Congress is back in session, and feminists are making clear: Gender equity must be a priority. A coalition of top women’s rights- and reproductive rights-focused groups outlined their vision for the future of U.S. gender equality and the steps the 118th Congress can take, in a letter sent to leaders in both the U.S. House and Senate, as well as relevant committee chairs.
Tag: Anti-Abortion Laws
Abortion Access: If There’s Political Will, There’s A Way
As we approach the first year in nearly 50 without the federal protections Roe offered, local and state leaders have a clear mandate to follow the science and meaningfully expand abortion access. There is still so much more we can and must do to ensure all who need abortion care can access it—and elected representatives have no excuse to not push proactive bills forward.
We Heart: The Giant Abortion Pill Snow Drawing at Sundance, Celebrating Reproductive Autonomy
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Sunday, Jan. 22, Swedish-American artist Michele Pred created a 50-foot snow drawing of the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol in a park nearby the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where the film PLAN C about abortion pills premiered the next day.
Two New Lawsuits Challenge State Restrictions on Abortion Pill Access, Arguing Federal Law Preempts State Laws
On Jan. 25, reproductive health advocates filed two federal lawsuits—one in North Carolina and West Virginia—challenging state laws imposing medically unnecessary restrictions on physicians prescribing the abortion pill mifepristone to their patients. Both cases argue that state laws are preempted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules allowing telemedicine abortion and mailing of mifepristone.
“States cannot substitute their medical and scientific judgments for judgments FDA has made, and doing so undermines not only access to medication, but the country’s entire drug regulation system.”
Employers, Take Note—Young Women Are Planning Their Lives Around State Abortion Laws
Among employees ages 18 to 34, 47 percent of women and 44 percent of men believe they won’t have the career they’d planned, hoped for and dreamed of because politicians are now in control of their personal reproductive decisions.
“We’re looking to future generations of business leaders and managers and employees and we have nearly half of them saying, ‘I don’t think I will have the career I planned because of the decision by the Supreme Court,’” said Heather Foust-Cummings, Catalyst’s senior vice president for research
The Supreme Court Dobbs Leak Never Really Mattered. They Just Told Us So.
The leak was a distraction meant to shift focus away from where is should have been: the disastrous harm that overturning Roe for the women, trans and nonbinary people who depend on abortion access to obtain the reproductive healthcare they deserve.
The Court cares more about its power than it does this leak—and so should we. Supreme Court reform is essential to protect against the next decision that does such harm to our rights, whether it’s leaked or not.
Plan B Does Not Cause Abortion, Says FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally changed the labeling of the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step, removing an inaccurate statement that the medication may function by blocking a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb.
The inaccurate language resulted from a compromise with anti-abortion science advisers to the FDA when the medication was approved for over-the-counter-sales in 2006. Anti-abortion advocates, who claim that “life” begins at the moment of fertilization, have used the FDA label to justify their belief that emergency contraception causes abortion.
RSVP: Everything You Need to Know About Abortion Pills
Join us live (or RSVP and tune later!) to learn everything you need to know about abortion pills on Wednesday, Jan 18, 2023, at 4 p.m. Pacific / 7 p.m. ET.
Biden’s Budget Is an Opportunity to Promote and Protect Abortion Access
Now is the time for President Biden to act—to do everything in this administration’s power in increase access to abortion at home and abroad. That starts today with the President Bidens’s 2024 budget being free of all abortion funding and coverage restrictions, including the Hyde, Helms and Weldon Amendments.
The Postal Service Can Deliver Abortion Pills by Mail—Even in States Banning Abortion
The U.S. Postal Service can continue to deliver mifepristone and misoprostol, despite the overturning of Roe v. Wade, says the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. An archaic 19th-century anti-obscenity law, the Comstock Law, can’t stop the mailing of abortion pills.