HHS Response Centers On Preserving Access To Abortion Drugs
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said his agency will enforce existing policies to aid abortion access — especially as states start to restrict mifepristone and misoprostol — and look for new actions, but warns “there is no magic bullet.”
Roll Call:
Biden Administration Announces Actions To Protect Abortion Rights
The Biden administration is launching a multipronged effort to respond to the Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 ruling establishing a right to an abortion, with Health and Human Services, the Defense Department and the Office of Personnel Management among the agencies to weigh in. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, reacting Tuesday to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, said the department will take steps to increase the availability of medication abortion, which involves a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol. (Raman, 6/28)
The New York Times:
Biden’s Health Secretary: ‘No Magic Bullet’ For Preserving Abortion Access
As Democrats and reproductive rights advocates clamored for President Biden to forcefully counter the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, his health secretary, Xavier Becerra, stepped up to a lectern here on Tuesday to list the steps his department would take to preserve and expand access to abortion. The list, for now anyway, is short. “There is no magic bullet,” Mr. Becerra said at a morning news conference, “but if there is something we can do, we will find it and we will do it.” (Stolberg and Savage, 6/28)
Modern Healthcare:
HHS Offers Scant Details On Post-Roe V. Wade Strategy
“We’re not interested in going rogue and doing things just because,” Becerra said. “We will do everything we can with what we find to make sure we’re protecting our services. It takes a little time because we want to do it right. We want to do it according to law.” The secretary outlined a handful of actions HHS will take to enforce largely preexisting protections, including directing the Office of Civil Rights to uphold privacy and nondiscrimination rules for providers offering reproductive healthcare and patients accessing care. (Goldman, 6/28)
The 19th:
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra Offers Little Insight On Abortion Pill Protections
At Tuesday briefing, Becerra would not say if or when the government plans to challenge those state laws banning medication abortion. “We will absolutely protect Americans’ rights to care under federal law and we will do everything we get to make sure Americans understand what their rights are,” Becerra said. “What exactly that translates into depends on what a state tries to do.” (Luthra, 6/28)
AP:
Biden Team Strains To Flex Muscles In Abortion Fight
Mini Timmaraju, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said she believes the administration is “off to a good start,” but she acknowledged that frustrations have been percolating. Some expected swifter policy announcements or executive orders from Biden.(Murphy and Megerian, 6/29)
Short Window Opens For Early Abortions To Resume In Texas
A judge issued a temporary restraining order on a 1925 state law that would ban the procedure following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Abortions can only be performed at clinics named in the suit and the controversial law banning the procedure after 6 weeks remains in place. Texas’ attorney general will appeal.
The Texas Tribune:
Abortions Up To Six Weeks Of Pregnancy Can Resume In Texas For Now
Abortions up to about six weeks in pregnancy can resume at some clinics in Texas for now after a Harris County District Court judge granted a temporary restraining order that blocks an abortion ban that was in place before Roe v. Wade. In the ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Christine Weems ruled that the pre-Roe abortion ban “is repealed and may not be enforced consistent with the due process guaranteed by the Texas constitution.” “It is a relief that this Texas state court acted so quickly to block this deeply harmful abortion ban,” Marc Hearron, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a press release. “This decision will allow abortion services to resume at many clinics across the state, connecting Texans to the essential health care they need. Every hour that abortion is accessible in Texas is a victory. (Perez-Castells, Klibanoff and Douglas, 6/28)
Houston Chronicle:
Judge Blocks 1925 Texas Abortion Law, Allowing Providers To Offer The Procedure For Two Weeks
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told attorneys for the plaintiffs that he planned to appeal the decision to the Texas Supreme Court. “These laws are 100 percent in effect and constitutional,” Paxton tweeted Tuesday. “The judge’s decision is wrong. I’m immediately appealing. I’ll ensure we have all the legal tools to keep TX pro-life!” (Goldenstein, 6/28)
In other abortion news from Texas —
The Guardian:
Texas Sheriff Says He ‘Will Not Persecute’ Those Seeking An Abortion
A Texas sheriff, whose beat largely includes the city of San Antonio, has declared he would not be pursuing those in his jurisdiction who choose to get an abortion after the supreme court scrapping of federal abortion rights. In a Facebook post he shared on Tuesday, Bexar county sheriff Javier Salazar wrote of his “two beautiful and intelligent” daughters, whom he said have a right to choose what to do with their own bodies. (Salam, 6/29)
Dallas Morning News:
Denton City Council Passes Resolution To Ask Police To De-Prioritize Texas Abortion Laws
The Denton City Council passed a resolution late Tuesday pledging to direct city resources away from investigating and enforcing reproductive health care laws after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. The vote was one of the most notable actions by a local government in the state since the nation’s high court made the momentous decision Friday. Several hundred abortion-rights advocates gathered outside Denton City Hall ahead of the vote, which came after more than two hours of public comment that was at times emotional and contentious. (Smith, 6/28)
NBC News:
In Texas, State-Funded Crisis Pregnancy Centers Gave Medical Misinformation To NBC News Producers Seeking Counseling
Across the U.S., more than 2,500 crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) provide free services and counseling for women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. They outnumber abortion clinics three to one nationwide, and as some states shutter clinics after Roe’s reversal, that ratio will grow. But when two NBC News producers visited state-funded CPCs in Texas to ask for counseling, counselors told them that abortions caused mental illness and implied abortions could also cause cancer and infertility. The nation’s largest national obstetricians’ group, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AGOC), says that’s medical misinformation. (McFadden, 6/29)
Court Reinstates Tennessee’s 6-Week Abortion Ban
As Indiana and Iowa also look to roll back abortion access, Wisconsin’s attorney general is challenging the state’s 173-year-old ban. And birth control and Plan B controversy takes root in Missouri.
AP:
Court Lets Tennessee 6-Week Abortion Ban Take Effect
A federal court on Tuesday allowed Tennessee’s ban on abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy to take effect, citing the Supreme Court’s decision last week overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights case. The action by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes before Tennessee’s other abortion ban, the so-called trigger ban, is expected to restrict abortion almost entirely by mid-August, according to a newly detailed legal interpretation by the state attorney general. Both measures would make performing an abortion a felony and subject doctors to up to 15 years in prison if convicted. (Mattise and Kruesi, 6/28)
From Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin —
AP:
Courts Asked To Reinstate Blocked Indiana Anti-Abortion Laws
Indiana’s attorney general is asking federal judges to lift orders blocking several state anti-abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to end constitutional protection for abortion. An appeal of one of those blocked Indiana laws aimed at prohibiting abortions based on gender, race or disability was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019. But that was before former President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett strengthened the court’s conservative majority. (Rodgers, 6/28)
Iowa Public Radio:
Iowa Governor Asks Court To Reinstate Six-Week Abortion Ban
Gov. Kim Reynolds and top Republican legislative leaders are asking Iowa courts to reinstate a ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy in the wake of two major court decisions that struck down legal protections for abortion rights. Reynolds signed the so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill into law in 2018, but it was blocked by a court and never enforced. Abortion is still legal in Iowa up until 20 weeks of pregnancy. She is also asking the Iowa Supreme Court to make it even easier for abortion restrictions to survive court challenges. (Sostaric, 6/28)
AP:
Wisconsin’s Democratic AG Sues To Block State’s Abortion Ban
Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the state’s 173-year-old abortion ban, arguing that statutes passed in the 1980s supersede the ban and it’s so old that modern generations never consented to it. Wisconsin passed a law in 1849, the year after the territory became a state, banning abortions in every instance except to save the mother’s life. The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, which essentially legalized abortion nationwide, nullified the ban. (Richmond, 6/28)
From Missouri —
Kansas City Star:
Missouri Hospital Stops Offering Plan B, Cites Abortion Ban
A leading health system in Kansas City is no longer providing emergency contraception in Missouri after the state banned abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. Saint Luke’s Health System confirmed the decision to The Star on Tuesday night after word of the change began circulating among advocates for sexual assault victims. Saint Luke’s has a significant presence across Kansas City, operating 16 hospitals and campuses across the region, in both Kansas and Missouri. In a statement, Saint Luke’s spokesperson Laurel Gifford said the health system continues to evaluate the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and Missouri’s abortion ban, which went into effect following the decision. (Shorman, 6/28)
Kansas City Star:
Birth Control Is Not Illegal In Missouri Under Trigger Law
Missouri’s trigger ban on abortions does not explicitly ban birth control. After abortion was banned in Missouri following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, some readers have written to The Star with concerns about access to emergency contraceptives and other forms of birth control. “Birth control and emergency contraception remain legal and accessible in MO,” said Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, in an email to The Star. (Phillips, 6/29)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Aldermanic Panel OKs $1 Million Plan To Help St. Louis Women Get Out-Of-State Abortions
An aldermanic committee on Tuesday advanced a bill to spend $1 million to help St. Louis women get abortions in Illinois, four days after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling activated Missouri’s ban on the practice. “We are living in incredibly troubling times and the ability to fight back at the local level is more important now than ever,” Health and Human Services Committee chairwoman Christine Ingrassia, 6th Ward, said before the panel’s 6-0 vote. The measure, which now goes to the full Board of Aldermen, would allocate federal funds through the American Rescue Plan Act for transportation, child care and “other logistical support needs” to provide access to abortion. (Schlinkmann, 6/28)
From Ohio, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama —
WLWT:
Ohio Doctors, Lawmakers Talk Next Steps Following Overturning Of Roe V. Wade
The Supreme Court’s decision to set back the clock on abortion laws has lawmakers and doctors around the country scrambling to figure out what is next. Ohio follows a Heartbeat Law, which means abortions are legal until there is a heartbeat about six weeks into a pregnancy. Dr. Catherine Romanos, a family and abortion physician, believes the current law does not give people enough time to decide. “This law bans abortion before most people even know that they’re pregnant,” Romanos said. Since Friday’s overturn of Roe v. Wade, Romanos said the phones at abortion clinics have been ringing off the hook. When it comes to the number of procedures canceled, she thinks that number is well into the hundreds, if not thousands. (Cockrell, 6/28)
The Texas Tribune:
Mississippi’s Last Abortion Clinic Is Moving To New Mexico
Shannon Brewer has lived in Mississippi her entire life, but when she realized the U.S. Supreme Court was about to upend her life’s work, she didn’t think twice about trading her state’s lush wetlands for a ragged mountain range. At 50, Brewer has worked nearly half her life at what became Mississippi’s last abortion clinic — whose lawsuit against a statewide ban at 15 weeks into a pregnancy prompted the U.S. Supreme Court’s monumental decision last week eradicating Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion in the United States. Now, her clinic is closing its doors for good, as will those in Texas and numerous other states. (McCullough, 6/29)
NBC News:
Rabbi Fighting Florida’s Anti-Abortion Law Is On A Mission To Help Religious Groups Challenge ‘Theocratic Tyranny’
The rabbi whose progressive synagogue sued the state of Florida over a bill that would ban abortions after 15 weeks, arguing that it infringes on religious liberty, has created an initiative to help other faith organizations — and atheists — push back against anti-abortion legislation across the U.S. Rabbi Barry Silver’s initiative, Helping Emancipate Abortion Rights Today (HEART), seeks to “restore abortion rights in a post-Roe v. Wade world” and defy the “theocratic tyranny” of laws that clash with the Jewish belief that abortion is a basic right and life begins at birth, not conception, he said in a phone interview Tuesday. (Arkin, 6/28)
Axios:
Alabama Cites Roe Decision In Urging Court To Let State Ban Trans Health Care
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) on Tuesday urged a federal court to drop its block on the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth arguing such care is not protected by the Constitution. Marshall used the U.S Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade to suggest that since the court rejected the idea that abortion cannot be protected under the 14th Amendment because it’s not “deeply rooted” in the nation’s history, the same could be said about access to gender-affirming care. (Gonzalez, 6/28)
Military Will Not Change Its Abortion Policy, Pentagon Says
The Defense Department clarified Tuesday that facilities on military bases will continue to provide abortions in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk. Federal law prohibits the Pentagon from performing or paying for other types of abortions. And in Nevada, Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak signed an executive order to shield patients and health care workers from prosecution.
NBC News:
Pentagon Says Supreme Court’s Roe Ruling Won’t Affect Abortions On Military Facilities
The Pentagon on Tuesday said that last week’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade won’t impact service members, spouses and dependents who use military treatment facilities. The memo, sent by Gil Cisneros, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, came in response to Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that had guaranteed abortion rights under the Constitution. (Kube and Richards, 6/28)
From Nevada, Massachusetts, and North Carolina —
AP:
New Nevada Abortion Order Helps Blunt Outside Prosecution
Gov. Steve Sisolak signed an executive order Tuesday he says will help guard against outside prosecution of anyone who receives an abortion or other reproductive care in Nevada, and better protect healthcare workers who provide the services. His executive order comes as fellow Democratic governors in several states have vowed to help protect abortion rights after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last week. (6/29)
The Boston Globe:
State Lawmakers Poised To Shield Providers Of Abortion, Transgender Care From Bounty-Style Laws In Other States
Legislative leaders appear to have reached broad agreement to pass a measure aimed at shielding providers of abortion and transgender health care in Massachusetts from bounty-style laws being enacted by other states. House Speaker Ronald Mariano said Tuesday said his chamber is expecting to pass a wide-ranging reproductive rights bill that codifies part of an executive order Governor Charlie Baker signed on Friday and goes further to shield patients and providers from out-of-state legal action. ”We have Roe on the books. We codified it,” Mariano said. “Now we want to protect the people who have to use it.” (Ebbert, 6/28)
WRAL.Com:
Sad, Disgusted But Resolute, North Carolina Abortion Clinics Expanding Hours, Hiring In Aftermath Of Roe Decision
A Woman’s Choice, an abortion care provider with locations in Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte, is planning to expand hours and hire additional staff in anticipation of an influx of patients from other states. “We are anticipating an increase of patients coming to North Carolina to get care from surrounding states,” said Amber Gavin, A Woman’s Choice vice president of advocacy and operations. On Monday, WRAL News spoke with Gavin following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to end constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years. (6/27)
From California —
Los Angeles Times:
California Will See Rush Of Out-Of-State Abortion Seekers, Study Says
California will play a key role in providing abortion services to people living in states where the medical procedure is banned or severely limited after the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, according to a recent report from UCLA. Between 8,000 and 16,100 more people will make the journey to California each year for abortion care, and many will come to Los Angeles County, the UCLA School of Law’s Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy said in a study released this month. (Solis, 6/28)
AP:
California Budget Won’t Cover Out-Of-State Abortion Travel
While Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to make California a sanctuary for women seeking abortions, his administration won’t spend public money to help people from other states travel to California for the procedure. Newsom’s decision, included in a budget agreement reached over the weekend, surprised abortion advocates who have been working with the governor for nearly a year to prepare for a potential surge of patients from other states coming to California for abortions now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. (Beam, 6/29)
People in Mexico and Spain offer help to Americans —
AP:
Mexican Networks Ramp Up Help For US Women Seeking Abortions
Abortion pills smuggled into the United States from Mexico inside teddy bears. A New York home used as a pill distribution hub. A small apartment just south of the U.S.-Mexico border converted into a safe place for women to end their pregnancies. Networks of Mexican feminist collectives working with counterparts in the United States are ramping up their efforts to help women in the U.S. who are losing access to abortion services to end their pregnancies. (Verza, 6/28)
NBC News:
How An American On Vacation Survived After Malta Denied Her A Life-Saving Abortion
An American woman vacationing in Malta who was denied a life-saving abortion while miscarrying was able to get care in Spain, the same day Roe v. Wade was overturned in the United States. … The couple and the accompanying medical team safely landed in Majorca, Spain, where Prudente was immediately transported to a nearby hospital where she says she was welcomed with open arms. (Campoamor, 6/28)
