Trump Allies Plan New Sweeping Abortion Restrictions

His supporters are seeking to attack abortion rights and abortion access from a variety of angles should he regain the White House, including using a long-dormant law from 1873.

By Lisa Lerer and Elizabeth Dias
Feb. 17, 2024

Allies of former President Donald J. Trump and officials who served in his administration are planning ways to restrict abortion rights if he returns to power that would go far beyond proposals for a national ban or the laws enacted in conservative states across the country.

Behind the scenes, specific anti-abortion plans being proposed by Mr. Trump’s allies are sweeping and legally sophisticated. Some of their proposals would rely on enforcing the Comstock Act, a long-dormant law from 1873, to criminalize the shipping of any materials used in an abortion — including abortion pills, which account for the majority of abortions in America.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/trump-allies-abortion-restrictions.html


The anti-abortion plan ready for Trump on Day One

The stakes of the election go far beyond whether a GOP president signs a bill banning the procedure.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
01/29/2024

Anti-abortion groups have not yet persuaded Donald Trump to commit to signing a national ban if he returns to the White House.

But, far from being deterred, those groups are designing a far-reaching anti-abortion agenda for the former president to implement as soon as he is in office. In emerging plans that involve everything from the EPA to the Federal Trade Commission to the Postal Service, nearly 100 anti-abortion and conservative groups are mapping out ways the next president can use the sprawling federal bureaucracy to curb abortion access.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/29/trump-abortion-ban-2024-campaign-00138417


What the fallout from the Supreme Court’s Texas abortion ruling means for the future of Roe

By Tierney Sneed
Sat January 22, 2022

(CNN)As the Roe v. Wade ruling celebrates its 49th anniversary on Saturday, the vast majority of abortions have been outlawed for nearly five months in the second most populous state in the country.

The way the Supreme Court has handled Texas' ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy signaled that its Roe precedent -- a landmark abortion rights decision -- does not stand to be fully intact by its 50th anniversary. The fallout from the Texas legal fight has also provided a preview of what abortion access will look like across the country if Roe is dismantled.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/politics/texas-supreme-court-roe-abortion/index.html


A hidden abortion crew prepares to confront a post-Roe America

Driven underground during the pandemic, online abortion providers say they’ll keep supplying pills and services even if the Supreme Court approves state bans.

By DARIUS TAHIR
07/06/2021

The Supreme Court’s decision to review Mississippi’s stringent restrictions on abortion — putting Roe vs. Wade under its roughest stress test yet — is being seen as a call to action for the nation’s community of underground abortion activists.

And they make it clear they’re prepared to defy any laws banning abortion.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/06/abortion-rights-supreme-court-states-restrictions-497821


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


Trump administration threatens funds to California over requirement that health plans cover abortion

Trump administration threatens funds to California over requirement that health plans cover abortion
California officials accuse officials of political grandstanding, say they’ll defend law.

William Wan and Yasmeen Abutaleb
Jan. 24, 2020

The Trump administration on Friday threatened to withhold federal funding from California over its requirement that private insurers cover abortions — a move California officials immediately denounced as a “cheap political” shot on the day the president was addressing the annual March for Life rally.

Top Trump health officials said California had 30 days to stop the alleged violation but did not specify what funds it would withhold or on what timeline it would act. They said their announcement serves as warning to other states with similar requirements but declined to identify which, if any, of those states might be targeted.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/01/24/trump-administration-threatens-funds-california-over-its-requirement-that-health-plans-cover-abortion/


Trump Is Gutting Health Care Protections For Transgender People And Those Who Have Had Abortions

Trump Is Gutting Health Care Protections For Transgender People And Those Who Have Had Abortions
A draft rule released Friday would undo nondiscrimination protections in health care for those who have had abortions as well as transgender people.

Dominic Holden, BuzzFeed News Reporter
Ema O'Connor, BuzzFeed News Reporter
May 24, 2019

The Trump administration on Friday unveiled its long-expected proposal to reverse health care protections for transgender people and those who’ve had abortions, issuing a draft rule that seeks to rescind nondiscrimination policies established under the Affordable Care Act.

It’s the Trump administration’s third regulatory strike against transgender people this week. One rule, finalized Tuesday, would let health care workers recuse themselves from treating transgender patients on religious grounds, and a draft rule issued Wednesday would let homeless shelters turn away transgender people.

Continued: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/dominicholden/trump-rule-transgender-abortion-healthcare-discrimination


Trump Administration Strengthens ‘Conscience Rule’ for Health Care Workers

Trump Administration Strengthens ‘Conscience Rule’ for Health Care Workers
A shift in the balance between the rights of patient and provider, with religion in the middle.

By Margot Sanger-Katz
May 2, 2019

President Trump on Thursday announced an expanded “conscience rule” to protect health care workers who oppose abortion, sterilization, assisted suicide and other medical procedures on religious or moral grounds.

The rule establishes guidelines for punishing health care institutions with the loss of federal funds if they fail to respect the rights of such workers.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/upshot/conscience-rule-trump-religious-exemption-health-care.html


The Trump Administration Will Allow Health Workers To Refuse Abortion And Sex Reassignment Services

The Trump Administration Will Allow Health Workers To Refuse Abortion And Sex Reassignment Services
The rule will protect discrimination based on “conscience” or “religious beliefs,” but opponents argue it will greatly limit access to care.

Ema O'Connor BuzzFeed News Reporter
Dominic Holden BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on May 2, 2019

The Trump administration released a final rule Thursday that will allow health workers to refuse to perform or assist medical procedures — like abortion, assisted suicide, or sex reassignment surgery — if it violates their “conscience” or religion.

The rule, which will take effect in 60 days, applies to health care institutions receiving federal funding. It repeals an Obama-era discrimination protection rule that President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services said “proved inadequate.” The new rule specifically protects “providers, individuals, and other health care entities from having to provide, participate in, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for, services such as abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide.”

Continued: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoconnor/trump-rule-religious-doctors-refuse-abortion-sex


USA: Health Workers Who Oppose Abortion Get New Protections

Health Workers Who Oppose Abortion Get New Protections
By ROBERT PEAR
JAN. 18, 2018

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it was taking new steps to protect doctors, nurses and other health workers who have religious or moral objections to performing abortions or sex-change operations, or providing other medical services.

The move, one day before the annual March for Life in Washington, was a priority for anti-abortion groups.

Administration officials urged people to report discrimination to a new unit of the federal government: the conscience and religious freedom division of the office for civil rights at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/us/health-care-office-abortion-contraception.html