The abortion ban could hurt federal agencies’ ability to recruit and retain qualified employees, the organization argued.

The abortion ban could hurt federal agencies’ ability to recruit and retain qualified employees, the organization argued. Andres Victorero / iStock / Getty Images

Fight the Long-Running FEHBP Abortion Ban, Gender Equity Group Urges House Democrats

The Department of Justice Gender Equality Network said the Hyde amendment unfairly makes women’s health care decisions more costly and traumatic, even when covered by exceptions in cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother.

A federal employee group within the Justice Department on Wednesday called on House Democrats to fight to eliminate a long-running ban on federal funds being spent on abortion services, citing the negative impact the policy has on federal workers.

The Hyde amendment, a policy rider included in the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill for most of the last 40 years, prevents federal funds from being used on abortion services. For federal employees, that means that those services are not covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, except in cases of rape, incest or when a pregnancy endangers the life of the mother.

As a House subcommittee prepares to release and deliberate over the appropriations bill, members of the Department of Justice Gender Equality Network, an association of around 1,300 employees, called on Democratic appropriators in a letter Wednesday to push to end FEHBP’s ban on abortion coverage.

“Every fiscal year since 1983 except for one, Congress has denied [FEHBP] beneficiaries—including more than 2 million federal employees—the opportunity to choose a private health plan that includes comprehensive abortion coverage,” they wrote. “Instead, we must pay out of pocket unless in extreme circumstances: if our lives are in danger or if our pregnancies resulted from rape or incest. As federal employees we have learned the hard way that the government we serve denies us access to the full spectrum of health care and limits our ability to make decisions about the course of our lives.”

The organization shared an anecdote from an anonymous member, who described having to choose between paying out of pocket for an abortion or carrying to term a fetus with a condition that was “incompatible with life.” 

”The doctor explained that my pregnancy would either result in a late stillbirth or the death of my son within days after being born, during which time he would be in pain and would be unable to eat, breathe or regulate his body temperature on his own,” she wrote. “My doctor advised me to call my insurance company to help assess my options. I did so and listened in disbelief as the insurance company explained that terminating my pregnancy, which would save the baby from a short life filled only with pain or myself from having to go through labor to manage a stillbirth, would not be covered by my federal insurance plan . . . The worst day of my life was made more traumatic by being told that I would not be supported if I made the incredibly difficult decision to terminate my pregnancy, which I viewed as the only way to protect the fetus from a very short life of pain.”

The employee group also highlighted the mounting out-of-pocket costs of seeking abortion care, ranging from $550 to around $1,700, depending on gestation. And the costs become even higher if a federal worker lives in a state where abortion has been banned or otherwise restricted following the end of Roe v. Wade and must travel to another jurisdiction to receive care.

Ultimately, the Hyde amendment could negatively impact federal agencies’ ability to recruit and retain qualified employees, the organization argued.

“Denying federal employees insurance coverage for abortion care also puts the government out of step with the private sector, where the vast majority of insured employees work for an employer that includes abortion coverage in some or all cases,” the letter states. “This disparity hinders the government’s efforts to recruit and retain talented employees. We urge Congress to demonstrate its commitment to federal civil servants by finally ending the exclusion of abortion coverage from our health care plans.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.