Trump Reinforces the Hyde Amendment, Making Reproductive Rights More Precarious

During his first few weeks in office, President Trump has moved towards imposing a ‘domestic gag rule’ on abortion access. This past Friday, Jan. 31, he signed an Executive Order “to end the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion.” The order primarily aims to reinforce the Hyde Amendment, a policy that has been prohibiting federal funds from covering abortion services since 1976. 

The amendment essentially prevents programs within Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) from covering abortion. Because these restrictions primarily apply to those in the Medicaid health insurance program, low-income individuals are critically impacted by this amendment. With these restrictions, one in four low income women seeking an abortion are forced to go through with an unwanted pregnancy. 

According to recent data, 58% of women of reproductive age who are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) live in states that ban Medicaid coverage for abortion. Additionally, 51% of these enrollees are women of color, meaning that the Hyde Amendment disproportionately impacts the reproductive health of marginalized women. “The Hyde Amendment,” Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (1980) claimed, “is designed to deprive poor and minority women of the constitutional right to choose abortion.”

During his term, Biden passed two executive orders in support of abortion access, Executive Order 14076 and Executive Order 14079. However, both have now been rescinded, with Trump claiming they violate the Hyde Amendment. Executive Order 14076 imposed a whole-of-government effort to promote and fund abortion while also politicizing the enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which protects access to reproductive health care facilities and places of worship. Executive Order 14079 recategorized abortion as healthcare, which allowed for tax-payer money to go towards funding elective abortions, including Medicaid money to pay for travel costs. Trump has now nullified these two policies that were essential in providing support for equitable abortion access. 

This is not the first time Trump has enforced sweeping abortion restriction policies. During his first term in office, he instated a similar domestic gag rule which gutted Title X’s capacity to serve patients and their reproductive health. Title X was passed in 1970, as part of the Public Health Service Act. The program expressly aimed to help reduce reproductive health inequity and ultimately help patients exercise their right to make their own reproductive decisions. Trump’s past domestic gag rule and its restrictions reduced Title X networks’ capacity by 46% nationwide, affecting potentially 1.6 million patients. The Biden-Harris administration made efforts to rebuild from the devastating effects of this gag-rule, but the process was slow-going. 

Instead, many Title X programs had to accommodate and find independent solutions, such as allowing payments on a sliding scale, prioritizing free and/or low cost services for young people, and helping patients connect to private or public insurance. These strategies may need to be put to action again with Trump’s recent Executive Order.

Ultimately, Trump’s Executive Order represents a larger motion to return the issue of abortion to the states, as already seen with the 2022 Dobbs decision, in which three of the judges were Trump appointees. This order poses an immense threat to millions of women and child-bearing individuals, pulling out from under critical support needed for their reproductive health, safety, and freedom.

Study Shows Potential in a New Drug That Could Increase Accessibility to Medication Abortion

Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition on Unsplash

A recent proof-of-concept study from The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) found promising results for a new medication abortion drug. 

While there are already established medication abortion regimens around the globe, primarily the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, mifepristone is fairly limited and pricey, making it less accessible. NEJM’s study presents a possible alternative that could increase safe and effective abortion access worldwide.

The study tested ulipristal acetate, a drug that has a similar chemical profile to mifepristone and has already been established as safe, in addition to being widely available. Conducting a two-stage clinical study, NEJM assessed the combination of ulipristal and misoprostol in order to determine the most effective regimen. 

NEJM collaborated with teams at Gynuity Health Projects and the National Autonomous University of Mexico to help design and analyze the data. The actual data collection was implemented at the outpatient clinic of a public maternal hospital affiliated with the Mexico City Health Secretariat and Inguarán Maternal & Child Hospital. 

The first stage was a dose-finding study, where sixty-six participants were randomly assigned either 60 mg or 90 mg of oral ulipristal, followed by 800 μg of buccal misoprostol. Both groups resulted in similar efficacy and safety profiles, so they decided to move forward with the 60-mg ulipristal dose in an open-label study of 133 participants using the same regimen. To evaluate acceptability, participants filled out a structured questionnaire at the end of the follow-up visit.

After collecting results, the study found that pregnancy termination occurred in 129-133 (97%) of participants with the combination dose of ulipristal-misoprostol, a comparable success rate to mifepristone-misoprostol. Regarding the participants who did not have a successful pregnancy termination, one had a completion with sharp curettage, two received manual vacuum aspiration, and one underwent a repeat medication abortion with misoprostol alone. 

