AMA and Planned Parenthood ask Supreme Court to block federal abortion referral rule

By Caroline Kelly
Thu October 1, 2020

(CNN)The American Medical Association, the main industry group for doctors, is asking the Supreme Court to block the Trump administration rule barring federally funded health care providers in the Title X family planning program from referring patients for abortions.

The petition filed Thursday comes as the high court faces a vacancy following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But a contentious confirmation fight looms over President Donald Trump's pick for the seat, federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has expressed views and joined opinions that suggest she is receptive to further restrictions on abortion rights and would likely help further cement a conservative majority on the court.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/01/politics/supreme-court-abortion-referral-rule/index.html

Abortion: How do Trump and Biden’s policies compare?

9 September 2020

Abortion is arguably the most divisive issue in US politics - and with the presidential candidates promising to either revoke national rights to abortion or take extra steps to safeguard it, the stakes have never been higher.

With President Trump in the White House, anti-abortion activists are energised and Republican-controlled states have tightened restrictions.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54003808

With Biden, advocates sense momentum for lifting abortion funding ban

By Jessie Hellmann
08/17/20

Abortion rights advocates are pinning their hopes on presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to help end a longstanding ban on the use of federal funds for abortion — a policy he supported for more than 40 years.

Biden reversed his position by denouncing the so-called Hyde amendment last year, but its future doesn’t just depend on who wins the White House. Democrats will also need to make major gains in the Senate, keep control of the House and gain the support of more moderate Democratic lawmakers on a divisive issue.

Continued: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/abortion/512038-with-biden-advocates-sense-momentum-for-lifting-abortion-funding

‘We Need to See His Plan’: Rights Groups Push Biden to Commit to Ending All Abortion Coverage Restrictions

"It's not enough for abortion to be legal. It must also be affordable and available to all people, however much money they have or however they get their insurance."

By Jake Johnson, staff writer, Common Dreams
Tuesday, August 04, 2020

Progressive advocacy groups are urging presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to commit to fighting for reproductive rights for all by releasing a concrete plan to repeal the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old measure prohibiting federal funding for most abortion procedures.

On Monday, the ACLU and the All* Above All Action Fund launched a digital postcard campaign aimed at pressuring Biden to "make a firm commitment to remove all abortion coverage restrictions from his first budget, and tell Congress he won't sign bills with abortion coverage restrictions, if he is elected."

Continued: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/04/we-need-see-his-plan-rights-groups-push-biden-commit-ending-all-abortion-coverage

Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner suggests funding cuts for abortion clinics

Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner suggests funding cuts for abortion clinics

May 29, 2020
Source: Deti.gov.ru

During her annual performance report, Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner, Anna Kuznetsova, proposed reducing funding for abortion clinics.

According to Kuznetsova, the amount of funding allocated to abortion clinics should be in inverse proportion to the number of abortions. “A clinic should be interested in saving the child, and not in providing services for the artificial termination of pregnancy,” she said.

Kuznetsova also suggested limiting the sale of medical abortion drugs at pharmacies.

The commissioner’s report has already been sent to the Kremlin.

Children’s Rights Commissioner Anna Kuznetsova has consistently advocated for raising the birth rate in Russia and is known for her pro-life views. On May 28, she announced that she had given birth to her seventh child.

Source: https://meduza.io/en/news/2020/05/29/russian-children-s-rights-commissioner-suggests-funding-cuts-for-abortion-clinics

29.05.2020

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Why universal health coverage must include abortion

Why universal health coverage must include abortion

Friday, January 24, 2020
Ipas

Abortion is health care, and health care is a human right. That’s why efforts to advance universal health coverage (UHC)—an international effort to guarantee that all people, regardless of where they live, have access to essential, quality health services without financial hardship—must include strong language defining sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion care, as an integral part of health and well-being. Ipas is committed to working with the World Health Organization, governments and other partners to attain the Sustainable Development Goal targets, which include achieving UHC.

