Uncategorized

Federal Judge Delays Enforcement of Alabama Abortion Law

US District Judge Myron Thompson has delayed the implementation of an Alabama law that would severely limit access to abortion services from August 2013 to March 24, 2014. The law, which mandates abortion clinics conform to the same standards as ambulatory care centers and requires doctors to attain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, would eliminate three out of the five clinics in Alabama currently offering abortion services.

Uncategorized

WI Senate Advances Transvaginal Ultrasound, TRAP Bill

After intense but brief debate, the Wisconsin state Senate approved a bill that could mandate transvaginal ultrasounds before an abortion and impose unnecessary regulations on abortion clinics. The bill, SB 206 [PDF] was approved in a vote of 17 to 15 along party lines.

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Harrisburg Abortion Clinics Granted 20 Foot Buffer Zone

Abortion clinics and other medical facilities in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, were granted a small reprieve from anti-choice protesters last week when the City Council unanimously voted to create a buffer zone around the facilities. Now protestors cannot be within 20 feet of an entrance or driveway to a medical facility without facing a fine. Planned Parenthood […]

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Ohio House Committee Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood

On Wednesday, the Ohio House of Representatives’ Health and Aging Committee approved a bill that would prevent Planned Parenthood clinics in Ohio from receiving federal funding. House Bill 298 seeks to redirect $1.7 million of federal funding away from Planned Parenthood to other clinics in Ohio. The predominately conservative committee approved the measure despite testimony […]

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Planned Parenthood sues Oklahoma over Funding

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has filed a lawsuit against the Oklahoma Department of Health because it has withdrawn funding from three Tulsa-area clinics that had previously received Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program funding from the state. The WIC program is designed to provide nutritional food and guidance to low-income families at a reasonable […]

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Planned Parenthood Challenges Texas Ruling to Defund Abortion Affiliates

After a federal appeals court rejected Planned Parenthood’s challenge to a ban on government funding for the state’s women’s health clinics on Friday, Planned Parenthood immediately filed another lawsuit contesting the ban. In the new lawsuit, Planned Parenthood argues that the “Affiliate Ban Rule” is illegal on the grounds that the appeals court ruling has […]

Health

Komen and the Dangers of Corporate-Funded Causes

By Mara Einstein Breast-cancer charity Susan G. Komen’s decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood–an organization that provides subsidized breast cancer exams for lower-income women–leaves me scratching my head. Komen claims to be withholding funds because of new criteria barring it from providing grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal […]

Abortion Ms. Magazine Reproductive Rights

The Real Story of Margaret Sanger

By Ellen Chesler Birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger is back in the news this week thanks to GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, who claimed on national television that Planned Parenthood, the visionary global movement she founded nearly a century ago, is really about one thing only: “preventing black babies from being born.” Cain’s outrageous and […]

Reproductive Rights

A Reprieve in South Dakota; Bad News Everywhere Else

By Kari Paul In a challenging time for reproductive rights in the U.S., it’s a relief to occasionally read a bit of good news. So here it is: Late last week, a federal court blocked South Dakota’s new anti-choice law, which would have required women to wait 72 hours–the longest, most extreme waiting period in […]

Abortion Health Reproductive Rights

North Carolina Defunds Planned Parenthood

By Amanda Litman, 6/15/2011 Today, North Carolina’s Republican-led Congress voted to override Democratic Governor Beverly “Bev” Perdue’s veto of the $19.7 billion, two-year state budget–making North Carolina the third state to defund Planned Parenthood. In one short sentence at the end of the budget, Republican lawmakers have banned the North Carolina government from making any […]