Mackenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife, donates $275 million to abortion rights organization

The billionaire philanthropist has given a record amount to Planned Parenthood, a US healthcare group that provides services including termination of pregnancies

Helena Poncini
MAR 29, 2022

Mackenzie Scott continues on her mission to donate most of her money in her lifetime. And as one of the richest women in the world, it’s a hefty amount. The philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a net worth of over $50 billion (around €45 billion), according to Forbes magazine, and in June she announced that she had donated $2.74 billion (around €2.5 billion) to 300 different nonprofit organizations. Now, she has donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood, according to the news agency Reuters. The donation is the largest that the American institution for family planning and women’s health has ever received from a single person.

Continued: https://english.elpais.com/society/2022-03-29/mackenzie-scott-jeff-bezoss-ex-wife-donates-275-million-to-abortion-rights-organization.html

29.03.2022

Fondo Semillas

funding for abortion

Giving Pledge initiative

Jeff Bezos

Mackenzie Scott

Planned Parenthood

USA – While red states restrict abortion, blue states are voting to protect access

March 28, 2022
JACLYN DIAZ

As the country awaits the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on a case that could overturn Roe v. Wade, Democrat-led states are proposing laws to shore up abortion rights at the local level.

The effort is in direct response to the organized campaign to make abortion illegal. Dozens of states have enacted laws, or are considering them, to restrict access to abortion as the country awaits the Supreme Court's decision.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/28/1088238619/legislation-abortion-bans

How Some Texans Are Getting Abortions Despite a Devastating Law

March 24, 2022
By Samuel Dickman and Kari White

In September, when the Texas law that outlaws abortions after cardiac activity is detected went into effect, experts predicted that nearly 85 percent of people seeking abortions would be too far along in their pregnancies to qualify for care. As predicted, many thousands of Texans have been denied care under Senate Bill 8, as the state’s anti-abortion measure is known. It continues to cause emotional and financial devastation for Texans who have been forced to seek care in other states. In the first four months it was in effect, nearly 5,600 Texans traveled out of state to get abortion care.

But recent data shows that the decline in the number of abortions in Texas was less than expected, dropping by about half compared to the same months in 2020.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/opinion/texas-abortion-funds-sb8.html

Anti-abortion lawyers target those funding the procedure for potential lawsuits under new Texas law

Attorneys who helped design Texas’ novel abortion ban have asked a judge to allow them to depose the leaders of two abortion funds, seeking information about anyone who may have “aided or abetted” in a prohibited procedure.

BY ELEANOR KLIBANOFF
FEB. 23, 2022

For nearly six months, as Texas’ novel abortion law has wended its way through the courts, abortion providers and opponents have been locked in a stalemate.

The law, known as Senate Bill 8, empowers private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. With one exception as soon as the law went into effect, abortion providers in Texas have stopped performing these prohibited procedures — so opponents haven’t tried to bring one of these enforcement suits.

Continued: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/23/texas-abortion-sb8-lawsuits/

USA – Public Abortion Coverage Helps My Patients | Opinion

MAI FLEMING , FAMILY PHYSICIAN
ON 7/30/21

Mrs. K was a refugee who recently arrived in the U.S. to reunite with her husband and children. They arrived safely a few weeks ahead of her. On her initial refugee health exam, Mrs. K discovered she was six weeks pregnant. She had just arrived after escaping persecution in southeast Asia and faced the tremendous task of settling herself and her family in a new home. It was impossible for her to contemplate bringing another child into her family at the time. When Mrs. K came into the primary care clinic where I work seeking a medication abortion, I was happy to help her through the process.

In California, where my primary practice is located, any pregnancy-related care, including abortion care, is covered by Medicaid. Any person who is eligible for Medicaid and seeking an abortion for any reason can obtain the health care services they need without delay. That means access to an abortion as soon as someone decides, rather than having to delay for weeks to scrape together funds to pay out of pocket.

Continued: https://www.newsweek.com/public-abortion-coverage-helps-my-patients-opinion-1614402

USA – Democrats repeal prohibition on funding abortions abroad

BY LAURA KELLY
07/28/21

House Democrats on Wednesday passed for the first time in more than half a century a State Department and foreign assistance spending bill that does not include the Helms Amendment, a provision that blocks U.S. funding for women’s health services related to abortions.

The state, foreign operations and related programs bill, an annual appropriations package that lays out U.S. foreign funding priorities, excludes text from the Helms Amendment for the first time since it was introduced in 1973.

Continued: https://thehill.com/policy/international/565341-democrats-poised-to-repeal-prohibition-on-funding-abortions-abroad

USA – Conservative group targets vulnerable Democrats over abortion

BY BRETT SAMUELS, The Hill
06/23/21

A conservative anti-abortion group is launching a six-figure ad campaign targeting Democratic senators and House members in battleground states tying them to President Biden's decision to leave a longstanding ban on federal funding for most abortions out of his 2022 budget proposal.

Susan B. Anthony List, a conservative group focused on abortion issues, will spend six figures on digital ads targeting Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who both face reelection in 2022.

Continued: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/559791-exclusive-conservative-group-targets-vulnerable-democrats-over?rl=1

23.06.2021

California moves to make abortion cheaper, as other states work to restrict it

By RACHEL BLUTH, KAISER HEALTH NEWS
JUNE 7, 2021

SACRAMENTO — Even as most states are trying to make it harder to get an abortion, California could make it free for more people.

State lawmakers are debating a bill to eliminate out-of-pocket expenses such as co-pays and payments toward deductibles for abortions and related services, including counseling. The measure, approved by the Senate and headed to the Assembly, would apply to most private health plans regulated by the state.

Continued: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-07/california-to-make-abortion-cheaper-unlike-many-states

Australia – The Federal Budget must invest in abortion care

MAY 11, 2021

The Government has announced investments of $353.9 million over the next 4 years for women’s health as part of the 2021-22 Budget. It is not yet clear if, how and where this investment will fund equity and access in abortion care.

This investment is linked to the five priority areas of the National Women’s Health Strategy 2020–2030 and the improvement of long term health outcomes for women and girls. Priority area 1 is maternal, sexual and reproductive health.

Continued: https://www.mariestopes.org.au/your-choices/federal-budget-abortion/

11.05.2021

Marie Stopes Australia

National Women's Health Strategy

Canada: activists sue province over refusal to fund abortions in private clinics

Lawsuit argues that New Brunswick’s refusal violates both the law and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Brooklyn Connolly in Truro, The Guardian (UK)
Fri 8 Jan 2021

Human rights activists in Canada have filed a lawsuit against the province of New Brunswick for its refusal to fund abortion services in private clinics – as they are in the rest of the country.

The lawsuit suit filed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) argues that the refusal violates both the law and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Canada’s constitution.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/08/canada-new-brunswick-lawsuit-abortion-services-private-clinics