Today, I submitted testimony to the @DNC on behalf of @allaboveallact, calling on them to #BeBoldEndHyde and affirm a bold vision for a more just world and addresses the needs of people who have abortions in this country. Read my testimony: https://allaboveallaction.org/official-testimony-to-the-2020-democratic-platform-committee-submitted-by-renee-bracey-sherman-all-above-all-action-fund/

This is a crucial moment for Black & Brown communities, women, LGBT folks, immigrants, & young people. Our communities are trying to survive a pandemic and people are rising for racial justice, fighting for a future in which we can care for our families and live without violence.

This is a critical moment for the @DNC to truly affirm their support for abortion access and put out a platform that recognizes what reproductive justice and liberation should look like—and how they will ensure all families have the resources to thrive.

For too long, anti-abortion politicians from both parties have interfered in reproductive health decisions by restricting insurance coverage for abortion care. This cannot stand any longer. If you support abortion access, support it for everyone, not just those who can afford it.

Since 1976, the Hyde amendment prohibits Medicaid coverage of abortion and has been expanded to include federal employees, folks in federal prisons and immigrant detention centers, and enrollees in Indian Health Service, Peace Corps, and the military.

Trump Administration recently finalized a rule intended to make it much more difficult for people to get abortion coverage through health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. That's on top of the states that used COVID to shutter clinics. Access is nearly non-existent.

The reality is that coverage bans are de facto bans on abortion, particularly for marginalized folks. I'm lucky that I could pay for my abortion, but I couldn't use my insurance and I remember making the mental calculations of how many hours I'd have to work to pay it off.

The Hyde amendment and other restrictions on insurance coverage of abortion create one of, if not the, most onerous barriers to abortion care. Let’s be clear: it’s not enough for abortion to be legal, it must also be affordable and available to ALL people.

The 2016 platform called for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment and almost all of the 2020 presidential candidates called for its repeal. This is huge progress, and it's not over until we abolish Hyde.

The @DNC must keep its promise and repeal the Hyde Amendment once and for all.

It is imperative that the 2020 platform will make a commitment to ending all coverage bans, including the Hyde Amendment, whether through annual appropriations bills, authorizing bills, or new legislation aimed at coronavirus relief and healthcare reform.

It is imperative this year’s platform centers Black, Indigenous, and women of color as the most impacted communities by restrictions on abortion access, the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, state violence, and white supremacy. Our needs and voices must be centered.

We are reimagining a post-pandemic world where each of us has access to the care we need, including abortion care; makes a living wage; and lives free from violence.

@AllAboveAllAct is pushing to ensure our politicians follow through with it as well.
https://allaboveallaction.org/official-testimony-to-the-2020-democratic-platform-committee-submitted-by-renee-bracey-sherman-all-above-all-action-fund/

We hope the @DNC 2020 platform affirms a bold vision for a more just world and addresses the needs of people who have abortions in this country.

It's way beyond time to #BeBoldEndHyde.
https://allaboveallaction.org/official-testimony-to-the-2020-democratic-platform-committee-submitted-by-renee-bracey-sherman-all-above-all-action-fund/