Republican-controlled House pushes for new abortion restrictions

Bills not expected to advance in Senate but underscore Republican majority’s legislative priorities ahead of 2024 election

Lauren Gambino in Washington
Wed 11 Jan 2023

The Republican-led House on Wednesday pressed ahead with a pair of anti-abortion measures, despite warning signs that the issue had galvanized the opposition in the wake of the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade last year.

Voting mostly along party lines, Republicans first approved a bill that would compel doctors to provide care for an infant who survives an attempted abortion – an occurrence that is exceedingly rare.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/11/new-abortion-restrictions-bills-republicans-house-congress

Activists Tell Biden to ‘Do Your F*cking Job’ and Protect Abortion Rights

“You promised that you would rule as a pro-choice president, and you need to do it,” said Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and executive director of We Testify.

Scott Bixby, White House Reporter
Jun. 12, 2022

President Joe Biden has repeatedly declared his support for a woman’s right to have an abortion, albeit without any concrete plans to protect that right. But as the Supreme Court’s near-certain overturning of Roe v. Wade draws closer, abortion-rights advocates want him to put up or shut up.

“Joe Biden is missing in action right now. This is a crisis, and he’s nowhere to be found, he’s not giving us a plan,” said Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and executive director of We Testify, an organization that represents those who have had abortions. “We showed up in November 2020 and handed you the White House, the House, and the Senate. Do your fucking job that you were elected to do.”

Continued: https://www.thedailybeast.com/activists-tell-biden-to-do-your-fcking-job-and-protect-abortion-rights

What President Biden’s State of the Union Says About the Politics of Abortion

BY ABIGAIL ABRAMS
MARCH 2, 2022

Following abortion rights groups’ efforts to pressure President Joe Biden into speaking out in favor of reproductive rights in America, the President mentioned the topic just briefly on Tuesday during his first State of the Union address.

“The constitutional right affirmed by Roe v. Wade—standing precedent for half a century—is under attack as never before,” Biden said during the speech. “If we want to go forward, not backward, we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman’s right to choose.”

Continued: https://time.com/6153102/biden-abortion-state-of-the-union/

USA – Dems, despite their control, all but concede on federal abortion spending

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and JENNIFER SCHOLTES, Politico
02/15/2022

Though Democrats won’t publicly admit it, they’re soon set to concede defeat on federal funding for abortion.

After months of tense negotiations, the two parties joined together last week on a government spending framework they insist will swiftly lead to a massive deal to boost agency bottom lines into the fall. Officially, they’re agreeing to save specific policy disputes for later, including the longtime debate over the half-century ban on federal funding for abortions, known as the Hyde amendment. But Republicans are already declaring victory in that battle.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/15/ban-federal-funds-abortion-democrats-00008761

Mexican abortion advocates look to help women in US

By María Verza, The Associated Press
Wed., Jan. 19, 2022

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Decades ago, Mexican activists drove women into the United States to terminate their pregnancies at clinics. Now it’s women in the U.S. who are facing more challenges to accessing abortion services and again Mexican activists are stepping up to offer support.

The changing dynamic has to do with the reversal of the legal fortunes of abortion rights on both sides of the border and the expertise of Mexican activists in helping women overcome legal and social barriers.

Continued: https://www.thespec.com/ts/news/world/americas/2022/01/19/mexican-abortion-advocates-look-to-help-women-in-us.html

Why Biden Needs to Go Big on Abortion

To be a transformational president, Biden has to fight loud and hard against the Republican assault on reproductive rights.

by Emily Crockett
May 10, 2021

Many progressives found themselves pleasantly surprised with Joe Biden after his first 100 days in office. He’s willing to go big, embrace the legacy of FDR and LBJ, and pass trillions in investments on party-line votes if Republicans don’t offer real solutions. In his first joint address to Congress last month, Biden laid out his agenda and made an unapologetic, empathetic case for big solutions to big crises: not just the pandemic and economic collapse, but also climate change, gun violence, systemic racism, immigration, and more. From the well of the House, Biden proudly advocated for just about every progressive reform that his administration supports. Yet he was silent on one major issue: the decimated state of access to safe, legal, and affordable abortion and the Republican Party’s continually escalating efforts to make it worse.

Continued: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2021/05/10/why-biden-needs-to-go-big-on-abortion/

Biden rolls back Trump’s anti-abortion curbs on family planning funds

The proposed overhaul erases restrictions on abortion providers that Democrats derided as a "gag rule."

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
04/14/2021

The Biden administration on Wednesday moved
to unwind former President Donald Trump’s anti-abortion restrictions on federal
family planning funds.

New rules proposed Wednesday would largely return the Title X program to its
pre-Trump formation, allowing more abortion clinics to participate in a program
that provides free or subsidized contraception and other health services to
about 4 million low-income Americans each year.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/14/biden-trump-anti-abortion-family-planning-481395

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

Trump promises ‘born alive’ executive order in appeal to anti-abortion voters

By Associated Press
September 23, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump promised Wednesday to sign an executive order that would require health care providers to provide medical care to all babies born alive as he makes an election-year push to appeal to voters who oppose abortion.

The White House did not release further details about the order, but Trump’s announcement follows numerous attempts by GOP lawmakers in Washington and in state capitals around the country to pass legislation that threatens prison for doctors who don’t try to save the life of infants born alive during abortions.

Continued: https://www.nbc12.com/2020/09/23/trump-promises-born-alive-executive-order-appeal-anti-abortion-voters/

23.09.2020

National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

Planned Parenthood Action Fund

US anti-abortion groups received millions in federal Covid-19 aid

Planned Parenthood also received funding from Paycheck Protection Program, which some lawmakers demanded it return

Jessica Glenza
Published on Wed 8 Jul 2020

Christian anti-abortion lobbying organizations received millions in taxpayer-backed forgivable loans from the US government’s coronavirus aid program, even as lawmakers demanded the nation’s largest abortion provider return federal loans.

Pro-reproductive
rights groups have also received funding from the Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP). Planned Parenthood, America’s largest network of abortion and sexual
health clinics, received $80m in PPP loans.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/08/anti-abortion-groups-covid-19-ppp-aid