After years of ongoing advocacy, Advocates for Youth applauds the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies for introducing its FY 2023 spending bill without unnecessary and discriminatory restrictions on federal funding of abortion for the second year in a row. 

Restricting Medicaid coverage of abortion causes irreperable harm to indigent pregnant people, especially young BIPOC, undocumented folks, and LGBTQ+ community members who already face systemic barriers when it comes to accessing abortion. No one should be denied crucial reproductive healthcare simply because of how they are insured. Lifting the Hyde and Weldon Amendments allows individuals to make their own decisions about their future and health with dignity and economic security. 

Advocates for Youth is further pleased that the FY 2023 spending bill provides:

• $130 million for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program, a $29 million increase from the FY 22 enacted budget;
• $60 million for the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, an increase of $3 million from the FY 22 budget and $2 million above the President’s budget request;
• $48 million for the Office on Women’s Health, an increase of $10 million above the FY 22 budget and $6 million above the President’s budget request; and
• No funding for abstinence-only programs.

The bill also provides: 

• $1.9 billion, an increase of $198 million above the FY 22 enacted level, for the Health Centers program, including $25 million to expand access to contraceptive care and $100 million, an increase of $70 million, to support school-based health centers;
• An increase of $171 million to improve access to and the quality of maternal and child health services; 
• A $50 million increase for the CDC’s HIV prevention efforts, though the President’s budget request was a $115 million increase; 
• $125 million for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, though the President’s budget request was a $165 million increase;
• $50 million for Community Health Centers to focus on PrEP, which matches the President’s budget request; and
• $500 million for the Title X Family Planning Program,  an increase of $214 million from the FY 22 budget.

While the House Subcommittee did not include the requested $400 million in funding for a new national PrEP program, they did additionally exclude a ban on insurance coverage of abortion for Washington D.C. residents, meaning those who live in the District of Columbia and are enrolled in Medicaid will no longer be denied abortion coverage. This is a crucial victory in light of the increase of state abortion bans and the upcoming Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that will likely decimate access even more. 

Now is the time for Congress to take bold action and pass this federal spending bill to ensure no one is denied insurance coverage of abortion just because they are working to make ends meet.