USA – Where the Conservative War on Abortion Pills Is Headed

By Andrea González-Ramírez, the Cut
March 12, 2025

In his nearly two months in office, President Donald Trump has only made small moves to advance his anti-abortion agenda. But his Justice Department’s decisions to enforce a law that protects abortion clinics from violence only in “extraordinary” cases and to stop defending a Biden-era lawsuit against Idaho that sought to protect access to emergency abortion care in hospitals send a clear signal: The federal government will not defend what curtailed abortion rights remain post-Dobbs. Now, Republican lawmakers emboldened by that message are going after their most urgent target: abortion pills.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/article/republicans-unleash-new-attacks-on-abortion-pills.html

Biden declares Equal Rights Amendment adopted, sparking a debate about his abortion legacy

The move has no immediate legal force but will likely spark lawsuits that advocates hope will restore abortion rights.

By Alice Miranda Ollstein
01/17/2025

President Joe Biden’s Friday announcement declaring the Equal Rights Amendment part of the U.S. Constitution is reviving long-simmering tensions in the abortion-rights movement about the outgoing president’s legacy on reproductive rights.

The last-minute move, three days before the end of Biden’s term, has sparked arguments between Biden’s defenders and his detractors over its significance, since even the White House acknowledged the announcement does not have the force of law. And the president’s declaration is also fueling a broader debate about whether Biden did enough to prepare for and respond to the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/17/biden-era-abortion-legacy-00199115

Inside the Harris campaign strategy linking abortion and freedom

The messaging is part of an effort to pick up conservative and independent voters in purple and red states in the wake of the end of federal abortion rights.

Jennifer Gerson
November 4, 2024

Speaking to voters in Malvern, Pennsylvania, last month, former Rep. Liz Cheney — a noted anti-abortion Republican — said that the current state of abortion bans was “not sustainable” and needed to be rethought.

“I think that there are many of us around the country who have been pro-life, but who have watched what’s going on in our states since the Dobbs decision, and have watched state legislatures put in place laws that are resulting in women not getting the care they need. I think this is an issue that we’re not seeing break down across party lines,” said Cheney, campaigning alongside Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2024/11/harris-abortion-freedom-campaign-strategy/

Kamala Harris’ call for ‘reproductive freedom’ means restoring Roe

The position aligns with President Joe Biden but clashes with some abortion-rights activists championing her White House bid.

By MEGAN MESSERLY and ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
07/29/2024

Kamala Harris jumped into the presidential race with a broad pledge to “restore reproductive freedom.” The Harris campaign specified Monday that she’s calling for restoring Roe v. Wade.

While many abortion-rights groups are championing her bid for the White House, some activists are frustrated with her position on the issue and plan to keep pushing to go further than President Joe Biden.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/29/kamala-harris-abortion-restoring-roe-00171657

Abortion Rights Advocates See Harris as an Ideal Messenger

“This election will be fought and won on the issue of reproductive freedom, and Kamala Harris has been a pro-choice champion her entire career.”

JULIANNE MCSHANE, Mother Jones
July 21, 2024

On Sunday, abortion rights advocates got some rare good news. After President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection this November, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.

Harris has been the administration’s strongest defender of abortion rights post-Dobbs—direct and consistent in her support. She has taken Trump to task for the fallout of overruling Roe; she has warned of Republicans’ ability to enact a nationwide abortion ban if Trump is re-elected; and she has traveled the country on what the White House called a “reproductive freedoms tour” to highlight the harms of abortion bans—which included a stop at a Minnesota Planned Parenthood, making her the first VP known to have ever visited an abortion clinic while in office.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/07/abortion-rights-advocates-see-harris-as-their-ideal-messenger-2024-kamala-harris-reporductive-rights/

USA – How The Fight For Abortion Rights Can Save Democracy

If Donald Trump is elected, he would most likely ban not only abortion, but also some forms of birth control and assisted fertility treatments like IVF.

By Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All.
Jul 17, 2024

As the Republican National Convention is underway in Milwaukee this week, and in the wake of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump tapping JD Vance, with his anti-abortion bonafides, as his running mate, I have never been so clear-eyed that we must consolidate behind the Biden-Harris ticket as our only chance to meet this moment and protect our democracy.

Democrats cannot protect reproductive freedom without having President Joe Biden’s back. Last Friday, I joined Biden at a rally in Detroit. The president was strong and in command, and clearly articulated why he is the leader this country needs.

Continued: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-the-fight-for-abortion-rights-can-save-democracy_n_6696ff80e4b0eb03cc134a8b

17.07.2024

Reproductive Freedom for All

Republican National Convention

Inside the $100 million plan to restore abortion rights in America

Leaders of the coalition say they want to make the procedure more accessible and affordable than ever before.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
06/24/2024

A new coalition of abortion-rights groups is marking the second anniversary of the fall of Roe v. Wade with a pledge to spend $100 million to restore federal protections for the procedure and make it more accessible than ever before.

In plans shared first with POLITICO, groups including Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and Reproductive Freedom for All are banding together to form Abortion Access Now — a national, 10-year campaign that will both prepare policies for the next time Democrats control the House, Senate and White House, and build support for those policies among lawmakers and the public. At a private event Monday evening in Washington, they will pitch a group of influential progressives on going on offense at a time when abortion is outlawed in a third of the country.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/24/abortion-rights-advocates-launch-100-million-campaign-00164528

Republican-led states are trying to crack down on abortion medication

A recent law in Louisiana highlights the effort to block access to mifepristone even as the Supreme Court considers a case that could restrict its use.

By Amanda Becker, Shefali Luthra
May 31, 2024

The Supreme Court is set to rule soon on how the abortion drug mifepristone can be used and prescribed, but conservative states — most recently Arkansas and Louisiana — haven’t waited to take their own steps to attempt to undercut access to the medication.

States have been able to ban or restrict abortion, including via medication, since the Supreme Court ended the federal right to abortion in June 2022. Yet the number of abortions has risen since Roe v. Wade was overturned — a development health researchers attribute in part to a growing share of pregnant patients seeking medication abortions through telemedicine, including those in states with bans.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2024/05/abortion-medication-republican-led-states-crack-down/

Florida’s 6-week abortion ban ‘catastrophic for the region,’ activist says

Women in the Southeast may have to travel as far as Virginia for care.

By Nadine El-Bawab
April 4, 2024

Despite abortion being on the November ballot in Florida, pro-abortion groups say a six-week ban going into effect next month will have devastating consequences for women in the Southeast.

…Florida, despite its 15-week limit, has been a key point of access to women across the southeastern U.S. living in states that have ceased nearly all abortion services due to bans. At least 14 states have ceased nearly all abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion rights.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/US/floridas-6-week-abortion-ban-catastrophic-region-activist/story?id=108816318

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