Less than an hour until the Women’s Health Protection Act hearing! We’re here in DC waiting outside to get into the hearing room along with dozens of other advocates.
Check back with us throughout the morning... we’ll be live tweeting from the hearing room! #ActForWomen
So many #reprorights warriors here!! Excited to get in the room and hear from our legislators and our President and CEO, Nancy Northup, who will be testifying. #ActForWomen
And we’re in!
Spotted: President and CEO, Nancy Northup’s seat, where she will soon be testifying in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act. #ActForWomen
Reminder: the Women’s Health Protection Act would protect abortion access from statewide bans & other medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion care. #WHPA is designed to ensure access to abortion care for anyone who needs it, regardless of where they live. #ActForWomen
.@RepAnnaEshoo just closed out her opening statement to kick off the hearing on the Women’s Health Protection Act.
She discussed the overwhelming safety of abortion care, noting that it is safer even than a colonoscopy. #ActForWomen
Rep @FrankPallone is now speaking. He notes that nearly 90% of U.S. counties are without an abortion clinic and 6 states have only one provider.
“The unfortunate reality in America is that your constitutionally guaranteed health care rights are now dependent on where you live.”
Rep @FrankPallone also notes that, in our study with @IbisRH, it was found that states with more abortion restrictions also have worse health outcomes. #ActForWomen
Pallone has yielded his time to Rep @janschakowsky, who starts by saying:
“Abortion is health care, and health care is a human right.”
She continues by noting that a hearing on the Women’s Health Protection Act is long overdue in Congress. #ActForWomen
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⚠️With the abortion pill case going before the US Supreme Court today, here are some important reminders about mifepristone, the medication in question.
Mifepristone is extremely safe. In addition to a 20+ year track record of use in the US, the medication’s safety is documented in more than 100 peer-reviewed articles.
Leading medical and scientific organizations recognize mifepristone as safe and effective including the American Medical Association and the American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG). It is also classified as an essential medicine by the World Health Organization.
NEWS OUT OF TEXAS: Today, the Texas Medical Board announced that they are publishing proposed rules to purportedly ‘clarify’ exceptions to the state’s harsh abortion bans. However, these rules fall seriously short of the clarity needed.
“The rules Texas Medical Board proposed today contain more of the same rhetoric we have been hearing for years: that physicians should just read the language of the exception and exercise their reasonable medical judgment.” -Molly Duane, @ReproRights Senior Staff Attorney
Further, these rules create a burdensome documentation system physicians must use when providing an abortion, including documenting whether there was ‘adequate time to transfer the patient’ ‘by any means available’ to a different facility to avoid having to perform an abortion.
🔴LIVE: The @SenateBudget Committee is hosting a hearing on the devastating economic impacts of abortion bans. The committee will hear from @ReproRights' Tennessee plaintiff Allie Phillips and other experts. Tune in now and follow our live coverage: budget.senate.gov/hearings/no-ri…
@SenateBudget "Reproductive rights, it turns out, are intrinsically tied to economic opportunity. Reproductive justice is economic justice. Restricting one restricts the other." -@SenWhitehouse
“[The] freedom to decide if and when to have a child affects a women’s life trajectory and her family’s financial security. Women denied an abortion who had to carry a pregnancy to term were 4x more likely to live in poverty." -@SenWhitehouse
BREAKING: Idaho court rejected the state’s attempt to throw out our case brought by women denied abortions. Our case seeking to expand the medical exceptions in Idaho’s abortion bans will proceed despite the state’s attempt to dismiss the case. dropbox.com/scl/fi/3huvsbd…
“We’re grateful the court saw through the State’s callous attempt to ignore the pain and suffering their laws are causing Idahoans. Now the State of Idaho will be forced to answer to these women in a court of law.” -Gail Deady, Senior Staff Attorney at @reprorights
After hearing what our plaintiffs have gone through, the State of Idaho filed paperwork to dismiss them and throw them out of court.
BREAKING: The US Supreme Court says it will hear a case that could eliminate access to mifepristone—one of two drugs used in medication abortion. The case was filed by an anti-abortion group seeking to undo FDA approval of the drug and remove it from the market nationwide.
The case reached SCOTUS after an appellate court partially upheld a district court ruling granting the anti-abortion group's request, which attempted to reinstate restrictions on mifepristone that limit access. The Court will likely hear arguments on the case in spring.
The district court's order limiting mifepristone access is currently blocked and will remain blocked until the Supreme Court rules, likely in June of 2024.
UPDATE: After a week of legal whiplash and threats of prosecution from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, our client Kate Cox has been forced to flee her home state of Texas to get the time-sensitive abortion care needed to protect her health and future fertility.
Kate has been unable to get an abortion in Texas, even though her fetus has a fatal condition and continuing the pregnancy threatens her future fertility. Last week, a state court ruled in Kate's favor, but within hours, TX AG Paxton asked SCOTX to block the order immediately.
The Supreme Court of Texas temporarily blocked the order on Friday and has yet to issue a final ruling on this time-sensitive matter.