As Surgical Access Falls, Lawmakers Also Target Abortion Pills
A report in The Hill explains how House Democrats have been asking Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to preserve access to abortion medications, even as some states try to block access to the long-approved pills, and as abortion banning-laws advance across the country.
The Hill:
House Democrats Press Becerra On Access To Abortion Medication
House Democrats are pressing Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to protect and expand access to abortion medication and are asking to meet with members of a key HHS task force after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) increased access to the abortion pill mifepristone last year. The 12 Democratic congresswomen on the House Oversight and Reform Committee penned a letter to Becerra on Tuesday to urge the Reproductive Health Care Access Task Force, announced in January, to “take immediate action to protect and expand access to medication abortion care in accordance with the recent elimination of the medically unnecessary in-person dispensing requirement for the medication abortion drug mifepristone.” (Schnell, 3/16)
Stateline:
As Abortion Pills Take Off, Some States Move To Curb Them
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weaken or topple its nearly 50-year-old abortion rights decision, Roe v. Wade, giving states wide latitude to restrict the procedure. But most legislatures will be adjourned by then, and anti-abortion lawmakers aren’t waiting to address what they expect will be one result of widespread limits on clinical abortions: spiraling demand for medication abortions. Since January, legislators in at least 20 states have proposed bills that would restrict or ban access to abortion pills approved more than two decades ago by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This year’s flurry of bills was spurred in part by an FDA ruling during the coronavirus pandemic that eliminated a long-standing requirement that patients consult with prescribers and pick up the pills in person. (Vestal, 3/16)
Kentucky takes a step closer to an abortion ban —
AP:
Kentucky Senate Passes Bill Banning Abortions After 15 Weeks
Kentucky lawmakers took another step Wednesday toward banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with an eye toward a looming U.S. Supreme Court decision on abortion rights. The bill, which won Senate passage 31-6, is modeled after a Mississippi law under review by the nation’s high court in a case that could dramatically limit abortion rights in the United States. The Kentucky measure next advances to the House. Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers. (Schreiner, 3/16)
Citigroup says it will pay for its employees to leave Texas to get an abortion —
CNN:
Citi's Response To Abortion Bans: We'll Pay For Workers To Travel
After a number of US states passed laws severely restricting access to abortions, Citigroup this week said it is providing employees with travel benefits to facilitate access to abortion clinics. "In response to changes in reproductive healthcare laws in certain states in the U.S., beginning in 2022 we provide travel benefits to facilitate access to adequate resources," Citi (C) said in a letter to shareholders Wednesday as part of its annual proxy statement. (Goldman, 3/16)
Bloomberg:
Citi Draws Ire Of Texas Republicans Over Its New Abortion Policy
Citigroup Inc. may have found a way of doing business in Texas while addressing one of the state’s hottest cultural divides. Buried in a filing released Tuesday night, the bank disclosed it will now cover travel costs for employees seeking an abortion after several states including Texas implemented or proposed a near-total ban on the procedure. The New York-based bank will pay expenses, such as airfare and lodging, that employees may incur if forced to leave a state for an abortion. (Miller and Hagan, 3/16)
More on abortion accessibility in Idaho, Missouri, Kansas, and elsewhere —
Vanity Fair:
Idaho’s Uniquely Evil Abortion Bill Gives Rapists’ Families A Say
On Monday, the Idaho House passed Senate Bill 1309, which, like in Texas, would prevent pregnant people from obtaining abortions after six weeks. Idaho’s spin? Rather than empowering any old private citizens to sue to enforce the law, it specifically allows family members of the fetus—including family members of a rapists— to sue abortion providers for up to four years after the procedure, for a minimum of $20,000 in damages. While Idaho has so humanely said that the rapists themselves could not sue, under the proposed legislation, they could get their parents and siblings to do so, as well as the would-be brothers and sisters of the fetus in question. Oh, and apparently nothing in the bill would prevent a rapist with, say, 10 siblings from having every single one of them sue individually and then collecting their cash. (Levin, 3/15)
Kansas City Star:
Abortion At Home Is A Reality In Missouri And Kansas
Nearly one quarter of women in the U.S. will have an abortion by the age of 45. Many of these abortions will be performed using medication. And in an era of telemedicine, experts say it has never been easier to access abortion at home—with or without the support of a medical professional. But new bills in the Missouri statehouse are taking aim at those who help pregnant people self-administer a medication abortion by providing pills, prescriptions and even information about the procedure. We consulted experts on abortion law and care access in Missouri and Kansas to bring you this no-nonsense guide to so-called “abortion by mail.” (Wallington, 3/17)
Kansas City Star:
Can You Get An ‘Abortion By Mail’ In Missouri Or Kansas? Here’s What To Know
New bills in the Missouri statehouse are taking aim at those who help pregnant people self-administer a medication abortion by providing pills, prescriptions and even information about the procedure. We consulted experts on abortion law and care access in Missouri and Kansas to bring you this no-nonsense guide to so-called “abortion by mail.” (Wallington, 3/17)
Intelligencer:
The Anti-Abortion Movement’s Deadly Pseudoscience
Here is a scientific fact: Ectopic pregnancies are not viable. They occur when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, which dooms the pregnancy and, without treatment, can doom a woman, too. Ectopic pregnancies can lead to hemorrhage and are the leading cause of death for women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Here’s another fact: There is one way to save a woman from an ectopic pregnancy, and that is through termination — an abortion. A proposed Missouri bill ignores these facts outright. H.B. 2810 would make it a felony, punishable by ten-years-to-life in prison, to perform an abortion after ten weeks of pregnancy, including in cases of ectopic pregnancy, the Springfield News-Leader reports. (Jones, 3/15)
