Power to Decide Applauds House Appropriations Bill That Supports Sexual and Reproductive Health

(Washington, D.C.) — Later today, the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS and Education is scheduled to hold its first vote on an appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2023 that would provide critical increases in funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program and Title X Family Planning Program, as well as ending the discriminatory Hyde Amendment, which blocks abortion access from people who rely on Medicaid for their health care coverage.

“We at Power to Decide thank our House champions for supporting urgently-needed efforts to ensure that all people—no matter who they are, where they live or how much they make—have meaningful access to the resources and care they need to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child,” said Power to Decide CEO Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH. 

Among its many provisions, the draft appropriations bill boosts funding for the evidence-based TPP program to $130 million, which would allow the program to serve more young people. It also includes a huge funding increase to $500 million for the Title X Family Planning Program, which helps health centers provide affordable birth control and counseling, preventive screenings and other basic care to people struggling to make ends meet.

For the second year in a row, the bill also takes the significant step of eliminating the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old abortion coverage ban that targets and disproportionately harms women of color and people struggling to make ends meet.

“The looming threat to our reproductive rights only makes the investments in this bill even more vital,” said Dr. McDonald-Mosley. “We urge Congress to take the bold action necessary to ensure every person can access the health services and information they need to lead healthy lives and achieve their reproductive goals on their own timelines. Communities cannot wait another day.”

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Power to Decide is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to ensure all people—no matter who they are, where they live, or what their economic status might be—have the power to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant or have a child.