When asked about their satisfaction with the treatment, 130 out of 133 participants (97.7%) rated it as satisfactory or very satisfactory. The pain level also received a similar rating, with 113 out of 133 participants (85%) rating it as acceptable or very acceptable. Ultimately, 121-133 of the participants (91%) said they would recommend the treatment.

On the whole, the study demonstrates ulipristal-misoprostol’s potential to be an effective option for medication abortion. If ulipristal-misoprostol does become integrated into the market, it could help create a more equitable environment for women’s reproductive health, simply by providing more accessible options. “A major problem hindering use of medication abortion is availability,” Beverly Winikoff, the lead author of the paper and president of Gynuity Health Projects, said. “Increasing the number of methods and arsenal of options could have bold and transformative implications for potential users everywhere.”

Democratic Women’s Caucus Announces Executive Steering Committee, Fighting for Women’s Rights Amidst a Second Trump Term

Photo by Simon Ray on Unsplash

Yesterday, Tuesday, January 21, the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) announced its Executive Steering Committee for the 119th Congress. 

The DWC brings together Congresswomen from across the nation to create state and local support for women’s rights and opportunities, no matter where they live. Spearheading this mission are Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03) and Vice Chairs Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Hillary Scholten (MI-03), leaders of the Executive Steering Committee which works to set and advance concrete action steps towards the DWC’s goals.  

This Committee comes at a notable time in the organization’s history, as its members will lead the largest ever DWC at 96 women strong. “Together,” Chair Fernández and Vice Chairs Sykes and Scholten proclaimed, “we amplify the voices of the amazing 96 Democratic women in Congress and tell the stories of America’s women and the impact D.C. policies will have on their own fight for economic security and freedom for their families.” Among this Committee’s priorities are “lowering costs, protecting access to health care, and keeping women and girls safe from sexual violence and harassment.” 

The Committee itself comprises a variety of positions, with a particular focus on representing diverse experiences. Some liaisons directly represent certain marginalized communities, including Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific American women. There is also a chair for Global Women’s Issues, expanding the DNC’s mission beyond America. Highlighting these diverse perspectives is particularly essential now in the wake of Monday’s inauguration, which has already ushered in a proclamation to end DEI initiatives.

Indeed, now more than ever, the DWC faces an even greater task in their fight for protecting women’s rights and gender equality. The Trump administration threatens women on a variety of fronts, the most pressing perhaps being abortion rights and access to reproductive resources following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Beyond abortion, the Trump term is predicted to restrict general women’s health-care, posing a particular risk to low-income women relying on public health-insurance programs. 

While the Committee aims towards bipartisan solutions for their goals, they ultimately reject complacency to the new administration’s treatment of women’s rights. “Heading into the new Administration, we will seek bipartisan wins on these priorities whenever possible,” Chair Fernández and Vice Chairs Sykes and Scholten said. “But we’ll also call out President Trump and the Republican House, Senate, and Administration for any moves they make that betray American women and families.”

Below is the complete list of the DWC Executive Steering Committee for the 119th Congress.

Chair- Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández

Vice Chairs- Rep. Hillary Scholten, Rep. Emilia Sykes

Chair Emerita- Rep. Lois Frankel

Chief Whip- Rep. Nikema Williams

Whips- Rep. Sarah McBride, Rep. Emily Randall, Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet

Policy Task Force Co-Chairs- Rep. Deborah Ross, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove

Communications Task Force Co-Chairs- Rep. Shontel Brown, Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Member Services Task Force Co-Chairs- Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Rep. Sara Jacobs

National Leaders & Advocacy Organizations Liaison- Rep. Joyce Beatty

Senate Liaison- Rep. Debbie Dingell

New Member Liaison- Rep. LaMonica McIver

Congressional Black Caucus Liaison- Rep. Lucy McBath

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Liaison- Rep. Andrea Salinas

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Liaison- Rep. Pramila Jayapal

New Democrat Coalition Liaison- Rep. Norma Torres

Progressive Caucus Liaison- Rep. Jill Tokuda

Equality Caucus Liaison- Rep. Julie Johnson

Global Women’s Issues Task Force Chair- Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick

Servicewomen, Women Veterans, & Military Families Task Force Chair- Rep. Chrissy Houlahan

Reproductive Health Care Task Force Co-Chairs & Liaisons- Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Kelly Morrison

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