Progress in Ireland, But Abortion Rights Are Hollow Without Access

By Julie Kay, Ms. Foundation for Women Senior Strategist, Advocacy and Policy

Women in Ireland can breathe a small sigh of relief today. New legislation allowing abortion when a woman’s life is at risk has moved the country one step closer to removing extremist legislative blockades on women’s human and reproductive rights. Yet, the reality is that for women in Ireland, like their American counterparts, these legal rights will be hollow if access to abortion information and services remains out of reach.

In ABC v. Ireland, a lawsuit I argued on behalf of a woman unable to access lifesaving abortion services and information, the European Court of Human Rights found that the denial of access constituted a violation of human rights. Mounting public pressure after the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, a young woman denied a lifesaving abortion in an Irish hospital last winter, combined with the human right court’s order, has forced the government to enact reforms after decades of delay and wrangling over abortion restrictions in courts, in legislative bodies and on the streets in Ireland. Since 1992, an anti-abortion majority in government had even ignored its own Supreme Court’s ruling calling for access to legal lifesaving abortion.

Worldwide, women’s health gets treated as a political pawn by anti-abortion politicians who prioritize personal political gain over women’s human rights and health. This year, in the United States alone, women face increasing barriers to necessary abortion information and services from anti-abortion forces that continue to exert control over the legislative process. Intensified anti-abortion efforts have brought legislation from conservatives nationwide, including bans on abortion both early and late in pregnancy, regulations designed to shutter clinics in Texas and other states, and false claims about fetal development. The nonsensical push to make both reproductive health care and abortion inaccessible to women in poverty continued through bans on insurance funding for abortion through the Affordable Care Act, which occurred simultaneously with conservatives’ objections to funding for family planning programs.

The fact is that abortion in the U.S. is legal, yet inaccessible, for many women, particularly for marginalized women. Women of color, immigrant women and low-income women face greater barriers to reproductive health care nationwide. As a result, these groups experience higher instances of maternal mortality, increased health risks as a result of delayed access to abortion and outright denial of necessary and often life-saving reproductive health care. Such violations of women’s human rights occur even with greater legal access to abortion services than in other countries, like Ireland.

Unless we take affirmative steps to ensure genuine access to the full range of reproductive health care, American women will not be able to realize their full human rights of liberty, bodily integrity and full participation in society.

Hyde Amendment Infographic

Link to a larger version [PDF].

Access Denied: There's nothing to cheer about on the anniversary of the Hyde Amendment

The relief that women experienced following the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing access to safe and legal abortion was short-lived. After merely three years, zealous politicians managed to impose their own personal agendas with the passing of the Hyde Amendment, systematically excluding millions of low-income women and women of color from accessing abortion care.

With broad support from anti-choice legislators, the Hyde Amendment banned federal Medicaid coverage of abortion. Denial of Medicaid-funded abortions subsequently retracted low-income women’s ability to obtain a safe and legal abortion. The rights they gained in 1973 were essentially stripped away.

Today marks 36 years since the Hyde Amendment was enacted. Millions of women who rely on Medicaid for health care are still excluded from accessing abortion care. The restrictions imposed by the Hyde Amendment leave many women in a difficult situation—choosing between basic necessities like food and rent or the medical services that are standard among the majority of private health plans.

This injustice must end. Stand up for choice. Stand up for women’s constitutional rights. Please sign this petition from the National Network of Abortion Funds to repeal the Hyde Amendment.

"The Daily Show" Gets It Right: There's No Such Thing as "Rape-ish"

Looking for a brilliant breakdown of what H.R. 3 and the Right's attempts to redefine rape could mean for the the future of reproductive rights? Then check out the clip posted below, from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Together with Stewart, "Women's Issues" correspondent Kristen Schaal offers a pitch-perfect send-up of how the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" would limit access to abortions by insisting on new, Machiavellian definitions of rape -- and move us ever closer to a time where abortions would once again be outlawed even to save a woman's life. 

