Abortion Activism Global Health Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Courts Health Politics Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Health Immigration Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Abortion Activism Health Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Courts On the Hill Reproductive Rights

Supreme Court Rejects Louisiana TRAP Law

The Supreme Court voted Monday 5-4 to reject a restrictive Louisiana abortion law. The law would have required abortion clinic doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Chief Justice John Roberts was the deciding vote, joining Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg in an act of precedent protection. […]

Courts Reproductive Rights

Pro-Choice Groups File Lawsuit Against Iowa’s 24-Hour Abortion Waiting Period

Planned Parenthood and the ACLU filed a lawsuit asserting that an amendment passed by the Iowa legislature requiring a 24-hour abortion waiting period violates due process and equal protection clauses of the Iowa Constitution. The amendment requires that all those seeking an abortion wait at least 24-hours after their initial appointment with an abortion provider […]

Health Reproductive Rights

Lack of Access to “Non-Essential” Healthcare Severely Impacts Marginalized Communities

As COVID-19 cases surge in the United States, many states have shifted healthcare policies to place a greater focus on those who have been infected. In order to do this, states must determine what is essential and non-essential healthcare, impacting marginalized people, such as poor people, communities of color, and women in severe ways.  In […]

Courts Reproductive Rights

Three National Organizations Challenge Tennessee Heartbeat Bill

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed an emergency lawsuit Friday afternoon against Tennessee’s heartbeat bill. The lawsuit aims to block the legislation from being enacted and ultimately declared unconstitutional. If enforced, the bill would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. This can occur as […]

Abortion Reproductive Rights

Mississippi Could Ban Abortion Based on Race, Sex, or Genetic Anomalies of Fetus

The Mississippi Legislature is advancing a bill to ban abortions from being performed based on race, sex, or potential physical disabilities caused by genetic anomalies. The Republican-led Senate passed the bill Wednesday by a 33-11 margin. The House is expected to send the bill to Republican Governor Tate Reeves later this week. Senator Joey Fillingane […]

Courts Reproductive Rights

Anti-Choice Group Files Lawsuit Against Illinois Reproductive Health Act

On June 10, the Thomas More Society (TMS) filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Insurance claiming that the Illinois Reproductive Health Act is unconstitutional and violates the religious liberties of its clients. TMS argues that the law requiring employers to provide insurance that covers abortions violates the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act and […]

Election Health Reproductive Rights

Planned Parenthood Endorses Joe Biden for President

On Monday, Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced their endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden for president. In a video statement, acting president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Alexis McGill Johnson, explains the decision. She cites the work done during the Obama-Biden administration. “While Joe Biden was Vice President, more people got insurance coverage than […]

Abortion Courts Reproductive Rights

Federal Judge Dismisses a Challenge to the Trump Administration’s Title X Rules

On Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed a challenge to the reformed Title X rules, also known as the Trump administration’s “gag rule”, that puts limits on what federally funded health care providers can tell patients about accessing abortion services.  Title X is a “federal grant program created in 1970 to provide comprehensive and confidential family […]

Health Reproductive Rights

Medical Groups Sue FDA Over Abortion Pill Restrictions During Pandemic

Medical experts and reproductive rights advocates sued federal agencies yesterday, asking it to allow people to obtain abortion pills remotely during the pandemic. The suit accuses the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of endangering public safety by disallowing doctors from distributing abortion pills through telemedicine […]

Global Reproductive Rights Womens Rights

Chinese Political Advisor Proposes New Law to Expand Women’s Reproductive Rights

A delegate to China’s top political advisory body proposed a law to allow unmarried women access to reproductive health care such as in vitro fertilization and egg freezing. If passed, the new rule will overturn existing laws that ban unmarried women and couples who exceed the legal limit of children from using assisted reproductive technology […]