Click the link below to view an interview by Huffington Post Live of three of the last handful of openly practicing late-abortion doctors who continue to help women despite the threats against them.
These three doctors were also featured in the documentary, “After Tiller” (see link below). You can watch the documentary by renting/purchasing in iTunes, Google Play or Amazon.
Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones looks at 5 anti-abortion states to watch in 2013:
Mississippi: Mississippi lawmakers passed a new law back in April requiring all doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Given the strongly anti-abortion bent in the state, hospitals have all refused to grant those privileges. The resulting crisis may lead to the closure of the state’s last abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization—just as lawmakers hoped. The clinic was given until January 11 to try to come into compliance with the new law, but now it’s clear that it can’t, so the Center for Reproductive Rights has asked the judge to declare the law unconstitutional. Both sides are expected back in court in early 2013.
Virginia: In September, Virginia’s Board of Health voted to require all abortion clinics in the state to comply with strict new building codes, backtracking from an earlier vote that would have grandfathered in existing clinics. The rules mean that many clinics would need to make expensive upgrades to their facilities, or could be forced to close entirely. Gov. Bob McDonnell signed off on them last month, and they will now undergo another public comment period and Board of Health vote. Meanwhile, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli—who blocked the attempt to protect existing clinics from the new rules—is the GOP front-runner in the 2013 governor’s race.
Texas: Where to start on Texas? The state defunded Planned Parenthood, and already requires women seeking abortions to have invasive sonograms or listen to the fetus’ heartbeat. Next year promises even more anti-choice initiatives. Texas plans to begincollecting information about women seeking abortions and the doctors who provide them next year—a move that critics say is an invasion of privacy. In December, Gov. Rick Perry said hewill support a ban on all abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation next year, in pursuit of his desire “to make abortion at any stage a thing of the past.” And lawmakers in the state are also already talking about restricting medication abortions next year.
Arizona: In April, Arizona passed a new law banning most abortions after 20 weeks. Although Arizona was the sixth state to pass one of these so-called “fetal pain” laws, the legislation was notable in that it was more restrictive than previous versions, as it actually banned abortions two weeks earlier than other states. The Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU filed suit, but a judge upheld the law. CRR appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which granted a stay while it considers the arguments. The outcome will likely be determined sometime in 2013.
North Dakota: The state House passed a “personhood” measure in 2011. HB 1450 would “recognize the value and dignity of every living human being,” according to state Rep. Dan Ruby. It didn’t pass the Senate, however. But the North Dakota Legislature only meets every other year, so they’ll be back in 2013 and will probably have some new anti-abortion legislation ready to go.
The first Walk for Choice, protesting the assault on women’s reproductive rights by a Republican-controlled Congress, took place last year in major cities across the country. Click the icon below to learn more about the Walk for Choice in 2012!
Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post looks at 3 abortion policies below likely to be shaped this year by Republican control in 19 states and abortion rights opponents coming off of victories in 2011. The only way to change the tide in all of this backsliding (during the 40th year anniversary of Roe v. Wade!) is to act now! Click ” Ways to Help” above to find out how.
1. A late-term abortion ban in Washington, D.C.: Five states passed “Fetal Pain” Abortion Laws in 2011, up from just one state with such a law the year before. The restrictions outlaw abortion after 20 weeks on the basis that the fetus could feel pain (the scientific research on this is disputed). On Monday, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) introduced a version of that law for the District of Columbia, the D.C. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The National Right to Life Committee announced Monday that Franks’s legislation, and similar bills across the country, will be its top priority in 2012.
“Enactment of the D.C. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act will be a top legislative priority for National Right to Life during 2012,” Douglas Johnson, NRLC legislative director, wrote in a memo on Monday. “The capital city of the United States should not also be the capital for causing torment to unborn babies in the sixth month and later.”
2. Restrictions on federal funding for abortion providers. At Monday’s March for Life, Americans United for Life passed out “Defund Planned Parenthood” signs to its supporters. AUL president Charmaine Yoest says that’s meant to signal her group’s priorities for the coming year. “You can’t under emphasize the importance of political pressure,” she told me in an interview last week. “We’ll be calling for more congressional hearings and looking at the funding issue, both at the federal and state level.” Already, abortion rights opponents have seen success on this front: the New Hampshire House of Representative voted to bar abortion providers from receiving government funds, for family planning services they provide, on Jan. 18.
3. No private insurance coverage of abortion. The most common abortion restriction states passed last year had to do with private insurance coverage of abortion. A total of 16 states now ban insurance coverage for abortion, either statewide or on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges, up from five before the health reform law passed. “As terrible as last year was, and it was very, very bad, as many as 28 states are vulnerable to this type of law,” says Donna Crane, policy director for NARAL Pro-Choice America. At the same time, there may also be a counter-trend developing: Washington State is now considering a law that would require insurers to cover abortion.
Late-Term Abortion in Wanted Pregnancies 