Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) marked the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment by arguing that its restrictions on federal abortion funding have created financial barriers for low-income Americans seeking abortion care.
Schumer Criticizes Hyde Amendment
On Wednesday, Schumer said on X that the Hyde Amendment had spent five decades limiting access to abortion care for people who could not afford to pay out of pocket.
“Today the Hyde Amendment turns 50 years old,” he wrote. He described it as “50 years of denying critical abortion care to people who can’t afford it.”
Schumer said the policy had forced people to choose between health care and essential expenses, including “rent, food, child care, or other necessities.”
He also argued that the amendment had made access to health care dependent on a person’s financial circumstances.
“Health care must not be a privilege for people who can afford it,” Schumer said.
Schumer Criticized VA Abortion Policy
Last year, Schumer criticized the Trump administration’s policy restricting abortion access for veterans, calling it a “betrayal.”
He said the policy barred veterans from obtaining abortion care even in cases of rape, incest and life-threatening complications, describing it as a “war against access to safe abortion.”
Health Care Access and AI
On Monday, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) launched the Lilly Change the Course Commitment to expand access to diabetes and obesity treatments in low- and middle-income countries by 2040, focusing on clinical development, medicine registrations and local health systems.
In July, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said broad support existed for affordable health care, stronger public schools and infrastructure investment, including in politically competitive and Republican-leaning areas.
Previously, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said health care could be AI’s most important application as Microsoft and Mayo Clinic partnered to develop a health care-focused AI model aimed at improving diagnoses, treatment decisions and patient outcomes.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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