During Texas doctor Brett Giroir’s testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, he failed to defend the right of all qualified reproductive health providers to receive federal funding.
Two Controversial Bills to Watch in Texas’s Special Legislative Session
There is less than nine days left in Texas’s special legislative session and two of the most controversial bills being considered have yet to make it to the Governor’s desk for signature.
Chilean Congress Votes to Ease Strict Abortion Ban
The bill that passed through the lower congressional house last week will allow abortions in circumstances of deadly birth defects, risk of the mother’s life, and rape.
Texas’s Dangerous Plan for Women Being Reviewed by Department of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services is currently considering a waiver that would allow Texas to receive federal Medicaid family planning funds despite the state’s refusal to follow federal law by banning providers who offer abortion care, like Planned Parenthood, from receiving federal Medicaid family planning funds. Texas also wants HHS permission to impose […]
Trump Administration Pulls Funding for Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs
During the Obama presidency, the Department of Health’s Office of Adolescent Health issued five-year research grants as part of its Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP). But programs funded by the TPPP received word in mid-July that their grants would be terminated two years early. The loss of federal funds will prevent researchers from analyzing the data they have already gathered, rendering their findings scientifically invalid. Thus, the government money that these programs have already spent will be wasted.
Anti-Abortion Extremists Descend on Kentucky’s Last Clinic
In less than one week, Operation Save America (OSA)—an anti-abortion extremist group—will be descending on Louisville, Kentucky for their annual national action with the goal to “break America’s covenant with death” by blockading the entrance to the last abortion clinic left in the state.
Senate Committee Votes to Give Free Birth Control to Non-Active Service Members
Last month, the Republican-controlled Senate Armed Services Committee passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that, if passed by Congress, would give free birth control to all members of the military and their dependents. Currently, women in the military are only granted this benefit while on active duty.
One Year After Whole Woman’s Health Ruling Little Has Changed
The ruling was welcomed by women and clinics across the country, as dozens of other states had passed hundreds of targeted restrictions on abortion providers since 2010, but the devastating impact of the laws had already been felt by many.
Anti-Abortion Measures to Move Through Missouri Senate
In response, the Committee on Seniors, Families and Children produced a new package bill with three proposals, including provisions mandating unannounced inspections of clinics and further regulations on how to handle fetal tissue post-procedure.
Delaware Moves to Ensure Abortion Remains Legal in State
Last week Delaware became the first state since Donald Trump was elected President to sign into law a bill ensuring abortion remains should Roe v. Wade be overturned.
Birth Control Still Not Universally Accessible 52 Years After Griswold Decision
In 1965, the Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law that made the use of contraceptives and the provision of information about family planning illegal. The case was the first ever to identify a right to privacy in the Constitution.
Draft Leaks of Trump Administration Massive Loophole for Birth Control Mandate
Under Trump’s advisement, federal officials have drafted a rule creating a massive loophole for employers to bypass the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring health insurance plans provided to employees to include contraception coverage. The draft, published by Vox, still requires said coverage, but greatly widens the scope exemption by allowing for anyone to issue claims of religious or moral objection in order to bypass the mandate.
FACE Act Anniversary Prompts Concerns of Enforcement Under Trump Administration
On the anniversary of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, advocates for abortion access fear that an increase in anti-abortion violence will be met with limited enforcement by the Trump administration, which has shown unprecedented support for restricting abortion access. Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 26, 1994, […]
Last Clinic in Kentucky Blockaded by Anti-Abortion Extremists
The doors to the last remaining abortion clinic in Kentucky were blockaded on Saturday by a group of anti-abortion extremists, leading to the arrest of ten people outside the EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville. Under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance (FACE) Act, it is a federal crime to block access to a reproductive healthcare center because of the services offered there.
Anti-Abortion Group Files Lawsuit Against Removal of Virginia Abortion Restriction
Last week the Family Foundation filed a lawsuit opposing amendments to Virginia’s “Regulations for Licensure of Abortion Facilities” that removed unconstitutional outpatient surgical center building requirements imposed on clinics that perform abortions.
Women’s Health Protection Act Introduced in Congress
The bill seeks to enforce the decision from the 2016 Supreme Court case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, in which two provisions of a Texas law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital were ruled an unconstitutional undue burden on women seeking an abortion.
Congress Guts Title X Funding Protections
On Thursday the Senate, using the Congressional Review Act, repealed a rule put in place by the Obama administration in December that blocked states from cutting off Title X funding to women’s health clinics that provide abortion services. The bill was already passed in the House of Representatives in February.
California Files Felony Charges Against Anti-Abortion Center for Medical Progress
On Tuesday California filed 15 felony charges against Sandra Merritt and David Daleiden, director of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), the anti-abortion group responsible for the discredited videos released last year that falsely accused Planned Parenthood of illegally selling fetal tissue.
Republicans Introduce the First ACA Repeal Bill
By Thursday it had been approved along party lines by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee.
Protesters March on White House to Demand an End to Trump Global Gag
On International Women’s Day, the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), in partnership with dozens of other organizations, marched on the White House to demand an end to President Trump’s expanded Global Gag Rule.