The War on Women is in full force under the Trump administration. We refuse to go back, and we refuse to let the administration quietly dismantle the progress we’ve made. We are watching.
This is the War on Women Report.
Monday, 8/12
+ A new regulation proposed by the Trump Administration Monday would deny permanent legal status to residents who are likely to need government benefit programs. The regulation would base its assessment of asylum seekers’ financial need off of an “aggressive wealth test” and deny status to poorer immigrants. The proposed regulation would allow pregnant women to seek such assistance without harming their chances of attaining legal status, but the reprieve does not extend to all female asylum seekers, who are statistically more likely to fall victim to poverty.
Tuesday, 8/13
+ Two Brooklyn reproductive health centers that refused to comply with the Trump Administration’s new abortion gag rule are now scrambling to stay afloat. The centers, both managed by Public Health Solutions, lost nearly $5 million in Title X federal funds as a result of their decision to continue referring patients to abortions, directly defying the Trump administration’s gag rule. The centers are scheduled to close this month unless granted a reprieve from the governor’s office. If the centers close, they will be among the first casualties of the gag rule.
Wednesday, 8/14
+ Reproductive health care provider Planned Parenthood announced that it will soon drop out of Title X, a federal family planning program, thus losing all funds provided by the robust program. Planned Parenthood had previously announced it would no longer accept Title X funding, as doing so would prohibit its doctors from referring patients for abortions under the Trump administration’s new abortion gag rule, but its decision to leave the entire program was unexpected. Planned Parenthood will officially leave Title X on August 19.
+ The Trump administration proposed a new rule Wednesday that would allow faith-based organizations that contract with the federal government to discriminate based on religious beliefs. Under the proposed rule, religious contractors could fire queer, nonreligious and unmarried pregnant people, among others, if their lifestyles do not meet the organization’s religious moral bar. The rule is one of a number of religious freedom exemptions that the Trump administration has proposed for federal anti-discrimination rules.
