Tag Archives: Planned Parenthood

‘Worse Than Texas’: Extreme Anti-Choice Bills Advance in Multiple States

“These attacks on our rights are coordinated and connected,” noted Planned Parenthood Action.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 3-17-2022 by Common Dreams

Reproductive rights defenders march during the Rally for Abortion Justice in Washington, D.C. on October 2, 2021. (Photo: Kisha Bari/Women’s March/Twitter)

As anti-choice policymakers across the country seek to severely restrict reproductive freedom—and as the fate of Roe v. Wade hangs in the balance pending a looming U.S. Supreme Court decision—Republican lawmakers in at least four states this week advanced bills banning or limiting abortion access.

The Idaho Legislature on Monday became the first in the nation to approve a bill modeled after a Texas law that empowers citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion after six weeks. Continue reading →

The erosion of Roe v. Wade and abortion access didn’t begin in Texas or Mississippi – it started in Pennsylvania in 1992

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*Demonstrators in Austin march at the Texas State Capitol in just one of many rallies held across the U.S. to protest the state’s new abortion law.*
*Montinique Monroe/Getty Images News via Getty Images*

Alison Gash, University of Oregon

Abortion rights are more vulnerable to Supreme Court reversal now than at any time since the court legalized the procedure in its landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade.

The court is set to weigh in on abortion restrictions from at least two states this term. The first is a Texas law effectively outlawing abortions after six weeks. The second is a Mississippi law barring abortions after 15 weeks.

On Oct. 22, 2021, the Supreme Court upheld a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling allowing the Texas law to go into effect while the case is being litigated. Continue reading →

Saudi Arabia, Belarus Among Countries Joining US-Led Coalition Claiming Women Have ‘No International Right to Abortion’

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“This administration doesn’t seem content to stop until it has fully trampled on the rights, autonomy, and dignity of women and girls everywhere.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 10-22-2020

Protest against changes in abortion law in Poland,. Photo: Zorro2212/Wikimedia Commons/CC

Further distancing itself from longtime U.S. allies regarding reproductive rights, the Trump administration on Thursday joined 32 countries in signing a declaration claiming that pregnant people have “no international right to abortion.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the virtual signing ceremony for the so-called “Geneva Consensus Declaration” after the administration formed an international coalition comprised of countries where abortion care is banned or severely restricted, to counter the United Nations’ support for reproductive rights. Continue reading →

‘Deeply Disturbing’: Missouri Health Director Testifies He Kept Spreadsheet of Planned Parenthood Patients’ Menstrual Periods

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“Missouri politicians have gone too far. Tracking patients’ periods is government overreach at its worst and a major violation of privacy.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 10-29-2019

Photo: Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri/Twitter

In a revelation Tuesday that Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri described as “deeply disturbing,” the state health director Dr. Randall Williams testified at an administrative commission hearing that he kept a spreadsheet to track Planned Parenthood patients’ menstrual periods.

Williams’ testimony came as part of a contentious legal battle over the Missouri Health Department’s refusal to renew the license for Planned Parenthood’s clinic in St. Louis, which is the state’s last remaining abortion care provider. Continue reading →

Trump’s Domestic Gag Rule Forces Planned Parenthood to Withdraw From Title X Funding, Threatening Healthcare of 1.5 Million Women

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“This is about control. Period. We will resist.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 8-19-2019

Reproductive rights groups on Monday condemned the Trump administration’s Title X rule, which bans health clinics from counseling patients on abortion care. (Photo: Mikasi/cc/flickr)

Reproductive rights advocates slammed the Trump administration on Monday after Planned Parenthood announced that the White House had forced it to decline funding used to provide healthcare to more than a million low-income women.

The organization said it was withdrawing from Title X funding, citing the Trump administration’s “domestic gag rule,” which prohibits health centers receiving the funds from counseling patients about where and how to obtain abortion care. Continue reading →

‘This Is Not A Drill’: Amid GOP Attack, Pro-Choice #StopTheBans Rallies Take Place Nationwide

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“Now more than ever, we must unite against this unprecedented attack on our fundamental rights and freedoms…Because we are in the fight of our lives.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-21-2019

NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue speaks at a #StopTheBans rally in Washington, D.C., aimed at ending the Republican Party’s attacks on abortion rights. (Photo: NARAL Pro-Choice America)

A week after the Alabama legislature sparked outrage that spread across the country with its approval of a near-total ban on abortion care in the state, reproductive rights advocates across the country are holding “Stop the Bans” rallies on Tuesday to demand that state Republican lawmakers end their attacks on abortion rights.

