“Are we even speaking the same language?”: contested definitions of rape, incest and life endangerment under the Hyde Amendment

Abstract

In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment which is now routinely passed as part of the annual appropriations process and prohibits federal Medicaid funding for abortions except in the cases of rape, incest or life endangerment of the woman. Few guidelines exist on how determine whether a specific case qualifies for federal Medicaid funding. We aimed to document how abortion providers' interpret the Hyde Amendment and investigate their experiences seeking Medicaid funding.