Biden To Rescind Trump’s Policies Limiting Abortion Access
President Joe Biden is expected Thursday to sign an executive order rolling back restrictions on federal funding for global aid groups that provide information about abortion to patients. He is also expected to order a review of limits put into effect by the Trump administration on Title X funding for reproductive health services for low-income families. In other news, Utah, Iowa and South Carolina lawmakers are considering measures that could restrict abortions in their states.
Politico:
Biden Starts Rolling Back Trump Anti-Abortion Rules
President Joe Biden is due to sign executive orders on Thursday aimed at rolling back some of the Trump administration’s most far-reaching abortion restrictions, including one denying U.S. aid to health groups abroad that provide information about the procedure, according to a White House document and three sources familiar with the plans. The actions will begin restoring federal support to abortion providers and organizations that offer abortion counseling while promoting the new administration's reproductive rights agenda on the global stage. (Ollstein, 1/28)
CNN:
Biden To Sign Memorandum Reversing Trump Abortion Access Restrictions
Biden will be fulfilling a campaign promise in the memorandum, rescinding the so-called Mexico City Policy, a ban on US government funding for foreign nonprofits that perform or promote abortions. The Trump administration reinstated the restriction in 2017 by presidential memorandum and then extended it to cover all applicable US global health funding. That made some $9.5 billion in aid for everything from HIV treatment to clean water projects and child immunizations contingent on groups agreeing not to discuss or perform abortions. (Kelly and Gaouette, 1/28)
In abortion developments from Utah, Iowa, Illinois and South Carolina —
The Hill:
Utah Republican Proposes State Bill Requiring Watching Video Before Abortion
A Utah Republican lawmaker proposed a bill in the state House of Representatives on Wednesday that would require women to watch a video that includes ultrasounds of a developing fetus before undergoing an abortion. State Rep. Steve Christiansen (R) introduced a bill in the Utah House that would mandate women to sign a document in front of a health care witness saying they’ve watched the Utah Department of Health video, under the penalty of perjury, before an abortion procedure. (Coleman, 1/27)
Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah’s Pre-Abortion Course Would Feature Heartbeat Audio, Procedure Images Under New State Bill
Completing this online module is already a mandatory step before an abortion in Utah — although right-wing advocates argue the current informed process is too porous and believe women might be skimming over or skipping the course. But abortion rights groups see these new proposed restrictions as yet another episode in a long campaign to block access to pregnancy-ending procedures in Utah. (Rodgers, 1/28)
The Gazette:
Iowa House OKs Constitutional Amendment Declaring No Right To Abortion
Iowa voters are a step closer to being able to vote on whether the Iowa Constitution guarantees a right to an abortion. The Iowa House approved House Joint Resolution 5 that would add language to make clear there is no constitutional right to an abortion or requirement for public funding of abortions.
Shortly after 9 p.m., the House approved the resolution 55-44, with three Republicans joining House Democrats in casting “no” votes. (1/27)
KCCI Des Moines:
Iowa House Passes Constitutional Amendment About Abortion Rights
The amendment now heads to a Senate subcommittee, which is expected to take it up next week. In order for the Iowa Constitution to be amended, the bill must be passed through the legislature twice and be approved by Iowa voters in an election. (1/27)
Capital News Illinois:
HHS Launches Probe Into Illinois Abortion Law
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched an investigation to determine whether Illinois has violated federal law by enacting and enforcing the 2019 Reproductive Health Act which, among other things, requires certain health insurance plans to cover abortion services. In a letter dated Jan. 19, which was the last full day of the Trump administration, HHS’s Office of Civil Rights notified the Chicago-based Thomas More Society that it had received a complaint the group filed in October 2019 and had agreed to open an investigation to determine if certain portions of the act violate federal law. (Hancock, 1/27)
Fox News:
HHS Probing Whether Illinois Discriminated Against Insurers That Limited Abortion Coverage
Illinois' Reproductive Health Act requires private insurers to cover abortion. It's unclear how the investigation will proceed under Biden's leadership, but it resembled a similar investigation HHS undertook that ultimately resulted in threatening to revoke Medicaid funding for California. (Dorman, 1/27)
Post and Courier:
As Abortion Ban Bill Advances, SC Democrats Accuse Republicans Of Not Focusing On Pandemic
A bill to ban most abortions in South Carolina took another step closer to passage Wednesday over the fierce protests of Democratic lawmakers who excoriated the Republican majority for devoting hours of legislative time on that issue while the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the state. In a key procedural step, the S.C. Senate voted 29-17 in favor of moving forward with the legislation, which would prohibit abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which typically occurs around six to eight weeks into pregnancies. (Lovegrove, 1/27)
Post and Courier:
Charleston Sheriff Decries SC Abortion Bill Giving Rape Victims' Names To Authorities
Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano took to Twitter on Wednesday to decry a Statehouse proposal that would give her department the names of any rape or incest victims who get abortions. The amendment, part of the so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill, would require any doctor who performs an abortion for an adult patient who reports that the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest to give the patient’s contact information to the local sheriff within 24 hours. Currently, doctors may refer victims to law enforcement or recovery services, but wouldn’t do so without the patient’s consent. (Coello, 1/27)
In global developments —
The New York Times:
Near-Total Abortion Ban Takes Effect in Poland, and Thousands Protest
A contentious near-total ban on abortion in Poland went into effect late Wednesday, despite rampant opposition from hundreds of thousands of Poles who began protesting in the fall in the largest demonstrations in the country since the 1989 collapse of communism. Thousands of outraged women, teenagers and allies returned to the streets Wednesday night bundled up against the cold after word that a ruling that halts the termination of pregnancies for fetal abnormalities — virtually the only kind of abortion performed in Poland — would come into force. (Kwai, Pronczuk and Magdziarz, 1/27)
The New York Times:
Thailand Legalizes Early-Term Abortions But Keeps Other Restrictions
Thailand’s Parliament has voted to make abortion legal in the first trimester, while keeping penalties in place for women who undergo it later in their pregnancies. Lawmakers in the Senate voted 166 to 7 on Monday to amend a law that had imposed prison terms of up to three years for anyone having an abortion, and up to five years for those who perform one. The new version allows any woman to end a pregnancy in the first 12 weeks. (Suhartono and Ives, 1/28)