NARAL Pro-Choice America, the National Women’s Law Center, and Planned Parenthood were among dozens of national groups that began planning a #StopTheBans Day of Action last week after extreme anti-choice laws were passed both in Alabama and Missouri. By Tuesday morning, more than 500 direct actions were planned in all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Continue reading →

As Supreme Court’s Right-Wing Justices Indicate Siding With Trump, Opponents Denounce ‘Bald-Faced Attempt to Racially Rig’ US Census

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“This case isn’t just about a line on a form. It’s about whether or not everyone in America counts.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-23-2019

Demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday as the court heard arguments regarding the Trump administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the U.S. census. (Photo: @CensusCounts/Twitter)

Civil rights advocates decried the Trump administration’s attack on immigrant rights and marginalized communities Tuesday as the Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the potential addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

The nation’s highest court began deliberating Commerce vs. New York, hearing from a number of rights groups who oppose Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s effort to add the question, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” to the 10-year survey of all U.S. residents. Continue reading →

As GOP Deploys ‘Nuclear Option’, New Reports Detail Damage Done By Trump’s Far-Right Takeover of Judiciary

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“In just under two years on the bench, these narrow-minded elitist judges have already harmed workers, consumers, voters, immigrants, reproductive rights, and many more.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-3-2019

Mitch McConnell, Brett Kavanaugh, Mike Pence and Jon Kyl before Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. Photo: Office of the Vice President [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

As Senate Republicans rammed through a rules change enabling faster approval of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees, two advocacy groups released reports on Wednesday showing the far-reaching and long-lasting damage his confirmed federal judges have already had on the nation.

People for the American Way (PFAW) and Alliance for Justice (AFJ) both published studies Wednesday about Trump’s success in appointing 92 judges to district courts, federal appeals courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court—with PFAW writing that the president’s effort to remake the judicial branch in his own image could be disastrous for a number of marginalized groups. Continue reading →

‘Horrific Attack on Women’s Health’: Trump-Pence Regime Blasted for New Domestic Gag Rule

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Final draft of changes to federal family planning program would unleash devastating consequences, say healthcare advocates

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 2-22-2019

Demostrators in Chicago protest against Trump’s expected “gag rule” on May 24, 2018. (Photo: Charles Edward Miller/flickr/cc)

Reproductive rights advocates sounded the alarm Friday after the Trump administration released a final draft of a rule critics have called an attack on women’s rights and dubbed a “domestic gag rule.”

The implications of the restrictive changes to Title X—on which over 4 million people rely—”are staggering,” said Dr. Leana Wen, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, adding that the move amounted to “an attack on poor women and people of color.” Continue reading →

Women Dressed as ‘Handmaids’ to Confront ‘Vicious Theocrat’ Mike Pence in Philadelphia Over His Anti-Choice Agenda

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“Pence is one of the most dangerous reactionary figures in modern history. He is a key figure in ushering in a theocratic society right out of the Handmaid’s Tale.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-23-2018

Since President Donald Trump assumed office last year, many women have taken to dressing as handmaids from the TV series and book “The Handmaid’s Tale” to protest Trump’s anti-choice agenda. (Photo: Carlos Lowry/Flickr/cc)

Resisting the Trump-Pence administration’s anti-choice and anti-woman agenda, dozens of woman dressed as handmaids from the novel and TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale” are planning to greet Vice President Mike Pence when he arrives in Philadelphia on Monday for a GOP fundraiser.

The white bonnets and red dresses and capes worn by the protesters will mimic those of handmaids in Hulu’s dramatic series and Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel, in which women are forced to give birth to the children of powerful men. Continue reading →

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Tag Archives: Planned Parenthood

‘Worse Than Texas’: Extreme Anti-Choice Bills Advance in Multiple States

“These attacks on our rights are coordinated and connected,” noted Planned Parenthood Action.

The erosion of Roe v. Wade and abortion access didn’t begin in Texas or Mississippi – it started in Pennsylvania in 1992

Saudi Arabia, Belarus Among Countries Joining US-Led Coalition Claiming Women Have ‘No International Right to Abortion’

“This administration doesn’t seem content to stop until it has fully trampled on the rights, autonomy, and dignity of women and girls everywhere.”

‘Deeply Disturbing’: Missouri Health Director Testifies He Kept Spreadsheet of Planned Parenthood Patients’ Menstrual Periods

“Missouri politicians have gone too far. Tracking patients’ periods is government overreach at its worst and a major violation of privacy.”

Trump’s Domestic Gag Rule Forces Planned Parenthood to Withdraw From Title X Funding, Threatening Healthcare of 1.5 Million Women

“This is about control. Period. We will resist.”

As GOP Deploys ‘Nuclear Option’, New Reports Detail Damage Done By Trump’s Far-Right Takeover of Judiciary

“In just under two years on the bench, these narrow-minded elitist judges have already harmed workers, consumers, voters, immigrants, reproductive rights, and many more.”

‘Horrific Attack on Women’s Health’: Trump-Pence Regime Blasted for New Domestic Gag Rule

Final draft of changes to federal family planning program would unleash devastating consequences, say healthcare advocates

Women Dressed as ‘Handmaids’ to Confront ‘Vicious Theocrat’ Mike Pence in Philadelphia Over His Anti-Choice Agenda

“Pence is one of the most dangerous reactionary figures in modern history. He is a key figure in ushering in a theocratic society right out of the Handmaid’s Tale.”