AAPI Women: EACH Woman Act Provides Economic Justice Central to Achieving Reproductive Freedom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2019
Contact: Jennifer Wang
(202) 812-9325 / jwang@napawf.org

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Diana DeGette (D-CO) reintroduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Woman Act, and senators led by Senator Duckworth (D-IL) introduced the Act for the first time in the Senate. The EACH Woman act would reverse the Hyde amendment, which currently bars federal funding from covering abortion care, and prohibit abortion bans within private insurance coverage.

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Executive Director Sung Yeon Choimorrow issued the following statement in response:

“For over four decades, the Hyde Amendment, among many other barriers, has prevented low-income people and people of color from fully realizing their full agency to decide if and when to grow their families.

“Women of color make up a disproportionate number of people who use Medicaid; 19% of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women rely on Medicaid for healthcare, with higher numbers of some AAPI ethnic groups enrolled in Medicaid. For these women, Medicaid provides some economic justice that is central to achieving true reproductive freedom. This is why the draconian Hyde Amendment must be lifted.

“We loudly applaud the reintroduction of the EACH Woman Act, particularly its introduction in the Senate, and demand that legislators pass this bill so that women of color can achieve true agency over our lives, our families, and our communities. NAPAWF will not back down at a time when this administration is taking every opportunity to thwart progress made on reproductive health and rights, economic justice, and immigration.”

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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.