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

Save Clinic 554 and provide abortion access for all

Elisa Do
December 7, 2020

In March 2020, roughly $140,000 was deducted from New Brunswick’s annual health transfer payments by the Canadian federal government. Yet in April, the temporary reimbursement of the same amount was provided to the province due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initial decision to deduct money was a result of the province not subsidizing out-of-hospital abortions. The province has been criticized for not providing adequate abortion access.

Continued: https://www.thesil.ca/save-clinic-554-and-provide-abortion-access-for-all

07.12.2020

MSU Student Health Education Centre

Canada – 36 Canadian senators call for New Brunswick to ensure access to abortion

By Karla Renic, Global News
Posted September 30, 2020

On Tuesday, 36 senators from across Canada signed a call for access to reproductive rights in New Brunswick after Premier Blaine Higgs said funding Clinic 554 would be a “slippery slope.”

Fredericton’s Clinic 554, which serves as an abortion clinic, a family practice and a resource for LGBTQ2+ patients across the province, is set to close at the end of the month as a result of the lack of funding.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/7368407/canadian-senators-new-brunswick-access-to-abortion/

30.09.2020

Canada Health Transfer funds

Canada – It’s hard enough to get an abortion in New Brunswick—closing Clinic 554 won’t help

by Tegwyn Hughes
Posted on August 17, 2020

This article is the first in a two-part series about Clinic 554 and health care in New Brunswick.

In the Greater Toronto Area, there are nine locations where someone can access abortion services. In the entire province of New Brunswick, there are only four. Come September, that number could shrink to three, worsening the already poor access to abortion care in the province.

Clinic 554, New Brunswick’s only independent clinic that offers abortions—as well as family medicine, trans-inclusive care, and contraception counselling—is set to close permanently at the end of September. Advocates for the Fredericton, N.B. clinic, as well as former patients, are urging the provincial government to save it, but the Progressive Conservative leadership hasn’t budged.

Continued: https://the-pigeon.ca/2020/08/17/clinic-554-1/

Pro-choice activists launch abortion initiative in Poland

Pro-choice activists launch abortion initiative in Poland
Abortion Without Borders to offer women advice and funds to seek treatment abroad

Shaun Walker, Central and eastern Europe correspondent
Tue 10 Dec 2019

An international group of pro-choice campaigners will launch an initiative in Poland this week to provide advice and funding for women to travel abroad to have abortions.

Poland has some of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws, and proposals backed by the rightwing government to introduce a total ban on abortions in 2016 were scrapped only after large-scale protests.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/10/pro-choice-activists-launch-abortion-initiative-in-poland