Want to repeat that date, September 30, 1976. We are now moving into 2010. 33 years of this crap. Female babies born under Hyde are now old enough to need reproductive services themselves.

Do a search here for rec listed diaries imploring, pushing, lobbying for the National Network of Abortion Funds. See which one's have brought up Hyde in all it's ugliness. Search for Hyde-Rage.

crickets...with few exceptions.

Essentially, if you are poor, Native American, a woman in the military...tough.

History:

In 1973, when abortion first became legal nationwide, poor women could obtain coverage for abortion through the Medicaid program. Medicaid is the government health program for low-income people in the United States. Between 1973 and 1977, almost any woman who needed an abortion could obtain one, regardless of her ability to pay. But in 1976 Congress passed the Hyde Amendment, banning federal Medicaid funding for abortion. Since that time, federal Medicaid has paid for virtually no abortions. Thirty-three states have also banned state Medicaid funding for abortion. Women Are Denied the Right to Abortion

Bans on Medicaid funding for abortion deny the right to abortion to thousands of women and most severely affect poor women, women of color, and young women. The cost of a first-trimester abortion can be more than half of what a poverty-level family lives on in a month. Poor women and girls often delay their abortions as they try to scrape together the money they need. These delays can force them into more expensive and complicated second-trimester abortions. Sometimes, they never get the money they need. As many as one in three poor women who would obtain an abortion if Medicaid covered it are instead forced to continue the pregnancy. Congress also denies abortion coverage to many other women who rely on federal health plans: women in the U.S. military and Peace Corps, federal employees, disabled women, federal prisoners, Native American women covered by the Indian Health Service, and residents of the District of Columbia

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My own NY State organization, New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF) is really hurting for cash.

It has been a tough year for the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF). The nationwide economic downturn and upsurge in unemployed and uninsured Americans have lead to a rise in demand for our services. More and more we are getting calls not just from clinics, but directly from women asking for help to pay for an abortion. This increase in the numbers and types of requests we receive means we are reaching a wider population of women and families than ever before. It also requires more time and effort. Our all-volunteer board is stretched thin responding to requests for funding, referring women to clinics that can serve them and negotiating with those clinics to provide the most timely and affordable services possible. The women NYAAF serves are ones who might otherwise slip through the cracks, including those who make just a little too much to qualify for public assistance, who do not qualify due to immigration status, who live in states that do not help cover the cost of abortion, or who face emergency situations that do not leave them enough time to apply for government help. The emergencies, of course, are the most expensive. Last month, we helped a fifteen-year-old rape victim pay for a procedure that required hospital treatment. Arranging for her care took more than ten phone calls, countless emails and hours of negotiation. We contacted every known source of abortion funding for which this young woman qualified and every time heard the same message: we are out of money, please call back later. In the end, the doctor involved in the case waived the usual fee and NYAAF agreed to pay the remaining hospital costs: $4000. We were able to make that pledge and save that young woman?s life because we had the funds on hand and a mechanism in place to get them quickly to where they needed to go. But that pledge nearly drained our remaining 2009 budget, and in order to meet the demand for our assistance in 2010, we need your help.

Check the national link for a branch near you.

Are these groups opposing Stupak. Yup. Hell yeah. But their primary focus has been Hyde. And scrabbling for money. From "progressives".

Ever been in a prison/jail and watched the pain of a woman who is forced to bear a child, and have to give it up if she can't find a relative to raise it? I have.

Sure, times are rough; many of us here have limited resources and there are so many worthy charities.

But I have to be honest. I find the current outrage round here a little too loud and too late. The demographics of Daily Kos make it patently clear that few of the women denied by Hyde post here.

They have few advocates. Class issue? Perhaps. Racial/ethnic issue? Perhaps.

Not for me to determine. You do a little self-reflection.

If you've already given, or done a fund-raiser, or signed the petition, or helped some woman less fortunate than you are right now, this diary isn't addressed to you.

I remember the coat hanger days. I knew women who could afford to go out of the country to get abortions. I knew women who couldn't, used back-ally methods and died.

So before you comment, don't even raise my being sympathetic towards Stupak. I'm not. I want a Supreme Court that is not going to overturn Roe, and I want more.

Just show me what women you are fighting for, and that you stand up for those who ain't here.

33 years and counting.