On Saturday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent out a notice to federally funded family planning clinics, stating that clinics would be given extra time to comply with a Trump administration rule announced last week that eliminated Title X funding for clinics that provide abortion referrals. The notice stated that the government […]
Dr. Leana Wen Removed as Planned Parenthood’s President
After less than a year on the job, Dr Leanna Wen M.D. has been removed from her position as Planned Parenthood’s president. Per the statement released by Dr. Wen, the ousting occurred after disagreements between Dr. Wen and Planned Parenthood’s board on the direction of the organization following the severe blows from the far right […]
Judge Blocks Ohio’s Fetal Heartbeat Law
Last Wednesday, U.S District Judge Michael Barrett temporarily blocked an Ohio law that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, allowing clinics to continue to provide abortions. The law was slated to take effect this month, but Judge Barrett issued a preliminary injunction, blocking the law from taking effect while it is […]
Suit has been Filed against Georgia’s Six-Week Abortion ban
Last Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed suit against Georgia’s restrictive six-week abortion ban in the U.S District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The legal challenge states that the Georgia law is “an attack on low-income Georgians, Georgians of color, and rural Georgians, who […]
Appeals Court Rules that Trump’s Family Planning Restrictions can take Effect Immediately
Last week, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a family planning “gag rule,” which would strip federal Title X funding from any clinic that provides abortions or abortion referrals, could go into effect immediately. The new rules ban Title X funded-clinics—which serve approximately 4 million low-income Americans—from both making abortion […]
Last Remaining Abortion Clinic in Missouri Denied License Renewal
The sole remaining abortion clinic in the state of Missouri is waiting on a further decision from the circuit court after the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) declined to renew their license last Friday, citing concerns for patients and perceived regulatory violations that were not fixed after an inspection. With the license […]
Injunction Granted; Last Clinic in Missouri Remains Open for Now
Monday, a Missouri circuit court judge granted Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region a preliminary injunction, allowing the clinic to continue providing abortion services; this injunction will keep Missouri’s last clinic that provides abortion services to remain open for the time being. The judge ordered Missouri’s Department of Health and […]
North Carolina House of Representatives Failed to Overturn Governor Roy Cooper’s Veto of an Anti-abortion Bill
The North Carolina House of Representatives failed to overturn Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of an anti-abortion bill that would have required physicians to treat any newborn delivered during an abortion and grant the infant the same protections guaranteed to other patients. Known as a “born-alive” bill, this abortion ban would have made it illegal for […]
Missouri’s Last Abortion Provider may Close Today
Missouri may become the first state without a clinic that provides abortion services after the Missouri health department refused to renew Planned Parenthood’s license to perform abortions, which expires today. The license expires because of what Planned Parenthood argues are politically motivated and arbitrary regulations targeted at the clinic and Planned Parenthood is suing the […]
Congress to Reintroduce Women’s Health Protection Act
On Tuesday, the Act for Women Campaign alongside Planned Parenthood, National Network of Abortion Funds, and Center of Reproductive Rights, held a briefing on two bills that aim to protect the constitutional and reproductive rights of women nationwide. The Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) protects abortion services against medically unnecessary restrictions, and the Equal Access […]
Ohio Terminates State Funding For Planned Parenthood
On Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health(ODH) notified Planned Parenthood locations all across the state that they would no longer be receiving funding starting next month, due to a 2016 state law that was upheld earlier this month by a federal appeals court. The law forbids the state from providing funding to any affiliations that […]
Six-week Abortion Ban Bill Passes Mississippi Senate
On Tuesday, Mississippi senators passed, by vote 34-15, a 6-week abortion ban bill, which bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. If a physician performs an abortion before checking if there is a fetal heartbeat, or performs an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, the physician could have their medical license […]
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, […]
California Attorney General and Twenty States File Injunctions to Stop ‘Domestic Gag’
This week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco seeking an injunction to stop the abortion gag rule in Title X Family Planning Program funding from taking effect, which would affect more than 4 million low income women across the United States, and a coalition of at least […]
Trump Administration Imposes Domestic Gag Rule
The Trump administration is implementing a policy that prevents clinics that provide abortion counseling and referrals from receiving Title X Family Planning Program funding, funding that provides birth control, STD tests, cervical and breast cancer screenings, and reproductive health care to low-income and uninsured individuals. Under Title X, federal dollars already cannot directly fund abortion […]
Iowa State Will Not Seek Appeal to Fetal Heartbeat Court Ruling
Governor Reynolds of Iowa stated Monday that the government will not seek an appeal after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the “fetal heartbeat” law passed last May was unconstitutional. This unconstitutional law, if had it gone into effect, would have been one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the United States. Those against […]
Indiana Looks to Supreme Court to Implement Anti-abortion Law
The state of Indiana has requested the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court injunction that blocked a law requiring women receiving an abortion to also receive an ultrasound at least 18 hours prior to the procedure, which adds a waiting period and two different appointments to receive an abortion. The Planned Parenthood of Indiana […]
New Ohio Governor ramps up Attacks on Abortion Rights
Newly sworn in governor Mike DeWine made a surprise appearance at the Ohio March for Life rally on Tuesday and has announced that he would sign the heartbeat bill, vetoed by Kasich, if it came to his desk. This bill would ban abortion after 6 weeks without exceptions for rape and incest, making it the […]
Planned Parenthood Wins Out Over State Attempts to Strip Medicaid Funding
In a win for reproductive rights advocates, today the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider a case between Planned Parenthood and the states of Louisiana and Kansas concerning respective state laws that sought to strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funding. This decision means that the appeals court rulings that blocked the respective laws from going into effect will remain in place and Medicaid patients will continue to be covered at Planned Parenthood clinics for non-abortion related procedures.
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.