Kirsten Gillibrand gave her opponents a history lesson on abortion politics at the debate

Kirsten Gillibrand gave her opponents a history lesson on abortion politics at the debate
Democrats have similar positions on abortion. The New York senator asked how hard they’ll fight.

By Anna North
Jun 28, 2019

Many candidates in this week’s Democratic debates talked about the future of abortion rights in America. But Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was one of few to talk about the history.

The exchange started with a question to Sen. Bernie Sanders about how he would preserve abortion rights if the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade were overturned before he became president. Sanders responded that his Medicare for All bill would cover abortion for anyone who wanted it.

Continued: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/28/18942612/democratic-debate-june-2019-2020-kirsten-gillibrand

28.06.2019

USA – How Republican Policies Force Women to Choose Abortion

How Republican Policies Force Women to Choose Abortion

ZawnVillines
Thursday February 28, 2019

If you believe the social media posts, television screeds, and scare tactics of Republicans, women are murderous by nature. Given half the chance, they’ll undergo invasive surgery to kill a baby for the sheer joy of it. If their unwanted baby is somehow born alive, they’ll happily ask a doctor to snuff out its life.

It’s a nightmarish vision that runs counter to all reason and all evidence. For generations, women have stood at the forefront of every movement to protect human life and dignity. They commit fewer crimes. And though they spend, on average, significantly more time with their children, they’re far less likely to abuse them. When you really start digging into Republican views, it’s hard for them to mask their true feelings: they hate women. They don’t trust them. This depiction of women as infanticidal monsters also ignores hundreds of heartbreaking stories of women who choose to abort children they love, either to spare the child the misery of a few agonizing seconds of life on Earth, or because the child is already dead.

continued: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/28/1838316/-How-Republican-Policies-Force-Women-to-Choose-Abortion

USA – States Flout Abortion Coverage Requirements, Federal Investigators Say

States Flout Abortion Coverage Requirements, Federal Investigators Say

By Robert Pear
Feb. 17, 2019

WASHINGTON — Federal health officials are not enforcing requirements for Medicaid coverage of abortion in the limited circumstances where it is legal, congressional investigators have found.

At least 13 states are flouting a requirement to cover abortion-inducing pills, and one state, South Dakota, has for 25 years failed to provide the required coverage for abortion in cases of rape or incest, the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, said in a report made public this month.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/17/us/politics/states-abortion-coverage-medicaid.html

Trump’s reinstatement and expansion of the global gag rule has harmful effects for women, men, and children

Trump’s reinstatement and expansion of the global gag rule has harmful effects for women, men, and children

Jan 11, 2019
Yana van der Meulen Rodgers, Ernestina Coast, and Nicky Armstrong

Two years ago this month, President Trump reinstated and expanded the global gag rule – the perennial Republican policy which cuts US funding for any organisation worldwide which offers abortion services or counselling. Yana van der Meulen Rodgers, Ernestina Coast and Nicky Armstrong argue that not only will the measure – which covers a pot of nearly $10 billion in funding for NGOs – be ineffective in reducing the number of abortions, it will also harm women’s’ reproductive health as well as making other crucial health services less available to women, men, and children around the world.

Who influences whether women in poorer countries can access abortions and other sexual health services? It may surprise you, but the US president has an important part to play. This is because of the so called “global gag rule”(GGR), a US foreign policy that cuts family planning and reproductive health assistance to any healthcare provider overseas which offers and provides abortions.

Continued: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2019/01/11/trumps-reinstatement-and-expansion-of-the-global-gag-rule-has-harmful-effects-for-women-men-and-children/

11.01.2019

Commentary

Featured

News

abortion funding restrictions

amfAR

AMODEFA

Barbara Crane

Center for Health and Gender Equity

Ernestina Coast

family planning services

Foundation for AIDS Research

Mozambican Association for Family Development

Nicky Armstrong

PEPFAR

Population Action International

President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance

World Health Organization

Yana van der Meulen Rodgers

Ireland – Public funding of abortion services raised in Dáil

Public funding of abortion services raised in Dáil

Tuesday, 27 Nov 2018
By Ailbhe Conneely, RTÉ News Political reporter

Public funding of abortion services was raised during a Dáil debate on the report stage of the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill.

