CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As President Biden signed an executive order regarding access and support of agencies for abortion procedures, questions about abortion continue to arise.
Some on social media question if their taxpayer money goes to fund the procedure.
THE QUESTION
Do federal dollars go to fund a majority of abortions?
OUR SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, federal money does not go to fund a majority of abortions.
WHAT WE FOUND
Congress passed the Hyde Amendment following the 1973 landmark Roe vs. Wade case that legalized abortion. Lawmakers wanted to ensure federal funds did not go toward abortions, so they solidified that message in a bill in 1976.
The law bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape.
But the law leaves it up to the states if they want to provide state funds for abortions.
"States can decide to spend their own money on abortion services," Rebouche said. "Many states do not, but some do. But in terms of federal funding for abortion, the Hyde Amendment is pretty clear on that point."
Some have questioned if the Hyde Amendment applies to women who are on Medicaid and need an abortion. Rebouche said it does.
"States can use their state Medicaid money to fund abortions, but federal money cannot," Rebouche said. "There's no federal Medicaid program that will pay for an abortion outside of those circumstances that I talked about."
There is not much data regarding how many women get an abortion because of rape or incest. In some states, women are not required to provide a reason for electing to get an abortion.
In 2004, the Guttmacher Institute studied the reasons why American women get an abortion.
In interviews and questionnaires with more than 1,200 abortion patients, researchers found a majority of reasons why women have an abortion is because having a baby would dramatically change their life or they can't afford to have a baby.
Less than 1% cited they were victims of rape or incest and chose to get an abortion.
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