Have a good laugh (it's a truly funny bit)-- and then remember that this is no joke. Join Ms. Foundation grantees National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and the National Women's Law Center in their campaigns to make sure that H.R. 3 never passes the House.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rape Victim Abortion Funding
www.thedailyshow.com
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Help Keep the Right at Bay: Double Your Dollars for Reproductive Justice by Dec. 1

Much has been said about this month's electoral shuffling and the impending doom it could mean for abortion rights struggles nationwide. So, as Thanksgiving nears, the Ms. Foundation is especially thankful for the remarkable work of our grantees who advocate for reproductive rights, health and justice across the US. From Colorado's perennial "personhood amendment" (called Amendment 62 on this year's ballot) -- which would assign personhood rights to a fetus and deal a huge blow to abortion rights -- to the ongoing fight to ensure contraception is covered in the implementation of health care reform, it is clear that the battle to protect and expand reproductive freedom remains fraught. In the face of greater conservative control over legislation come January, particularly at the state level, reproductive justice organizations are uniquely positioned to continue this fight, but will require even greater resources to keep the Right at bay.

Read more »

Bringing Abortion Back to the Doctor's Office

After last week's revelation that the Obama administration is banning abortion coverage for women in "high-risk" insurance pools, a little good news on the reproductive rights front was much needed. This weekend, the New York Times Magazine gave it to us with their in-depth look at progress being made to broaden the availability of abortion services nationwide.

After a decades-long decline in the number of OB-GYNs and family practice doctors providing abortions in their general practices, a push to encourage abortion training in medical schools has led to the emergence of a new crop of doctors who are willing and able to provide abortions -- and not just in the clinic setting, where protests and violence have become all too common.

Instead, this new trend could make abortion an organic part of family planning services around the country, offering more women access to safe abortions and removing a critical barrier for medical professionals, who may have otherwise steered clear of performing abortions out of fear that they would then be stigmatized -- and targeted -- as the local "abortion doctor."

It's a trend that's worth noting, not only because of its potential to make abortion more available nationwide, but also because it helps normalize both the idea and practice of performing abortions. It restores abortion to one of the services a family doctor might provide, along with contraception and preventive care.

"The surprising truth," author Emily Bazelon writes, "is that however embattled abortion remains in America at large, at the top of academic medicine, the structure built to support it looks secure." Still, there's a ways to go before this increased training translates directly into increased access for women: at present, just 2% of abortions are performed in doctors offices. But the hope is that with larger numbers of trained residents becoming doctors who routinely bring abortion services with them into private practice, that number will begin to edge northward. With so many attacks to reproductive justice registering on both the legislative and executive fronts these days, that possibility counts as very good news indeed.

See how Ms. Foundation grantee SPARK Reproductive Justice Now is working to grow and sustain a powerful reproductive justice movement in Georgia.

'Friday Night Lights' and Women's Right to Choose

As a fan of the NBC show Friday Night Lights and a fierce supporter of a woman's right to choose, I was thrilled to see an honest and open discussion about abortion on last Friday's episode. The story has been covered by the New York Times, by Gloria Feldt in RH Reality Check, and on NARAL's blog, among others.

The episode highlights one character's unintended pregnancy and decision to get an abortion, in the face of the father's family's righteous indignation and parental notification laws that make it very hard for teens in Texas to get the appropriate information and support. The nuanced depiction of this difficult and often divisive decision was handled with grace and elegance. The result was a breath of fresh air in a major network mediascape filled with apocalyptic, sensationalized or ludicrous discussions surrounding unintended pregnancy and abortion.

However, the repercussions for this character and the characters that help her -- including a principal who offers her information about an abortion clinic and whose job is subsequently threatened -- underscore the ongoing challenges for women facing these decisions and the people that try to help them. Though it's easy to think otherwise given most media depictions of unintended pregnancy, access to abortion remains the legal right of every woman in the US; society must guarantee access to the information that will enable women to make a decision that best fits their life and situation.

The Ms. Foundation is committed to ensuring that these rights remain protected. Our grantee, the Texas Freedom Network, recently issued a report, Just Say Don't Know: Sexuality Education in Texas Public Schools [pdf], that found the state, a big proponent of abstinence-only education, is failing students and families: "Classrooms are perpetuating a 'conspiracy of silence' that robs young people of the reliable information they need to make responsible life decisions. Even worse, the information students do receive about sexuality and health is often grossly distorted or simply wrong."

Sexuality education is at the heart of a responsible conversation about sexuality, reproductive rights, and choice. We hope that with the right education young women will have access to information, support, and honest dialogue from role models and educators. Luckily for the young woman on Friday Night Lights she had access to all three. And luckily for us this show has sparked some much needed conversation about the state of media depictions of unintended pregnancy, state-level abortion policy, and the educator's role in this mix.

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Do your part in support of reproductive justice and abortion rights! Donate now and a special matching grant will double your support -- dollar-for-dollar -- for reproductive justice organizations led by women of color. Help the Ms. Foundation ensure that all women have access to the information and support that will allow them to make responsible decisions about their own sexuality. Learn more.

Take Action Now: Urge Senators to Pass Reproductive Health Act in NY State

Ms. Foundation grantee Family Planning Advocates is running an important campaign in New York -- and they need your support!

In mid June, the Reproductive Health Act (A.11484) was introduced before the New York State Assembly. The act seeks to update New York’s outdated 1970 abortion law and ensure a woman's right to an abortion if her health is jeopardized. At present, New York’s law does not contain an exception to protect a woman should her pregnancy pose a risk to her health. New York’s law protects a woman during pregnancy only if her life is in immediate danger.

But as Family Planning Advocates points out, there are many serious medical issues that can arise as a result of pregnancy that might put women in precarious situations. "Kidney failure, diabetes, stroke, extremely high blood pressure and cancer are just a few of the complications that can occur during a pregnancy," the group writes. "As a result, women and their families are put in the position of making difficult decisions."

FPA goes on to note that,

The Reproductive Health Act is consistent with the tenets of Roe v. Wade, and would allow abortion up to the time of viability and after that, only if there is a threat to the woman's health or life. And, contrary to misleading information being spread about this bill, it does not change state and federal laws that allow providers to refrain from performing abortions based on their moral or religious beliefs.

If you believe it's time to bring New York State's abortion law up to date, and you're a resident of New York State, contact your state senator and urge him or her to help pass the Reproductive Health Act. There's not much time left to make your voice heard on this one: the legislative session is about to end. Take action now!

Laws to Restrict Abortion: Sara K. Gould Responds to the New York Times

Today, The New York Times ran a Letter to the Editor by Ms. Foundation President and CEO, Sara K. Gould, responding to its June 3 article, Abortion Foes Advance Cause at State Level, and highlighting the Foundation's work to fighting state-based assaults on reproductive choice.

To the Editor:

Re “Abortion Foes Advance Cause at State Level” (news article, June 3):

It is no coincidence that “this is a good year” for restricting abortion access at the state level, as an opponent of abortion is quoted as saying. In an election year dominated by the Tea Party and legalized discrimination in Arizona, we now see conservative America’s familiar strategy of hijacking women’s bodies and personal safety for political gains.

The paternalism of laws that require ultrasounds — “though she may avert her eyes” — reveals that the battle for abortion rights is as much about maintaining inequality as it is about “saving babies.”

The Ms. Foundation has supported advocates working at the state level for comprehensive reproductive health for more than 20 years because we know that attempts to limit access to abortion are a step down the road to limits on other reproductive health freedoms and services, like access to contraception.

It is dangerous to women’s overall health and well-being to isolate abortion from the full range of health services every person deserves.


Sara K. Gould
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Foundation for Women
Brooklyn, June 3, 2010

[Originally posted at The New York Times]

States Move to Further Limit Abortion Coverage

Think the battle over health care reform is behind us? Time to think again – particularly when it comes to abortion coverage.

According to the Associated Press, lawmakers and policy groups in more than 29 states have “expressed serious interest” in enacting laws that would further restrict coverage of abortions by insurers in “new markets” (those health care exchanges you heard so much about in the run up to the vote) – even, as we noted earlier this week – if that insurance is private.

How is that possible? Look to language in the health care bill if you want an explanation. Buried in the not-so-fine print is an allowance that makes it ok for states to do precisely what they are now doing: limit abortion coverage by private insurers if they are operating in these new markets, or exchanges. Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi and Missouri, have already made their move, banning insurers from covering these services. And three other states – Louisiana, Ohio and Oklahoma – are apparently not far behind.

Scary as it may be to confront, this kind of action at the state level proves just how vital grassroots organizations will be to keeping reproductive freedom real – in the near term and beyond. Learn more about how the Ms. Foundation is providing strategic support to state and local organizations that are working to combat restrictive reproductive rights policies.

Missouri Follows Oklahoma in Passing Stringent Anti-Abortion Laws

More proof that conservative ideology is on the march: First, in late April, the Oklahoma legislature overrode the governor’s vetoes of two laws that would increase restrictions to abortion access. Then, late last week, the Missouri state legislature followed suit, passing the aptly named “Abortion Restriction Bill” which puts further limitations on access to abortions. Both votes are a sharp indication of the fragile state of reproductive rights across the country – and a reminder of how important our grantees’ work on the reproductive justice front continues to be.

The passage of the Oklahoma bills -- one of which requires a woman seeking an abortion to have an ultra-sound and mandates “that a doctor or technician set up the monitor so the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus,” making no exceptions for rape and incest victims – makes Oklahoma one of the most restrictive states in the nation when it comes to obtaining an abortion. And Missouri’s newly minted law comes with a bevy of fresh limitations, similarly designed to curtail abortion access. According to Robin Marty, writing for RH Reality Check,

Under the new law, physicians are required to repeat medically inaccurate statements to the patient prior to the procedure and all informed consent processes must be done face to face, adding to the length of time required to obtain an abortion. Abortions will no longer be included in any private health care plans in the state, regardless of whether or not a woman would have paid for the coverage with separate funds. Also, clinics will be required to put up signs that read that the state will provide support for mothers who decide to continue their pregnancies, although the state does not at this time have resources in place to give to these mothers.

Oklahoma and Missouri are not alone. At present, at least a dozen states are considering legislation that would put harsher restrictions on access to abortions, including by cutting off insurance coverage of such procedures even in instances where policies are privately funded (just one example of how right-leaning state legislatures are already challenging health-care reform). States like Florida and Nebraska have already passed versions of these more restrictive abortion bills, and nationwide there are said to be more than 500 pieces of anti-abortion legislation winding their way through state houses – a level of activity that hasn’t been seen since the late 1990s.

The impact of measures like these are precisely why the Ms. Foundation maintains a steadfast commitment to supporting grassroots organizations that are fighting for reproductive justice across the country. Organizations like the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR), the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and Young Women United – all of which are working to ensure that women in diverse communities, and at all stages of their lives, have access to comprehensive reproductive services. We’ve long known that the “next frontier” in the fight for abortion rights would play out at the state level, which is why we’ve funded groups like Faith Aloud, based in Missouri -- a group that has been mobilizing its members to lobby the legislature in defense of abortion rights. So far this year they’ve already held three advocacy days in Jefferson City, and continue to stand up for the rights of women, even as their legislature moves in exactly the opposite direction.

For a recent overview of legislation pending at the state level, visit NARAL's Blog for Choice.

Stop Stupak -- The Reinforcements

"The reinforcements have arrived!" exclaimed one legislator in response to the hundreds of women’s health advocates who poured into Washington, DC on December 2. More than 500 advocates from 30 states across the country demanded that the final version of health care reform legislation not include language further restricting women’s access to abortion coverage.

Ms. Foundation grantees were a visible, powerful presence during last Wednesday’s “Rally and Lobby Day.” Notably, representatives of grantee partners National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective took to the stage to speak to the need to connect the fight for women’s reproductive health, rights and justice to other social justice movements, including immigrants’ rights and environmental justice. They joined our other health care grantees we reported on last week.

Ms. Foundation grantee organizations are leaders in the growing reproductive justice movement, which responds directly to the impact of low-income women’s lack of economic, social and political power on the full-range of reproductive health decisions. Read here for further examples of the reproductive justice work supported by the Ms. Foundation. To partner with us in this important work, make a gift; your contribution will be worth twice as much, thanks to a generous $100,000 challenge grant.

This afternoon, debate begins on the Nelson Amendment, the Senate version of Stupak Amendment. Read Ms. Foundation grantee partner Raising Women’s Voices coverage and analysis of the deliberations.

Reinforcements, indeed.

Stop Stupak!

This Wednesday, December 2, hundreds of women, including Ms. Foundation grantees, will head to Washington, D.C. to rally and lobby against a potential rollback of women’s basic rights that would deny abortion coverage to millions of women who currently have it and to millions more who lack access today. Click here for more information on the Stop Stupak Campaign.

It is extraordinary that in 2009 women’s right to reproductive care of their choosing is on the chopping block again. The Stupak Amendment is wrong and regressive, and goes well beyond reinforcing the Hyde Amendment—already harmful in its own right—despite what mainstream media is saying. As the Senate debates its health care bill, we expect them to do better. It is simply unacceptable—and contradictory—to trade away women’s access to reproductive services under the guise of expanding care. And who will be most impacted? Ultimately, all women and their families, but disproportionally low-income women and women of color. Once again, Congress runs the risk of creating another exclusionary policy when we should be striving for inclusive and equitable solutions—and most certainly within the context of the stated goals of health care reform.

Our health care grantee organizations Communications Consortium Media Center, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need and Women of Color United for Health Reform are on the front lines mobilizing to prevent Stupak or a similar Senate amendment from becoming law. Together, they continue to elevate the voices of low-income women and women of color for truly inclusive, equitable reform.