Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform introduced a resolution Thursday that urges the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to eliminate the requirement that people seeking a medication abortion must obtain the medication in-person. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA required that mifepristone, the first of two pills used in medication abortion, […]
Appeals Court Upholds Texas Ban on Common Second-Trimester Abortion Procedure
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Texas can ban the standard dilation and evacuation abortion procedure used in the second trimester of pregnancy. Texas will be the first state in the country to ban the procedure. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Texas law passed in 2017 banning D&E abortions could […]
United States Sends First Batch of Promised 500 million Vaccine Doses to be Donated Internationally
On Tuesday, the Biden administration shipped nearly 500,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Rwanda as part of the administration’s promise to donate 500 million vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. Rwanda will receive 488,370 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 188,370 of which come from the 500 million doses bought by the Biden administration earlier […]
Largest Ever Increase in Food Stamp Benefits Approved by Biden Administration
On Monday, the Biden Administration announced that food stamp benefits would increase by 25% above pre-pandemic levels. This is the greatest benefits increase in the history of the program. Before the pandemic, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits amounted to $121 per person each month. Under the new adjustment, SNAP benefits are expected […]
Federal Judge Blocks Several Indiana Abortion Restrictions
On Tuesday, a federal judge issued permanent injunctions against several Indiana laws that restrict abortion access, ruling them unconstitutional. Judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana blocked a number of Indiana abortion laws that had been challenged in court by a 2018 lawsuit brought by Whole Women’s […]
Allyson Felix Wins 11th Olympic Medal and Becomes Most Decorated U.S. Track Athlete of All Time: Feminist Recap of the 2021 Olympic Games
On Saturday, American track athlete Allyson Felix won her 11th Olympic medal by earning gold in the 4×400 meter relay. She is now the most decorated U.S. track athlete, of any gender, in history. Felix, 35, surpassed track star Carl Lewis, who had previously held the most Olympic medals of any American track athlete. Her […]
House Passes Appropriations Bill Advancing Global Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights
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 […]
Biden Announces Plan to Protect “Long Covid” Patients Under Federal Disability Law on 31st Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act
On Monday, President Joe Biden honored the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by announcing a new initiative to qualify “long Covid” symptoms as disability and grant Americans with “long Covid” protections under the ADA. People who suffer from “long Covid” experience serious and ongoing health issues that originated from a previous Covid-19 […]
Anti-Trans Laws in Arkansas and West Virginia Blocked by Federal Judges
On Wednesday, federal judges blocked two anti-trans state laws from going into effect. The first, an Arkansas law, would prohibit physicians from providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth. The second, a West Virginia law, banned transgender girls and women from playing in women’s public-school sports. The Arkansas law would ban doctors from offering necessary gender-confirming […]
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. […]
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 […]
Biden Administration Directs ICE to Stop Detaining Most Pregnant, Postpartum, and Nursing People
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a new guidance that says ICE will no longer arrest or detain individuals who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing unless there are special circumstances. “Generally ICE should not detain, arrest, or take into custody for an administrative violation of the immigration laws individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum or […]
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, […]
Rhode Island Passes Legislation to Make Period Products Free in Schools
The Rhode Island Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that will allow public school students to have access to menstrual products for free. The bill says that public schools who teach grades five through 12 must provide pads and tampons in gender-neutral and women’s bathrooms beginning in the 2022-2023 school year at no cost […]
Supreme Court Protects the CDC’s Eviction Moratorium
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court maintained the Center for Disease Control’s halt on eviction for tenants who could not pay rent due to hardships imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court denied a challenge on the eviction ban brought by a group of landlords. The moratorium will now be left […]
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 […]
V.A. Will Provide Gender Confirmation Surgery to Transgender Veterans
On Saturday, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that they plan to add gender confirmation surgery to their existing healthcare services. V.A. Secretary Denis McDonough made this announcement at a Pride event in Orlando, Florida. The new directive will reverse a 2013 ban on gender confirmation surgery, in which the V.A. refused to provide the […]
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 […]