Abortion Was Back-Burnered in the Presidential Race. Not Anymore.

The battle over the Supreme Court brings back a volatile issue with political risks for both sides, even as it energizes parts of their bases.

By Lisa Lerer and Elizabeth Dias
Sept. 20, 2020

For Joshua Hon, the prospect of another open seat on the Supreme Court was the moment he’s been waiting for since voting for President Trump four years ago.

“I would not say that I love Trump, but I do believe that abortion is killing babies,” said Mr. Hon, 35, who lives in Durham County in North Carolina.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/us/abortion-supreme-court-trump-biden.html

Ginsburg’s Death A ‘Pivot Point’ For Abortion Rights, Advocates Say

By SARAH MCCAMMON
September 19, 2020

With her 14-month-old daughter on her hip, Anna Lashley, an attorney from Washington, D.C., came to pay her last respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court on Saturday.

"I just can't wait to tell my daughter about her, and teach her about the lessons she taught me, and what she did for women," Lashley said.

Continued: https://www.wvik.org/post/ginsburgs-death-pivot-point-abortion-rights-advocates-say#stream/0

Kamala Harris is invigorating abortion rights activists

By Paige Winfield Cunningham
August 20, 2020

Joe Biden has been less willing than other Democrats to lurch leftward on abortion rights.

But the presidential nominee could hardly have given the issue a louder cheerleader than Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), his vice-presidential pick.

In her speech last night to the Democratic National Convention, Harris made only passing mention of reproductive rights, speaking of how minority Americans are feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic more acutely than White Americans.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/20/health-202-kamala-harris-is-invigorating-abortion-rights-activists/

With Biden, advocates sense momentum for lifting abortion funding ban

By Jessie Hellmann
08/17/20

Abortion rights advocates are pinning their hopes on presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to help end a longstanding ban on the use of federal funds for abortion — a policy he supported for more than 40 years.

Biden reversed his position by denouncing the so-called Hyde amendment last year, but its future doesn’t just depend on who wins the White House. Democrats will also need to make major gains in the Senate, keep control of the House and gain the support of more moderate Democratic lawmakers on a divisive issue.

Continued: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/abortion/512038-with-biden-advocates-sense-momentum-for-lifting-abortion-funding

‘I Can’t Focus on Abortion Access if My People Are Dying’

Some Gen Z and millennial women said they viewed abortion rights as important but less urgent than other social justice causes. Others said racial disparities in reproductive health must be a focus.

By Emma Goldberg
June 30, 2020

Like many young Americans, Brea Baker experienced her first moment of political outrage after the killing of a Black man. She was 18 when Trayvon Martin was shot. When she saw his photo on the news, she thought of her younger brother, and the boundary between her politics and her sense of survival collapsed.

In college she volunteered for the N.A.A.C.P. and as a national organizer for the Women’s March. But when conversations among campus activists turned to abortion access, she didn’t feel the same sense of personal rage.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/us/politics/abortion-supreme-court-gen-z.html

Tennessee lawmakers pass fetal heartbeat abortion bill backed by governor

Tennessee lawmakers pass fetal heartbeat abortion bill backed by governor

by Veronica Stracqualursi and Caroline Kelly, CNN
Fri June 19, 2020

Washington (CNN)Tennessee lawmakers have passed a bill backed by the state's Republican governor that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Early Friday morning, the Tennessee Senate approved the bill, 23-5, after the House had passed the legislation earlier, 68-17. Republicans control both chambers.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/19/politics/tennessee-abortion-heartbeat-bill/index.html

Will the Supreme Court Strike a Devastating Blow to Abortion Rights?

Will the Supreme Court Strike a Devastating Blow to Abortion Rights?

By Caitlin Moscatello
June 17, 2020

In its first major test on abortion since President Trump appointed conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court is expected to render a decision soon that will signal to state lawmakers how far they can go in restricting abortion access. How the Court comes down on the case could also serve as an indicator of its willingness to dial back reproductive rights going forward.

The case, June Medical Services v. Russo, comes out of Louisiana, but is strikingly similar to a Texas law the Court struck down four years ago in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Both are considered to be the targeted regulation of abortion providers: Known as TRAP laws, they are medically unnecessary abortion restrictions that lawmakers pass under the guise of protecting women’s health.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/supreme-court-case-june-medical-v-russo-may-change-abortion.html

17.06.2020

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Missouri’s last abortion clinic will stay open after ruling ends contentious year-long legal battle

Missouri’s last abortion clinic will stay open after ruling ends contentious year-long legal battle

By Reis Thebault and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux
May 29, 2020

Missouri has narrowly avoided a return to a time before Roe v. Wade after an independent arbiter ruled that its last operating abortion clinic can continue offering the procedure.

After a year-long legal battle that pitted allegations of grave violations against accusations of regulatory overreach, the Planned Parenthood in St. Louis won a rare victory in a state that has become increasingly hostile to abortion rights.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/29/ruling-saves-missouri-abortion-clinic/

USA – “Unconscionable”: Planned Parenthood Pres. Condemns States Using Pandemic to Limit Abortion Access

“Unconscionable”: Planned Parenthood Pres. Condemns States Using Pandemic to Limit Abortion Access

April 27, 2020
(30 min video and transcript)

As much of the U.S. remains on lockdown, abortion rights are under attack nationwide. We get an update on the fight for abortion access with Alexis McGill Johnson, acting president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “Our bodies have literally been deemed essential,” she says, “and yet the control of our bodies and the right to control our own bodies has not.”

Transcript - This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/27/coronavirus_us_abortion_access_texas_alabama

USA – Women Are Trying to Survive COVID-19. Politicians Are Trying to Take Away Their Care

Women Are Trying to Survive COVID-19. Politicians Are Trying to Take Away Their Care
Now is the time to be making abortion more accessible, not less

April 10, 2020
By Alexis McGill Johnson

Women are trying to survive this. Moms laid off or missing wages to stay home with their children, still trying to make ends meet. Women in abusive relationships, weathering shelter in place orders. Women hiding in their closets, trying to get through one more conference call between homeschooling and tantrums. Health care workers, the majority of whom are women, going to work on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Low-wage workers deemed essential, some leaving their children at home, continuing to put themselves at risk so that the rest of us have what we need to survive.

We are doing the majority of child care, as schools and daycares close. If our families get sick, we will do the majority of caregiving. And as always happens, Black and Latino communities will face the harshest economic consequences, so women of color will face difficult decisions about how to support their families.

Continued: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/planned-parenthood-alexis-mcgill-johnson-oped-covid-19-abortion-healthcare-981966/