State Democrats are leading on abortion policy. D.C. Democrats don’t want to get left behind.

Democrats in Washington want to show voters they're working on abortion rights ahead of the 2024 election, with most of the action in the states.

Jan. 18, 2024
By Julie Tsirkin and Kate Santaliz

WASHINGTON — After several successful state efforts to codify abortion access, Democrats are marking the 51st anniversary of the defunct Roe v. Wade ruling with an all-out reproductive freedom campaign — in an election year when abortion rights could once again help determine the balance of power in Washington.

Senate Democrats held a briefing on abortion access Wednesday focusing on the impact of state abortion bans. More than half of the Democratic caucus, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, heard from and questioned medical professionals and experts.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/state-democrats-are-leading-abortion-policy-dc-democrats-dont-want-get-rcna128932


Democrats condemn ‘cruel’ abortion bans ahead of 51st anniversary of Roe

‘Extreme’ Republican-backed bans have caused untold ‘suffering’ for women, senators say, and vow to restore federal abortion rights

Jessica Glenza
Wed 17 Jan 2024

Senate Democrats underscored their commitment to abortion rights in a press conference on Wednesday, ahead of the 51st anniversary of Roe v Wade. The now-overturned supreme court case provided American women with a constitutional right to abortion for nearly 50 years.

Experts at the briefing described Republican-backed abortion bans across the country as “cruel”, “extreme” and causing untold “suffering” for American women, thousands of whom are forced to travel across state lines for abortions or be forced to remain pregnant.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/17/democrats-restore-abortion-rights-roe-v-wade-2024-election


‘Deeply Disturbing’: Federal Court Rules Texas Can Ban Emergency Abortions

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray called the 5th Circuit's ruling "a horrifying and astonishingly dangerous decision from a court that has shown repeatedly they have absolutely no regard for women's lives."

JAKE JOHNSON
Jan 03, 2024

The conservative-dominated 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late Tuesday that Texas hospitals and physicians are not required by federal law to perform abortions under emergency circumstances.

The 25-page decision stems from a legal challenge that Texas filed in response to guidance issued in July 2022 by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. The guidance states that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) "protects providers when offering legally-mandated, life- or health-saving abortion services in emergency situations."

Continued: https://www.commondreams.org/news/5th-circuit-texas-abortion


A Trump-Stacked Court Hopes to Limit Access to the Abortion Pill. The Final Decision Now Lies With SCOTUS.

8/17/2023
by CARRIE N. BAKER, Ms. Magazine

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals released a decision on Wednesday, Aug. 16, that dismissed a challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, but would sharply restrict access to medication abortion nationwide and eliminate telemedicine abortion. The decision in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA remains on hold until final review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“While the court has acknowledged that mifepristone—both brand and generic versions—can stay on the market, they are insisting we should roll back the clock to 2000 and put the medication under lock and key,” said Kirsten Moore, director of Expanding Medication Abortion Access Project (EMAA Project). “The extremist judges ignored the FDA, our basic rights, and more than 20 years of scientific evidence showing mifepristone is safe and effective, rolling back decades of advancement in the standard of care. This is a dangerous precedent for FDA’s scientific review authority.”

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/08/17/abortion-pills-fifth-circuit-mifepristone/


How the Dobbs decision changed life in places where abortion access was taken away

NPR
June 24, 2023
LISTEN • 10:29

SCOTT DETROW, HOST: Even as many people push to further restrict abortion access, the laws already on the books began to affect people's lives immediately once Dobbs went into effect, people like Elizabeth Weller (ph).
ELIZABETH WELLER: There was nothing wrong with her, no development issues wrong.

DETROW: When Weller found out her baby was a girl during an ultrasound, she was overjoyed. She and her husband were preparing a nursery. She wasn't thinking about terminating the pregnancy or the strict laws prohibiting abortion in her home state of Texas. But about a week after the scan, she went for a walk and realized that something wasn't right.

Continued: https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/2023-06-24/how-the-dobbs-decision-changed-life-in-places-where-abortion-access-was-taken-away


Abortion care training is banned in some states. A new bill could help OB-GYNs get it

June 15, 2023
Pien Huang

Sami Stroebel, an aspiring obstetrician-gynecologist, started medical school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison last summer within weeks of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion.

"I sat there and was like, 'How is this going to change the education that I'm going to get and how is this going to change my experience wanting to provide this care to patients in the future?'"

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/06/15/1182385919/all-ob-gyns-need-abortion-care-training-new-bill-aims-to-help-them-get-it


With growing abortion restrictions, Democrats push for over-the-counter birth control

May 22, 2023
Sarah McCammon

If there was ever a time for Republicans to back efforts to expand birth control access, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington thinks this should be it.

"Women in many states today, because of the decision by the Supreme Court, are really worried about their access to be able to have birth control pills as a way of making sure they don't become pregnant, because in their states, they won't have access to abortion care," Murray, a Democrat, said in an interview with NPR.

Continued:  https://www.npr.org/2023/05/22/1177336068/patty-murray-birth-control-over-the-counter-abortion


Senate Democrats introduce bill funding travel for abortions

BY JULIA MUELLER
12/08/22

Senate Democrats on Thursday introduced a bill that would help fund expenses for women who need to travel to undergo abortion procedures.   

“Right now in states across the country, Americans are unable to make their own health care decisions. Women in states like Wisconsin are being forced to travel out of state just to see a doctor for critical health care, including abortion. And for too many, the cost of travel, child care, overnight housing, and time away from work puts safe, comprehensive reproductive care totally out of reach,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) in a statement.

Continued: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3767176-senate-democrats-introduce-bill-funding-travel-for-abortions/


Biden’s chance to go bolder on abortion rights

“This is not a time for speeches and hoping people will vote in November.”

By Li Zhouli
Jun 27, 2022

This past weekend, more than 30 Democratic senators had a message for President Joe Biden: They want him to do more to protect abortion rights, and they want him to do it now.

“There is no time to waste,” they said in the letter, which was led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and sent one day after the Supreme Court announced its decision to officially roll back Roe v. Wade. “You have the power to fight back and lead a national response to this devastating decision.”

https://www.vox.com/2022/6/27/23185624/biden-abortion-rights-executive-actions


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