Rosie’s Law, will be filed by Rep. Sheryl Cole and Sen. Sarah Eckhardt. It would restore health insurance coverage of abortion care services for Texans by:

  • Lifting the state Medicaid funding ban for abortion care;
  • Adding abortion care to the list of services covered by the Texas Medicaid program; and
  • Lifting the 2017 health coverage ban for abortion care through private insurance plans and through federal health insurance marketplace plans

No one should be denied abortion care because of how much money they make or how they get their health insurance. Whether they have private or government-funded health insurance, it is important for every Texan to be able to get the full range of reproductive health care, including annual screenings, birth control, prenatal care, and abortion.

Rosie’s Law is named in honor of Rosie Jiménez, a 27-year-old beloved mother, student and young Chicana living in McAllen, Texas, who lost her life in 1977 because Medicaid would not cover her abortion care. She could not afford to pay for a safe, legal procedure and died after an unsafe abortion. For people like Rosie who are struggling to make ends meet, insurance bans can make it impossible to see a licensed health provider here in Texas. Rosie was the first known victim of the Hyde Amendment, which banned Medicaid coverage of abortion care in 1976.