“The world still has far to go to achieve gender equality,” said Ipas Senior Technical Manager for Community Engagement Tanvi Monga in a recent opinion for Global Health Now. “Women shoulder the burden of child care, elder care, household care, family health and health-care costs—and for poor or near-poor women anywhere in the world, health-care costs can cause irrevocable financial strain.” Plus, health-care services labeled as “for women” are frequently separated from other services—and are harder to access or more expensive.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/2020/January/why-universal-health-coverage-must-include-abortion

Lack of answers frustrates Fredericton abortion clinic supporters

Lack of answers frustrates Fredericton abortion clinic supporters
Fredericton abortion clinic supporters frustrated

Laura Brown, Reporter
Published Sunday, November 10, 2019

It has been a month since Fredericton’s only abortion clinic has been put up for sale, and supporters say they are frustrated with a lack of movement on provincial abortion regulations.

Clinic 554 had been providing abortion services, but because they weren’t in a hospital setting, the procedures weren’t covered by New Brunswick’s provincial health care insurance.

Continued: https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/lack-of-answers-frustrates-fredericton-abortion-clinic-supporters-1.4678760

Canada – Clinic 554, Fredericton Abortion Clinic That Also Supports LGBTQ Patients, Set To Close

Clinic 554, Fredericton Abortion Clinic That Also Supports LGBTQ Patients, Set To Close
The clinic's director, along with Jagmeet Singh, want the federal government to intervene.

10/11/2019
By Maija Kappler

New Brunswick’s only freestanding abortion clinic, which also provides health care to much of the province’s transgender population, is set to close.

Clinic 554 has previously relied on crowdsourced donations to stay open, and the staff sometimes forgoes payment from patients in order to provide services.

“We feel a tremendous amount of fear for our patients and the underserved communities we care for,” Clinic 554’s medical director, Dr. Adrian Edgar, said in an emotional statement posted to Facebook. “I thought I would be the family doctor for my patients until I or they died.”

Continued: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/abortion-clinic-closure-new-brunswick_ca_5d9fa05de4b087efdbab11c0?utm_hp_ref=ca-living

USA – Bans on public coverage for abortion are unjustified by science and outright harmful

Bans on public coverage for abortion are unjustified by science and outright harmful

By Katie Woodruff, opinion contributor
10/09/19

With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to take up its first abortion case since Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and consider a Louisiana law designed to shut down abortion clinics in the state, it’s important to remember that low-income people in Louisiana and across the country already struggle to afford legal abortion care.

Last year, the Federal Reserve noted that almost half of U.S. households did not have $400 cash on hand to cover an unexpected emergency. When I heard that news, I thought of women who discover they are pregnant when they do not want to be. On top of the challenge of sorting through their options and deciding what to do in this situation, those who choose abortion often have to scramble and stress to gather cash to pay for their procedure.

Continued: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/465049-bans-on-public-coverage-for-abortion-are-unjustified-by-science-and

09.10.2019

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USA – Everything You Need to Know About the Helms Amendment’s Restriction on Abortion Funding

Everything You Need to Know About the Helms Amendment’s Restriction on Abortion Funding
Reproductive health, rights, and justice advocates say the Helms Amendment's ban on using foreign assistance funds for abortion deserves more attention.

Aug 23, 2019
Ally Boguhn

Abortion rights are a high-profile issue for Democrats on the 2020 presidential campaign trail. Candidates have stated their opposition to abortion funding restrictions like the Hyde Amendment and the Trump administration’s expanded global “gag rule.” But little attention has been paid in the race or the media to the Helms Amendment, a ban on foreign assistance funding for abortion.

Rewire.News asked the 2020 candidates about their stance on the anti-choice policy; ten thus far say they oppose it. The Helms Amendment—named for its sponsor, the late-Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC)—states, “No foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions.” The abortion funding ban was passed as part of the Foreign Assistance Act in 1973 in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion in the United States.

Continued: https://rewire.news/article/2019/08/23/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-helms-amendments-restriction-on-abortion-funding/