Keep Abortion Safe and Legal

It is not only cisgender women and girls (women and girls who were assigned to a woman at birth) who may need access to abortion services, but also intersex people, transgender men and boys, and people with other gender identities who have the reproductive capacity to conceive. Emboldened by a Supreme Court ruling that could end the constitutional right to abortion this spring, politicians opposed to abortion rights have wasted no time in passing laws to severely restrict or ban abortion altogether. This decision sets a precedent for nearly 50 years. And it goes against the will of the American people, 80% of whom believe abortion should be legal. 2019: The Trump Pence administration enacts a Title X gag rule to prohibit Title X providers from telling millions of patients how to safely and legally access abortions — and “defund” Planned Parenthood health centers by making it impossible for Title X patients to get birth control there. 2013: In defiance of mass protests, Texas anti-abortion politicians impose sweeping restrictions on abortion. Over the next three years, half of Texas` roughly 40 abortion providers shut down, forcing many people to travel hundreds of miles or cross state borders to have abortions in 2017: Trump attacks abortion access — and quickly implements his promise to appoint judges who would “automatically” overturn Roe v. Wade. Despite the trend towards reforming laws to prevent death and injury, some countries, including Nicaragua and El Salvador, maintain draconian and discriminatory laws that still prohibit abortion in virtually all circumstances.

In fact, according to the WHO, 40% of women of reproductive age worldwide live in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws where abortion is legal, neither available nor accessible. In these states, abortion is prohibited or permitted only in very limited circumstances or, if legal, it is not accessible in practice due to multiple barriers to access. It also discourages women and girls from seeking postabortion treatment for complications from unsafe abortion or other pregnancy-related complications. Search your state to find current abortion laws — and find out how your approach to abortion may have changed after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. One of the biggest barriers to access to abortion for these individuals and groups is lack of access to health care. In addition, people who do have access to health care may face stigma and biased opinions in health care delivery, as well as the presumption that they do not need to have access to information and services about contraception and abortion. In some settings, 28% of transgender and non-gendered people report being harassed in medical settings, and 19% report being denied comprehensive medical care because of their transgender status, with the number of communities of color even higher. This is due to many interrelated factors of poverty and race and the intersectional discrimination associated with them.

Preventing women and girls from having access to abortions does not mean they no longer need it. Therefore, attempts to ban or restrict abortions do not help reduce the number of abortions, they only force people to resort to unsafe abortions. Even in states where access to legal abortion is wider, pregnant women may still face several restrictions and barriers to accessing services, such as cost, biased counseling, and mandatory waiting periods. WHO has issued technical guidelines for countries to identify and remove these barriers. In addition, some states have established or allocated funds specifically for abortion care services. In March 2022, Oregon Governor Kate Brown (D) established a $15 million reproductive health equity fund through H.B. 5202. The funds will cover support such as travel and patient accommodation and expand the capacity of the provider network. Seeding Justice, a granting agency that funds grassroots social justice organizations and movements, is responsible for managing the funds. New York has provided $35 million from the Health Commissioner`s Emergency Fund, including $25 million to increase provider capacity and improve access to abortion, and $10 million to improve safety measures in abortion facilities. Some anti-abortion politicians have used the COVID-19 pandemic to enforce abortion bans.

Look at the timeline of new coronavirus-based abortion bans and our fight against them. Sexual and reproductive rights advocates and LGBTI activists are committed to raising awareness and making abortion services available, accessible and inclusive for all who need them, without discrimination for any reason. In addition, one State has so far adopted protection of access to clinics. In April, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed a bill establishing an 8-foot buffer zone around buildings where patients receive health services, including abortion facilities. It prohibits individuals from interfering with or obstructing access to entrances, as well as harassing them when entering the institution. The law came into force in July 2022. Forcing a person into an unwanted pregnancy or forcing them to have an abortion in poor conditions is a violation of their human rights, including the right to privacy and physical autonomy. Abortion bans and restrictions also affect low-income people, for whom the cost of transportation, childcare and recreation often contribute to putting abortion out of reach – even when it is legal. Over the past 25 years, more than 50 countries have amended their laws to allow better access to abortion, sometimes recognizing the crucial role access to safe abortions plays in protecting women`s lives and health. Ireland joined this list on May 25, 2018, when its people voted overwhelmingly in a long-awaited referendum to repeal the near-total constitutional ban on abortion.

In light of these increasingly stringent restrictions on abortion, 10 states already with abortion rights have expanded access through additional laws or policies. As of July 2022, 21 states and Washington, D.C., had implemented abortion safeguards. Abortion restrictions are increasing across the country, including restrictions on medical abortions. Unprecedented abortion bans become laws in Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona and Idaho. In March 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) S.B. 245 signed the Abortion Accessibility Act. Under this state law, health care plans cannot impose cost-sharing requirements such as deductibles, co-insurance or co-payments for abortion or abortion-related services. The law will come into force in January 2023. New York and Maryland have signed similar laws. The Maryland General Assembly passed H.B. 937, the Access to Abortion Care Act, which requires insurance companies that provide labor and maternity coverage to also cover abortion care services and prohibit cost-sharing. A carrier must also explicitly designate the services as “abortion care services.” The insurance-related changes will come into effect in January 2023.

New York had already issued cost-sharing requirements for “medically necessary” abortion care in previous years, and the governor of New York. Kathy Hochul (D) signed the state`s health and mental health budget in March 2022, which requires all New York insurers to cover abortion services without cost-sharing. The budget will come into effect in January 2023. But while the need for abortion is common, access to safe and legal abortion services is far from guaranteed for those in need of abortion services. The Supreme Court plans to end the constitutional right to abortion — taking away the power to control our own bodies — and politicians aim to ban abortion in the United States, no matter where you live. We are fighting back. When abortions are performed by a qualified health professional under hygienic conditions, they are one of the safest medical procedures available, even safer than the birth of a child. Learn more about abortion in Thailand 🔗 www.manushyafoundation.org/thailand-third-upr-cycle-factsheet-safe-abortion Following the Supreme Court`s decision in the Dobbs case, Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D) announced $1 million in emergency funding for the state`s reproductive clinics. The announcement came with a broader commitment from California, Oregon and Washington to protect people seeking abortion treatment in those states. The U.S. Supreme Court is now dominated by judges hostile to our freedom — and in June 2022, the Court stripped us of our constitutional right to abortion.

This decision deprived us of our power to make personal decisions about our own bodies and gave that control to politicians. Here are the basic facts about abortion that everyone should know. And yet, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade – the case that recognized the constitutional right to abortion in 1973. The new Supreme Court decision means we have lost federal constitutional protection for abortion. In one of the most extreme abortion bans this country has ever seen, politicians, neighbors, and even complete strangers can sue anyone who helps a person access an abortion in Texas after six weeks. Now, abortion bans will spread to large parts of the country. No one is free if he does not control his own body. Abortion is an essential part of sexual and reproductive health care. Clinic abortions and medications are very safe. Deaths and injuries from unsafe abortions are preventable.

However, these deaths are common in countries where access to safe abortion is restricted or banned altogether, as the majority of women and girls who need an abortion due to an unwanted pregnancy do not have legal access to it. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funds from being used to cover abortion services, meaning people covered by Medicaid or Medicare are prevented from using their health insurance to pay for services. It also prohibits abortions for military and peace corps members, as well as those employed by the federal government, with a few exceptions if the pregnancy is due to rape, incest, or endangering the life of the pregnant person.