On Wednesday, the House passed the Fiscal Year 2022 State, Foreign Operations, and Relating Programs appropriations bill. The bill contains several provisions that work to advance sexual health and reproductive rights across the globe. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Subcommittee Chair, first wrote the bill and spearheaded its […]
Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Banning Almost All Abortions
On Tuesday, a federal judge placed a preliminary injunction on an Arkansas law that would ban most abortions. The temporary block ensures that the law will not go into effect until a final ruling on the legality of the ban is made. U.S. District Court Judge Kristine Baker blocked the law, which would prohibit all […]
Indiana “Abortion Reversal” Law Blocked by Federal Judge
A federal judge blocked an Indiana abortion law from going into effect that would have required abortion providers to give misinformation to patients seeking a medication abortion. The law said doctors were obligated to tell their patients about the possibility of “abortion reversal”—a contested process for potentially stopping an abortion that has no scientific backing. […]
Phoenix Clinics Remain Open Despite Anti-Abortion Siege
Arizona reproductive health care facilities remained open and accessible during anti-abortion group Operation Save America’s (OSA) annual national summer siege, dubbed “Further Up & Further In.” Extremists from across the nation traveled to Maricopa County June 22nd through June 26th to join OSA to target area abortion providers with disruptive protests and to oversee the […]
Reproductive Rights Organizations File Lawsuit Challenging Texas Abortion Law that Incentivizes Citizen Enforcement
On Tuesday, Abortion rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking a Texas six-week abortion ban. The law would allow individuals to sue anyone thought to have helped someone obtain an abortion. Whole Woman’s Health, Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the ACLU, and other parties are challenging the Texas law, which encourages […]
House Subcommittee Advances HHS Spending Bill without Hyde Amendment
On Monday, the House Appropriations Labor and Health and Human Services subcommittee advanced a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services that does not include the Hyde Amendment. The 1976 Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds, specifically Medicaid, for abortion care. It disproportionately affects women of color and low-income women […]
2021 Has the Most Abortion Restrictions on Record, Says Guttmacher Institute Report
According to a report released by the Guttmacher Institute last Thursday, 2021 is already the worst year for abortion rights in the United States. 90 abortion restrictions have been enacted by state legislatures in the first half of 2021 alone. The report lists 11 bans on abortion passed in eight states, including Arkansas, Oklahoma, Idaho, […]
Iowa Law Mandating 24-Hour Waiting Period for Abortion is Blocked by Judge
On Monday, an Iowa district judge blocked a law that required patients to observe a 24-hour waiting period before they could get an abortion. The law, passed in 2020, was declared unconstitutional by Judge Mitchell Turner. He ruled that the law not only violated a 2018 decision made by the Iowa Supreme Court that protects […]
North Carolina’s 20-Week Abortion Ban Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Appeals Court
North Carolina’s ban on abortion past 20 weeks of pregnancy was unanimously declared unconstitutional on Wednesday by Richmond, Virginia’s 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The ban had been in effect since 1973 and was enacted as a response to the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Roe v. Wade. It prohibited abortion after 20 weeks except […]
U.S. Bishops Meet to Discuss Biden’s Eligibility for Communion In Light of Pro-Choice Policy Support
This week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will convene to debate whether President Biden and other Catholic politicians who support access to abortion should be denied Communion for their beliefs on abortion rights. Biden, a devout Catholic, has been denied Communion before for his position on abortion rights. As the first Catholic president since […]
Members of Congress Reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act
On Tuesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Conn.), and Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) reintroduced the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) in the Senate and the House, with 45 cosponsors and 179 cosponsors, respectively. The Women’s Health Protection Act was originally introduced […]
California Legislature Considers Bill to Reduce Abortion Costs
The California state legislature is considering a bill to reduce or eliminate the cost of abortion care in the state. The bill would eliminate co-pays and payments towards deductibles for abortions and abortion counseling. The bill, SB 245, was approved by the Senate and will next be voted on in the Assembly. “It’s tough to […]
Texas High School Valedictorian Scraps Speech to Call for Abortion Access
A Texas high school valedictorian decided to scrap her pre-approved speech on media and its effect on young people in favor of a brave address on the fight for abortion access in the state. Paxton Smith delivered an impassioned plea for abortion rights stating: “I cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace […]
Biden Releases Historic $6 Trillion Budget, Eliminates the Hyde Amendment
On Friday, President Biden released a bold new $6 trillion federal budget for fiscal year 2022 aimed at growing the economy as the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, and which for the first time since the Clinton administration does not include the Hyde Amendment, a provision which prevents federal funds from being used for […]
Louisville Metro Council Passes Safety Zone Ordinance to Protect Clinics
Last week in Kentucky, the Louisville metro council passed a safety zone ordinance that will create a safety buffer zone outside of health care clinics, including the EMW Women’s Surgical Center which is one of only two abortion clinics in the state and has been the target of ongoing anti-abortion protests. The new measure provides […]
Texas Governor Signs Abortion Ban into Law
On Wednesday, Texas governor Greg Abbott (R) signed SB 8, a bill that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, into law. The law, misleadingly called a “heartbeat” bill, bans abortion after six weeks, often before someone is even aware of the pregnancy, and allows private citizens to sue doctors or anyone else who helps […]
Supreme Court to Review Mississippi’s 15- Week Abortion Ban
On Monday, the Supreme Court said that it will review Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, which aimed to repeal Roe v. Wade, in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The ban has been blocked by lower courts over the last two years since its passage, reasoning that the law is unconstitutional under Roe’s standards. […]
Texas House Passes Anti-Abortion Bill
On Wednesday, the Texas House passed a bill banning abortion as early as six weeks, before most people know they are pregnant. The Senate has already passed a similar version, and differences will be negotiated before the bill will go to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. The bill is a “heartbeat bill,” meaning it aims to […]
Montana Governor Signs Three Anti-Abortion Bills
On Monday, Governor Greg Gianforte of Montana signed three bills aimed at restricting abortion access. The first bill requires health care providers to offer pregnant people the opportunity to view an ultrasound before providing an abortion. The second creates restrictions for medication abortion, including outlawing the use of telemedicine for administration of the necessary pills. […]
Oklahoma Governor Signs Sweeping Anti-Abortion Legislation into Law
On Monday, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt signed three anti-abortion bills into law, making abortion in Oklahoma nearly impossible to access. HB 2441 is a “heartbeat” bill, which prohibits abortion once a “fetal heartbeat” has been detected. It only makes exceptions for cases where the mother’s life is in danger. Any provider who performs an abortion […]
