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Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and fellow Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee today countered attacks on reproductive health care from the Supreme Court and rightwing legislatures. In the fiscal year 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which passed the full House Appropriations committee today, Pingree and other Democratic members voted to support access to medication abortion, boost funding for Title X family planning, and end the Hyde Amendment, a long-standing discriminatory policy that denies low-income women their legal right to an abortion.

“Even before last week’s radical Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, low-income women have been denied access to abortion care for decades. The intent of the Hyde Amendment—which has been attached to every Appropriations bill by anti-choice members of the committee—has always been crystal clear. It exists to make it as difficult as possible for poor women to make their own reproductive health care decisions,” said Pingree, a longtime champion of abortion access and senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. “Thanks to our pro-choice governor, in 2019, Maine effectively repealed the Hyde Amendment to help women exercise their legal right to abortion—no matter how much money they have. Because your bank account should not determine your right to autonomy over your body.”

“Stealing 50 years of reproductive freedom wasn't enough for Republicans. The amendments proposed by Republican members of this committee attempted to make it even harder to get abortion care. Today, I was proud to join my Democratic colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee in fighting for our reproductive rights in the face of radical judicial overreach,” Pingree said.

How the $242.1 billion Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for FY23 defends reproductive health care:

• Access to Reproductive Health Care—The bill eliminates the Hyde and Weldon amendments, a long-standing discriminatory policy that denied low-income women their legal right to an abortion.

• Directs the Department of Health and Human Services to use every tool at its disposal to ensure that medication abortion is accessible, affordable, covered, and convenient.

• Title X Family Planning—The bill includes language consistent with the Administration’s Title X rule, which will continue to fund Planned Parenthood and other health clinics that offer the full range of reproductive health services.

• Protections for Reproductive Health Providers—The bill allocates $5 million to enhance security and safety for reproductive health care providers and their patients.

In September 2021, Pingree and the U.S. House voted to pass the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), which would protect abortion access nationwide and finally codify protections established by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey decisions. Due to the outdated filibuster, the U.S. Senate has been unable to pass the WHPA. Pingree recently joined more than 100 of her Democratic colleagues in the House in urging the Senate to end the filibuster to pass the WHPA and protect abortion rights. 

Click here to read Pingree’s full statement on the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. 

Learn more about Pingree’s efforts to protect abortion access. 

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