During an event on Wednesday at the White House celebrating the administration’s anti-abortion efforts, the Trump Administration announced a new measure to restrict abortion access: withholding $200 million in Medicaid funding from California after the state passed a law requiring health insurance companies to cover abortion care. Alex Azar, Health and Human Services Secretary, announced […]
Police Raid Former Florida Data Scientist’s Home
On Monday, Rebekah Jones’ home was raided by Florida law enforcement agents. She was fired in May from the state health department, after she helped create the Florida state COVID-19 dashboard, because she refused requests to manipulate data regarding Florida’s readiness to ease COVID restrictions. Additionally, Jones accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration […]
Biden’s Choices for CDC Director and HHS Secretary Promote Diversity & Equity
President-elect Joe Biden has announced two more appointments for his future White House team – Rochelle Walenksy as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Xavier Becerra as the next secretary of the Health and Human Services Department (HHS). Both appointees have backgrounds in protecting healthcare access and equity. […]
Ohio Governor Expected to Sign Bill Requiring the Burial of Abortion Remains
Last Thursday, the Ohio House of Representatives approved a bill that would require the burial of fetal remains from surgical abortions. The bill passed along party lines by a vote of 60-36 in the House, and 24-7 in the Senate. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is expected to sign the bill into law. The measure will […]
Court Rules Texas and Louisiana Can Cut Medicaid Funding for Planned Parenthood
A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that both Texas and Louisiana can stop providing funding to Planned Parenthood clinics, a clear move against abortion rights that will disproportionately impact low-income people and people of color. This move by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans also impacts Mississippi, which is under […]
Idaho One of Many States to Pass Trigger Law to Ban Abortion if Roe v. Wade Gets Overturned
In March of this year, Idaho governor Brad Little signed a law that deemed abortion a crime in Idaho if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned. This months-old decision has become increasingly relevant, as Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court has made the possibility of overturning Roe more of a reality. […]
Court Ruling in England Prevents Trans Children From Seeking Hormone Therapy
A high court in England has ruled that children under the age of 16 who are seeking gender confirmation treatment are “unlikely to be mature enough to give informed consent to be prescribed puberty-blocking drugs”. This 19-page court ruling was made in an action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust, which is responsible forthe […]
Massachusetts Legislature to Pass Budget Amendments to Expand Abortion Access
Advocates in the state of Massachusetts are currently working to get budget amendments based on the ROE Act passed, otherwise known as “An Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access” (S.1209). This bill aims to cement abortion rights in Massachusetts state law, in a time where reproductive rights are under question and attack. At […]
Supreme Court Hearings on Affordable Care Act Endanger Women’s Health
The Supreme Court has been hearing oral arguments regarding the legality of the Affordable Care Act this week, which puts about 32 million people’s (a majority of whom are women) healthcare coverage at risk. The Affordable Care Act, in addition to providing millions of people with insurance coverage through Medicare and Medicaid, bans sex discrimination […]
Colorado Voters Defeat Proposition 115, Maintaining Support for Abortion Access
As of this morning, 59.1 percent of Colorado voters voted “no” on Proposition 115, a proposition that would restrict abortions after a fetus reaches 22 weeks gestational age except when “immediately required to save the life of a pregnant woman”. This proposition did not include exceptions for rape or incest, would impose $5,000 fines on […]
State Abortion Policies in a World Without Roe
On Monday evening, Judge Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed and sworn into the Supreme Court of the United States. This confirmation will have potentially severe impacts on healthcare, immigration, and abortion rights. If Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion rights would be in the hands of individual states. Some states have already enacted bans that […]
Judge Strikes Down Tennessee Abortion Law Requiring 48-Hour Waiting Period
On Wednesday, a federal judge struck down a 2015 law in Tennessee requiring pregnant people to wait 48 hours after a clinic visit to have an abortion procedure done. The judge, Bernard A. Friedman, found that this law “placed an undue burden on women, particularly low-income women, by requiring them to travel to a health […]
Senate in Recess Because of Coronavirus Cases
As of Monday, the Senate is in recess for two weeks due to many members of Trump’s staff, as well as three senators, testing positive for coronavirus. This is the first time since May that Mitch McConnell has adjourned the Senate because of coronavirus, and will potentially impact both the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney […]
New Jersey Moves to Codify Roe v. Wade into State Law
With the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Trump’s swift move to nominate Amy Coney Barrett as her replacement, reproductive rights are on the line, with many anti-abortion advocates hoping Roe v. Wade will soon be overturned. Last Friday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy unveiled the state’s Reproductive Freedom Act, which is “proactive […]
Death Count in ICE Facilities Is the Highest It Has Been in the Last 15 Years
According to data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 21 people died in ICE custody in the fiscal year 2020, which ended on Wednesday. This is the highest death toll since 2005, and is more than double the amount of deaths that occurred in the fiscal year 2019. More than a third of these people […]
Mexican Women Protest for Legalized Abortion
Yesterday, on International Safe Abortion Day, hundreds of women in Mexico City clashed with the police during protests demanding nationwide legalized abortion in Mexico. The protestors donned green bandanas, the symbol of the Latin American pro-choice movement, and threw Molotov cocktails and bottles at police lines. Much of the police force was comprised of female […]
Trump Nominates Conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett to Fill RBG’s Seat
President Trump announced that he will nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett is a staunch conservative with opposite views of Justice Ginsburg’s. Judge Barrett is a member of the religious group People of Praise, which “preaches women’s subordination to men and […]
Whistleblower Reveals ICE Facility Practiced Forced Hysterectomies
On Monday, Dawn Wooton, a whistleblower who formerly worked as a nurse at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Georgia filed a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, detailing medical neglect and a high rate of hysterectomies in the facility. The facility is Irwin Detention Center, run by private corporation […]
New Billboard Campaign in Illinois Informs Public that Abortion is Covered by Medicaid in the State
This week in Chicago’s suburbs and across Illinois, the Chicago Abortion Fund launched a new billboard campaign to inform the public that abortion care is covered by Medicaid in Illinois. The billboard reads: “Abortion Is Healthcare. It’s Covered By Illinois Medicaid”. Under the Hyde Amendment, the 1976 law still in effect today that prohibits federal […]
New Report Finds Prison Inmates Twice As Likely To Die from COVID-19
According to a new report released on Wednesday, incarcerated people are twice as likely to die from coronavirus in prison than those on the outside. Kevin T. Schnepel, assistant professor of economics at Simon Fraser University, found that the mortality rate in state and federal prisons is twice as high as in the general population. […]