The debate was the last opportunity for TDs to make amendments to the legislation.

continued: https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2018/1127/1013780-dail-debate-abortion-bill/

Ireland – TDs reject ‘means-test’ for access to abortion

TDs reject ‘means-test’ for access to abortion

Tuesday, November 27, 2018
By Juno McEnroe

Attempts to ban public funding for abortions could lead to means testing for those seeking terminations and discrimination against impoverished women, TDs have warned.

The comments came as the Dáil continued to debate the passage of legislation to enact the Yes vote to grant women access to abortions.

Continued: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/tds-reject-means-test-for-access-to-abortion-888370.html

$350m pledge to drive family planning targeting young

$350m pledge to drive family planning targeting young

By Judd-Leonard Okafor
Published Date Nov 14, 2018

At least three donors have announced up to $350 million in new funding for family planning services and commodities for women and girls spanning nearly 27 of the lowest-income countries.

The UK’s Department for International Development will invest some $260m in a new flagship programme Women’s Integrated Sexual Health to ensure voluntary contraception for up to six million couples.

Continued: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/350m-pledge-to-drive-family-planning-targeting-young.html

Canada’s leadership on family planning

Canada’s leadership on family planning

From: Global Affairs Canada
November 14, 2018
Backgrounder

Canada’s announcement of up to $104.4 million at the International Conference on Family Planning in Kigali, Rwanda, will support family planning, advocacy and the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), while improving access to safe and legal abortion. All projects will also ensure the integration of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) into countries’ health systems.

This investment is part of Canada’s $650-million comprehensive approach to address gaps in funding for SRHR.

Continued: https://www.miragenews.com/canada-s-leadership-on-family-planning/

Brazil’s Abortion Rights Push Could Come To A Screeching Halt After Jair Bolsonaro’s Election

Brazil's Abortion Rights Push Could Come To A Screeching Halt After Jair Bolsonaro's Election

By Caitlin Cruz
Oct 29, 2018

Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro as president on Sunday, marking a momentous shift to the far-right. His extremist policies and outrageous comments about minority groups have had some people refer to him as the Brazilian version of Donald Trump. And of his many troubling stances, Bolsonaro's decidedly anti-abortion views may impact Brazil's push to expand abortion rights.

As a candidate, Bolsonaro suggested that if he won the presidency, Brazil will adopt a policy similar to the Hyde Amendment, which outlaws American government dollars from funding abortion. (There's also a policy that prohibits American government dollars from going to funding abortion abroad called the Helms Amendment.)

Continued: https://www.bustle.com/p/brazils-abortion-rights-push-could-come-to-a-screeching-halt-after-jair-bolsonaros-election-13026022

Meet the activist who’s helped thousands of Irish women access safe abortions

Meet the activist who’s helped thousands of Irish women access safe abortions

Posted by Moya Crockett
Published Sep 10, 2018

Woman of the Week is Stylist’s weekly celebration of women who are making a difference to society. This week, we meet Mara Clarke, the founder of the Abortion Support Network, to discuss how things have changed since Ireland’s abortion referendum.

Mara Clarke was in Dublin when the results of the Irish abortion referendum were announced. The founder of the Abortion Support Network (ASN) – a grassroots organisation that provides women with advice and financial aid so that they can access safe terminations – desperately hoped abortion would be decriminalised in Ireland. But she didn’t really think it would happen.

“When the exit polls came out, I didn’t believe it,” she says today. “Even when the results were officially announced, I still didn’t believe it. But then everything went crazy.”

Continued: https://www.stylist.co.uk/visible-women/mara-clarke-abortion-support-network-interview-2018-8th-amendment-repeal/226406