On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties convened for a hearing on the “Threats to Reproductive Rights in America,” specifically focusing on abortion access in light of the abortion bans passed in Georgia, Louisiana, and Alabama earlier this year, all of which severely restrict people’s ability to have safe […]
More than 1 Million Americans Lost Health Coverage in 2018
In 2018, more than 1 million Americans lost health coverage, continuing a pattern of decline since 2017 when Trump Administration and Congress decreased the Affordable Care Act requirements and regulations. In 2017, 29.3 million Americans did not have coverage and in 2018 this number increased to 30.4 million Americans, while previously the number of uninsured […]
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Brandeis Offers Plan B via Vending Machine On-Campus
A student-run activism club, Brandeis Pro-Choice, has installed a vending machine on campus that contains Plan B. The vending machine also includes menstrual products, condoms, and other health products and will be accessible 24/7. Brandeis Pro-Choice, in a statement, wrote, “Without access to emergency contraception on nights and weekends, Brandeis students are left without the […]
South Korea Rules Sixty Year Old Abortion Ban Unconstitutional
On Thursday, Seoul’s Constitutional Court voted 7-to-2 to overturn the 66-year-old abortion ban in South Korea, which criminalized abortion except in cases of rape, incest or imminent danger to the women’s health, and was one of the strictest abortion bans in a developed country. The court ruled the abortion ban as unconstitutional and violated a […]
Trump Administration Argues the ACA is Unconstitutional
The Trump Administration is arguing that a federal appeals court should strike down the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) as unconstitutional, including the popular provisions to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions, the expansion of Medicaid, and the ability for young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26 years old. In […]
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Study Finds About 4 Percent of Women Are Pregnant When Jailed
A study published in The American Journal of Public Health on Thursday found that about 4 percent of women who were currently incarcerated in state prisons in the United States were pregnant when they were first admitted. While overall prison rates have declined, the number of incarcerated women has been increasing at about a rate […]
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Dr. Leana Wen: First Asian-American Physician to Head Planned Parenthood
Dr. Leana Wen is the first Asian American as well as the first physician in 50 years to become the president of Planned Parenthood in 2018 after Cecile Richards announced her resignation. As an emergency room doctor and former health commissioner, Wen leads one of America’s most trusted reproductive health care providers. Born in Shanghai, […]
Dr. Mags Portman, Leading Pioneer of PrEP, Dies at 44
Dr. Mags Portman, a leading pioneer of PrEP in the United Kingdom and Europe, passed away this week at 44 years old after a battle with cancer. Dr. Portman was a leading advocate for PrEP before the NHS made the life-saving medication readily available and worked to increase access for PrEP, preventing thousands from becoming […]
Trump Administration Proposes New Rule to Restrict Abortion Coverage
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), proposed a new abortion restriction under the Affordable Care Act in their “2020 Payment Notice” that is meant to deter insurers from covering abortion services, requiring insurance companies that have plans covering non-Hyde abortions to […]
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Introducing the Global HER Act to Repeal the Global Gag Rule
Yesterday, members of Congress, led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), announced their plan to introduce the Global Health Empowerment and Rights (HER) Act soon. The bill reverses and permanently bans the anti-abortion Global Gag Rule reinstated under the Trump administration, and protects access to healthcare, especially for women and girls, […]
VA House of Delegates Table Abortion Bill That Loosens Restrictions on Late-Term Abortions
A proposed Virginia bill meant to loosen several restrictions on abortions, such as eliminating any procedures and processes required that affect a woman’s informed consent, and easing late-term abortion requirements, was tabled by a subcommittee after videos of Del. Kathy Tran defending the bill went viral. Del. Kathy Tran’s remarks went viral after she said […]
Indiana Clinic Forced to Close After Anti-Abortion Harassment
The Fort Wayne, Indiana Planned Parenthood clinic is closing because of harassment from anti-reproductive rights activists.
Trump Administration to Protect Health Workers Denying Treatment on Moral Grounds
On Thursday, the Trump administration announced the creation of a new division at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that seeks to defend healthcare workers who choose to discriminate against patients who have had or who require certain medical procedures, such as abortions, due to moral or religious objections.
Senate Republicans Try and Fail to Repeal the Affordable Care Act
This week Senate Republican leadership tried and failed to pass every version of their healthcare plans, known as Trumpcare, granting a victory to progressive advocates and Democratic Senators who fought for the last six months, and the last seven years, to defend the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid funding.
Senate Healthcare Bill Hits Parliamentarian Road Blocks
Republicans will need 60 votes in the Senate to move forward with some of the worst provisions for women’s health included in their Trumpcare plan, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood, restrictions on abortion coverage, the continuous coverage penalty, and elimination of the guarantee of essential health benefits for Medicaid, among others.
Senate Healthcare Bill Would Cut Nearly 1.5 Million Jobs
The majority of the job losses—919,000 jobs—would be in the healthcare industry, but there would be a ripple effect that could lead to a loss of half a million jobs in other sectors, including construction and real estate, finance, retail trade, and public employment.
Maternal Mortality Rates are Rising in the United States
The United States saw a dramatic 27 percent jump in the maternal death rate from 19 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 24 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2014. In 2015, the rate once again went up to 26.4 deaths per 100,000 live births, and it is black women who are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth related incidences than white women.
Healthcare Activists Rally as Senate GOP Delays Vote
McConnell’s June 27th announcement to delay the vote came just as healthcare advocates kicked off their three day long People’s Filibuster in an effort to put pressure on the Senators who were considering voting for a bill that would cut $772 billion from Medicaid and $408 billion from insurance subsidies in order to give a tax break to the top 1 percent of American earners and major corporations.
Black Mamas Matter Alliance Briefs on Black Maternal Health
Despite the fact that global maternal mortality rates have fallen by over a third since 2000, death rates for pregnant women in the United States are on the rise.
New Report Finds Doctors Who Sexually Abuse Patients Receive Little Punishment
The Atlantic Journal-Constitution released a year-long investigative report on Tuesday documenting the minimal punishments doctors who have been found guilty of sexual abuse receive.
