Schakowsky Applauds Senate Introduction of Historic Legislation to Repeal Harmful Helms Amendment

Press Release

Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09) celebrated the Senate introduction of the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act. Schakowsky has already introduced H.R. 1670, the House companion bill, which now has 180 cosponsors. The Senate bill, which U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced today, would repeal the 1973 Helms Amendment to the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act. This would ensure that U.S. foreign assistance may be used to provide the full scope of comprehensive health care, including access to safe and legal abortion services. The bill also includes language clarifying that under U.S. government policy, safe abortion care is a critical component of comprehensive maternal and reproductive care.

The Helms Amendment endangers lives by prohibiting U.S. foreign assistance from being used for "the performance of abortion as a method of family planning" abroad. There are exceptions to the Helms Amendment, allowing for U.S. foreign assistance to provide abortion care in cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment. However, in practice, Helms has been applied as a total ban on U.S. foreign aid being used to provide any abortion care service--including the provision of information. According to research by the Guttmacher Institute, repealing the Helms Amendment would lead to 19 million fewer unsafe abortions and 17,000 fewer maternal deaths each year.

"I am proud to lead the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act in the House, the first-ever legislation to repeal the racist 49-year-old Helms Amendment. This harmful policy bars US Foreign Assistance from being used to offer abortion care, even in countries where abortion is legal. That is wrong. The United States should not be standing in the way of health care in other countries," said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. "Now, for the first time in history, this legislation is being introduced in the U.S. Senate. I am grateful for Senator Booker's leadership to repeal the Helms Amendment and expand abortion access in this critical moment. Abortion is health care, and health care is a human right."

"We know that in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, Americans will be denied access to essential health care services across the United States; however, the repercussions also go beyond our borders. This disastrous decision will be felt around the world, setting back many countries who have long used Roe v. Wade as the basis to strengthen abortion rights protections in their own countries. We must take immediate action to mitigate the global impact of this decision," said Senator Booker. "For that reason, I am proud to introduce the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which will repeal the Helms Amendment and ensure that U.S. foreign assistance can be used for safe abortion services overseas."

Source