. This means her insurance would be prohibitively expensive. So insurers will probably not even offer plans with abortion coverage, because if no one can afford it, why bother?

So if you're wondering whether you'll lose abortion coverage on the insurance plan you're currently under, the question could very well be yes. If you're a federal employee, on Medicaid, or a military member, you already don't have access to this coverage, but if this law is instituted, you never will. If you're a woman who buys her insurance through the ACA exchanges, you'll likely find that a plan with abortion care is either hard to find or way too hard to afford.

Of course, HR-7 would be specifically difficult for millennials. Many have insurance through the ACA, and could find it near impossible to get an abortion. Then they could be looking at paying up to $1,500 out of pocket.

"No one in this country voted for Congress to take away our basic rights," said Kierra Johnson, executive director of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, in a statement. "In fact, Americans are more supportive than ever of keeping abortion legal, available, and covered by insurance. Shame on these out-of-touch politicians."