Reproductive rights – REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ALERTS

17 Feb

EU says it ‘cannot fill’ USAID funding gap as Africa seeks solutions

PatLatest NewsAfrica, EU, International, Reproductive rights

The European Union said it cannot plug the funding gap left by the United States suspending aid programs, as governments across Africa try to keep critical health care services running. The US is the largest single aid donor in the world, disbursing some $72 billion in assistance in 2023, much of it through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In that same year the EU, the largest collective donor, contributed almost $100 billion.

15 Feb

As faith-based programs teach sex ed in Utah’s public schools, Planned Parenthood may get banned

RandyLatest NewsHealthcare, Mormon, Reproductive rights, School-aged, Sex-ed, United States, Utah

At least two school districts have approved employees of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Family Services to give sex education-related lectures to students.

13 Feb

Republican States Claim Zero Abortions. A Red-State Doctor Calls That ‘Ludicrous.’

MauraLatest NewsAbortion Ban, Abortion Rights, GOP, Healthcare, Reproductive rights, United States

In Arkansas, state health officials announced a stunning statistic for 2023: The total number of abortions in the state, where some 1.5 million women live, was zero. In South Dakota, too, official records show zero abortions that year. And in Idaho, home to abortion battles that have recently made their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the official number of recorded abortions was just five. In nearly a dozen states with total or near-total abortion bans, government officials claimed that zero or very few abortions occurred in 2023, the first full year after the Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion rights.

09 Feb

USAID’s reproductive health funding has saved millions of lives. Now it’s gone.

BarbraLatest NewsHealthcare, Reproductive rights, Trump, United States, USAID

For decades, USAID’s family planning program was the main source for contraception and HIV treatment in some countries. Experts say without it, women and LGBTQ+ people will die.

07 Feb

After ‘Abortion’ Was Wiped From CDC Website, Users Now Get ‘Adoption’ Info

PatLatest NewsAnti-abortion, Healthcare, Messaging, Reproductive rights, United States

The change was made while federal health care webpages were taken offline. Reproductive health workers call it a "clear attempt" to change the messaging around pregnancy. Meanwhile, health care centers and clinics nationwide are making tough calls after the White House instituted a funding freeze.

06 Feb

Conservatives want to increase birth rates. These moms are terrified to have more kids

RandyLatest NewsHealthcare, Reproductive rights, Tennessee, United States

These women live in states that currently or previously had abortion bans, and cited those policies as part of or the primary reason for their fertility decisions.

03 Feb

How Project 2025 Seeks to Obliterate Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

AlanLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Healthcare, Project 2025, Reproductive rights, Trump, United States

Project 2025 promotes a presidential agenda that rolls back civil and human rights and implements extremist conservative policies across every federal department and agency. Its sweeping far-right policy framework,1 by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, includes numerous attacks on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The plan’s far-reaching recommendations would severely limit reproductive autonomy and access to reproductive health care, while turning back the clock on hard-won gains, both domestically and globally. This fact sheet enumerates some of the agenda’s most serious threats to sexual and reproductive health and describes potential effects.

02 Feb

Texas’ abortion ban, among the strictest in the U.S., could get even stricter

RandyLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Healthcare, legislation, Reproductive rights, Texas, United States

Texas has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, and during this legislative session, anti-abortion advocates are hoping to foreclose on the few remaining avenues left to end a pregnancy.

31 Jan

Parental rights at center of reproductive health debate

BarbraLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Civil Rights, Healthcare, Reproductive rights, United States

The anti-abortion movement has framed certain protections for abortion care as attacks on parental rights. Opponents of successful reproductive rights ballot measures in Ohio, Missouri, Maryland and New York often deployed this rhetoric while campaigning. Parental rights were not included in Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot language that passed in November 2023. But that didn’t stop first lady Fran DeWine from saying in an ad that the measure “would deny parents the right to be involved when their daughter is making the most important decision of her life,” Ohio Capital Journal reported.

29 Jan

Stopping the Abuse of Tech in Surveilling and Criminalizing Abortion

PatLatest NewsAbortion Care, Data Security, Healthcare, Reproductive rights, United States

Apps and consumer data could be weaponized to criminalize those seeking, providing, and supporting abortion care, and policymakers and individual Americans should act to protect private reproductive health information.

29 Jan

Trump health pick Kennedy faces US Senate scrutiny over vaccine, abortion views

PatLatest NewsAbortion Rights, GOP, Healthcare, Reproductive rights, United States

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's pick to lead the top U.S. health agency, is set to face a grilling from Senate Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday over his views on vaccines, abortion, and potential conflicts of interest. Kennedy, 70, will appear in front of the Senate Finance Committee at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) on Wednesday. While that committee is responsible for advancing his nomination to the full Senate, Kennedy is also scheduled to appear in front of a second Senate panel that oversees health on Thursday.

27 Jan

Johnson touts ‘new era’ of abortion opposition under Trump

RandyLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Anti-abortion, GOP, Healthcare, Reproductive rights, Trump, United States

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Friday abortion opponents are “entering a new era” with President Trump and Vice President Vance in the White House. Speaking at the March for Life, Johnson praised the new administration for anti-abortion actions taken in the first week, including pardoning nearly two dozen anti-abortion activists.

27 Jan

What a U.S. exit from the WHO means for global health

RandyLatest NewsInternational, Reproductive rights, WHO

For decades, the United States has held considerable power in determining the direction of global health policies and programs. President Donald Trump issued three executive orders on his first day in office that may signal the end of that era, health policy experts said.

26 Jan

Governor Whitmer Signs Bills Expanding Reproductive Freedom, Reducing Barriers to Affording Contraception and Care in Michigan

RandyLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Healthcare, Michigan, Reproductive rights, United States

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed 16 bills that will expand reproductive freedom in Michigan, including a bill that allows pharmacists to directly prescribe and dispense contraceptives to patients. This package of bills ensures women can more easily access critical health care by lowering costs and cutting unnecessary red tape. These bills also bolster Governor Whitmer’s commitment to advancing reproductive freedoms here in Michigan, giving more Michiganders the opportunity to control if, when, and how they choose to start their families

25 Jan

Justice Department curtails prosecutions for blocking access to reproductive health centers

RandyLatest NewsAnti-abortion, Clinic access, Reproductive rights, Trump, United States

President Donald Trump’s new Justice Department leadership is curtailing prosecutions against people accused of blocking access to abortion clinics and reproductive health centers Mizelle also ordered the immediate dismissal of three FACE Act cases related to 2021 blockades of clinics in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio.