‘It’s a Minefield’: Biden’s Pick For Health Secretary Faces Abortion Politics

February 24, 2021
NOAM LEVEY, RACHEL BLUTH

As President Joe Biden works to overhaul U.S. health care policy, few challenges will loom larger for his health secretary than restoring access to family planning while parrying legal challenges to abortion proliferating across the country.

Physicians, clinics and women's health advocates are looking to Xavier Becerra, Biden's nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, to help swiftly unwind Trump-era funding cuts and rules that have decimated the nation's network of reproductive health providers over the past four years.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/02/23/970756510/-it-s-a-minefield-bidens-pick-for-health-secretary-must-navigate-abortion-politi

The Fight Over California’s Abortion Coverage Mandate

Bethany Lee
Feb 3, 2021

Can a state require that all health plans offered to its residents cover elective abortions? The federal government thinks not, and the state of California is poised to lose at least $200 million in Medicaid dollars because it insists that health plans in its state cover abortion services.

In early 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Trump Administration issued a notice to California that the state’s abortion coverage mandate violated federal law. According to a December press release from the HHS Office for Civil Rights, the federal government may enforce its decision by withholding $200 million in federal Medicaid funds each quarter until the state comes into compliance.

Continued: https://www.theregreview.org/2021/02/03/lee-fight-over-california-abortion-coverage-mandate/

03.02.2021

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Biden set to roll back Trump rules on abortion

BY JESSIE HELLMANN
11/13/20

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to roll back several of the Trump administration’s changes to sexual and reproductive health programs, undoing a large portion of the president’s executive actions on abortion and women’s health.

Abortion rights and women’s health care advocates anticipate the Biden administration will act swiftly to reverse a myriad of Trump-era rules including ones that allow more employers to opt out of ObamaCare’s contraception mandate and ban the use of federal family planning dollars for domestic and foreign organizations that provide or promote abortions.

Continued: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/525773-biden-set-to-roll-back-trump-rules-on-abortion

The Trump Administration Is Giving Up Its Fight To Prevent Undocumented Teens From Getting Abortions

The administration issued a new policy explicitly preventing ORR staff from blocking minors in its care from obtaining abortions or disclosing their pregnancies.

Ema O'Connor and Zoe Tillman
September 29, 2020

After three years of arguing in court to block pregnant, undocumented teenagers in government custody from obtaining abortions, the Trump administration dropped the fight on Tuesday, announcing it had officially changed its policy.

The new policy makes clear that the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the branch of the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees undocumented minors and those seeking asylum in the US, must allow teenagers in its custody to obtain abortions.

Continued: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoconnor/trump-undocumented-teens-abortion-orr-lawsuit-immigration

USA – Medication Abortion and Telemedicine: Innovations and Barriers During the COVID-19 Emergency

Medication Abortion and Telemedicine: Innovations and Barriers During the COVID-19 Emergency

Amrutha Ramaswamy, Gabriela Weigel, Laurie Sobel
Jun 08, 2020

State actions in response to the COVID-19 crisis have highlighted their divergent approaches to abortion access. Some states classified abortion as a non-essential service, effectively banning services, while others have clarified that abortion is an essential service. In a handful of states, some clinics have begun to offer medication abortions using telemedicine. This approach maintains access to abortion while social distancing, preserving personal protective equipment (PPE), and limiting in-person health care visits and risk of exposure.

In 2017, 39% of all abortions in the U.S. were medication abortions (also known as abortions induced by pills). These abortions are provided using two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol. While public knowledge about medication abortion is very low, even fewer people may be aware that telemedicine can aid in the provision of this service. Research shows that providing medication abortion by telemedicine is clinically feasible and safe, but COVID-19 has highlighted the impact of new and existing federal and state restrictions on providing abortions using this approach.

Continued: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-policy-watch/medication-abortion-telemedicine-innovations-and-barriers-during-the-covid-19-emergency/

The US health secretary is making anti-abortion speak official government language

The US health secretary is making anti-abortion speak official government language

By Annalisa Merelli
January 24, 2020

The mission of the US Department of Health & Human Services is “to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans,” according to its website. Yet its leader, Alex Azar, seems to believe the mission is to promote anti-abortion values and actions within the health system.

Today, Donald Trump became the first sitting president ever to attend the March for Life — a large anti-abortion gathering that has occurred annually for 47 years — just after his health secretary made a remark that equally showed the government’s commitment to oppose full reproductive rights. In a statement published last night, Azar, who also participated in the event, proudly shared all the moves made by his department to restrict access to abortion, including curtailing Title X funds and pushing back against the provisions of an international right to safe abortion.

Continued: https://qz.com/1790503/the-us-health-secretary-is-making-anti-abortion-speak-official-government-language/

24.01.2020

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USA – ‘Game on’: Republicans ramp up efforts to restrict abortion in 2020

'Game on': Republicans ramp up efforts to restrict abortion in 2020

By Caroline Kelly, CNN
Sat January 4, 2020

Abortion laws around the globe (2018) 01:33

(CNN)Abortion has resurfaced as a major issue in American politics with a flurry of measures making their way through state legislatures around the country -- just as the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the first reproductive rights case since Justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed.

In addition to passing bans on abortion earlier in pregnancy, Republican lawmakers and activists in states from Alabama to Utah have looked to further regulate the procedure, sometimes beyond what is medically possible, according to medical experts.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/04/politics/abortion-policy-changes-2020/index.html

USA – New Obamacare Rule Will Require Separate Premium Payments for Abortion Coverage

New Obamacare Rule Will Require Separate Premium Payments for Abortion Coverage

Caitlin Cruz
Dec 21, 2019

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a new rule that will require insurers through the Affordable Care Act marketplace to bill separately for abortion coverage. This administrative change could affect more than 3 million people with abortion coverage.

If an insurance plan through the ACA marketplace includes abortion coverage, the insurer will be required to bill two premium payments: one for the health care policy and another for the policy’s abortion coverage. Here’s the full rule from the Federal Register.

Continued: https://theslot.jezebel.com/new-obamacare-rule-will-require-separate-premium-paymen-1840580808

Leaked letter suggests US is rallying UN member states to oppose abortion

Leaked letter suggests US is rallying UN member states to oppose abortion
Attempt to ‘roll back the clock’ condemned as governments are urged to oppose UN support for reproductive rights

Liz Ford
Mon 23 Sep 2019

The US is understood to have written to UN member states urging them to join a “growing coalition” of countries rallying against abortion, in what seems to be the latest attempt by the Trump administration to rollback women’s rights.

A letter, seen by the Guardian, is believed to have been sent to governments deemed sympathetic to the administration’s view on reproductive health.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/sep/23/leaked-letter-suggests-us-is-rallying-un-member-states-to-oppose-abortion

Doctors Say Federal Rules On Discussing Abortions Inhibit Relationships With Patients

Doctors Say Federal Rules On Discussing Abortions Inhibit Relationships With Patients

September 9, 2019
Mara Gordon

Clinics that take federal Title X family planning funding are adjusting to a new set of rules that limit what health care providers can say to their patients about abortion.

Though Planned Parenthood pulled out of the program in August rather than comply with the rules, thousands of other clinics continue to use grants from the federal program for family planning and sexual health services. These clinics are now under pressure to make sure their staff comply.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/09/09/756103421/doctors-say-federal-rules-on-discussing-abortions-inhibit-relationships-with-pat