Conceptions of Choice

Coming to Terms with the End of Roe

The people who are opposed to abortion have been successful in trying to make it very difficult, very time-consuming, very expensive, very – almost impossible for women to make their own choices and carry them out, even early in pregnancy.

Sarah Weddington excerpt from oral history 2011

Access to healthcare in America is dependent largely on two factors: financial privilege and physical proximity to healthcare providers. For reproductive healthcare in particular, these two factors can be the difference between life and death. The cost of an abortion depends on variations in procedure (based on fetal development), use of anesthetic, and location (clinic, doctors office, hospital, etc.). Women in areas that lack abortion clinics, or in states that criminalize abortion, must also factor in the cost of transportation, childcare, and the risk of lost wages when scheduling their procedure. Many women who rely on government-subsidized healthcare like Medicaid face even more barriers to reproductive care.

Significant Events

1980

• Hyde Amendment — first passed in 1976, this legislation barred the usage of federal funding to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
• President Biden’s administration became the first to omit the Hyde Amendment from their budget in 2021, though the amendment was re-inserted when the budget was passed in March 2022.

1985

• Mexico City Policy — implemented by the Reagan administration to bar foreign non-governmental family planning organizations from perform or promote abortions if receiving U.S. funding
• USAID has enforced the policy during all Republican administrations and rescinded it at the direction of all Democratic administrations; it is currently inactive under President Biden.