These States Could Lose the Right to Abortion Overnight

OCT. 27, 2020
By Madeleine Aggeler

With the appointment of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the legal battle over reproductive rights in the United States is likely to intensify quickly. There are currently 17 abortion-related cases one step away from the Supreme Court. And now, with a 6-3 conservative majority on the Court, the future of Roe v. Wade — the 1973 case which ruled that abortion is a constitutional right — is more uncertain than ever.

Barrett, a devout Catholic and former mentee of the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, evaded questions about abortion during her confirmation hearing. But pro-choice groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood have called her a “clear and present danger to Roe and reproductive freedom,” and “a particular insult to the legacy of Justice Ginsberg.” Indeed, Barrett was a member of an anti-abortion, “right to life” group in Indiana as recently as 2016, and in 2013, she gave two talks to anti-abortion student groups at the University of Notre Dame.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2020/10/what-are-trigger-laws-anti-abortion-roe-v-wade.html

Where Does Kamala Harris Stand on Abortion and Reproductive Rights?

Breaking down the VP nominee's policy.

BY ERICA GONZALES
OCT 7 2020

As Election Day inches nearer, eyes aren't just on the presidential nominees, they're on the vice president picks too. And as a history-making vice presidential candidate on the ballot, Kamala Harris is especially in the spotlight—and so are her policies. Here, we look into the Democratic senator's stance on abortion access and reproductive rights, major issues that may be on voters' minds in light of President Donald Trump's latest Supreme Court nominee.

In 2019, as a Democratic nominee for president, Senator Harris shared her plan to protect abortion access, which was modeled after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to Politico. In it, she proposed that states that tend to restrict abortion would have to obtain preclearance by the Department of Justice before enforcing laws affecting access to the procedure.

Continued: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a34284404/kamala-harris-stance-on-abortion/

07.10.2020

Brett Kavanaugh

Donald Trump

EACH Woman Act

Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act

Hyde Amendment

Kamala Harris

Mike Pence

Naral Pro-Choice America

Planned Parenthood

Roe v. Wade

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Women’s Health Protection Act

AMA and Planned Parenthood ask Supreme Court to block federal abortion referral rule

By Caroline Kelly
Thu October 1, 2020

(CNN)The American Medical Association, the main industry group for doctors, is asking the Supreme Court to block the Trump administration rule barring federally funded health care providers in the Title X family planning program from referring patients for abortions.

The petition filed Thursday comes as the high court faces a vacancy following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But a contentious confirmation fight looms over President Donald Trump's pick for the seat, federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has expressed views and joined opinions that suggest she is receptive to further restrictions on abortion rights and would likely help further cement a conservative majority on the court.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/01/politics/supreme-court-abortion-referral-rule/index.html

USA – Abortion Regulation in the Age of COVID-19

Both abortion advocates and opponents have used the COVID-19 crisis to further their policy goals.

Carrie N. Baker
Sep 21, 2020

The gendered dimensions of the political response to the COVID-19 crisis are manifesting clearly in efforts to close abortion clinics, as well as in campaigns led by doctors, lawyers, and reproductive rights advocates to expand access to telemedicine abortion during the pandemic and beyond.

Anti-abortion politicians in states across the country have used the COVID-19 pandemic to attempt to restrict abortion, arguing that abortion is not essential health care and that banning the procedure will conserve personal protective equipment for COVID-19 cases. In March and April of 2020, 12 states tried to restrict abortion, including Alaska, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia, among others. Legislators in Kentucky passed a bill to allow the state’s Attorney General to block abortion access during COVID-19, but the Kentucky governor vetoed the bill.
Continued: https://www.theregreview.org/2020/09/21/baker-abortion-regulation-covid-19/

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

USA – This November, Vote Like Your Abortion Access Depends On It

By AMANDA MATOS & BONYEN LEE-GILMORE
September 17, 2020

This is the story of two worlds in the U.S. — where the power to decide what happens to your body, your life, and your future depends on the state you live in, who you are, and how much money you earn. We are cisgender heterosexual women of color, representing two of the fastest-growing groups in the American electorate. As a Latina and an Asian American woman, we know the right to live free from discrimination goes beyond who we elect to the White House. We are freedom-fighting activistas who carry light-skinned privilege, and know our votes are bigger than our individual stories.

As a New Yorker, one of us benefits from state leaders who protect the right to an abortion, no matter who sits in the White House or on the Supreme Court. Yet not everyone in New York has equal access to that right. Even if you can find money for the abortion — a big “if” — you may not be able to take time off from work or afford childcare or transportation.

Continued: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/planned-parenthood-abortion-access-vote-1060691/

17.09.2020

anti-abortion restrictions

anti-choice restrictions

Bonyen Lee-Gilmore

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Votes

USA – Why Only the Republicans Are Talking About Abortion

The G.O.P. convention featured an extreme anti-abortion activist. The Democrats mostly kept mum.

By Lauren Kelley
Aug. 26, 2020

Ahead of her speech at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday evening, Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned prominent anti-abortion activist, said she hoped to deliver “the most provocative, impassioned, memorable” anti-abortion speech in history.

“It’s pretty graphic,” she said in a recent podcast interview teasing the speech.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/opinion/rnc-abortion-republican-party.html

26.08.2020

News

Abby Johnson

And Then There Were None

Republican National Convention

USA – Abby Johnson Spreads Falsehoods About Abortion At The RNC

The anti-abortion activist accused Planned Parenthood of racism and described abortion in graphic language.

By Melissa Jeltsen, HuffPost US
08/25/2020

Anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson used her five-minute speaking slot on the second night of the Republican National Convention to stigmatize abortion and smear her former employer, Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest provider of reproductive health care.

Johnson, who spent the day under fire for past statements on racial profiling and women’s right to vote, worked at Planned Parenthood for eight years before defecting to the anti-abortion movement.

Continued: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/abby-johnson-abortion-lies-rnc_n_5f45997dc5b6cf66b2afd884

25.08.2020

Republican National Convention

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