law requiring the pill to be dispensed by a health care professional.Ībigail Aiken, a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas, said the online abortion pill provider Aid Access received a surge of requests early in the pandemic, when some states cited the outbreak as a reason to limit abortion access at clinics. It’s become increasingly easy for women to circumvent the U.S. While not enough data exists yet to show whether abortions have increased or decreased during the pandemic, there’s some evidence that more women induced their own abortions, using abortion pills they were able to purchase or receive by mail from a foreign source. “But we recognize the fact that the fight is ongoing - the courts and many of our state legislatures are going to be very difficult for us.” “I was actually able to breathe in hope and possibility,” she said. Its president, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, congratulated Biden on his inauguration Wednesday, yet warned that his policies on abortion and contraception “advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity.”Īlexis McGill Johnson, the president of Planned Parenthood, said the worries that plagued her throughout 2020 gave way to joy with the Democrats’ Senate victories in Georgia. Major anti-abortion groups invested large sums and mobilized hundreds of volunteers to back the losing GOP Senate candidates in Georgia, hoping to retain Republican control so Becerra could be rejected.īecerra and Biden are Roman Catholic, and the new administration’s support for abortion rights poses a dilemma for the U.S. However, the Democrats’ narrow Senate majority is expected to be sufficient to confirm Biden’s nomination of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra – a strong supporter of abortion rights - to head the Department of Health and Human Services. But prospects for repeal are uncertain, given that Democrats would need some Republican votes in the Senate to overcome a potential filibuster. The ban prompted Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion provider in the U.S., to quit the program rather than comply.Ībortion-rights supporters also hope that Congress, under Democratic control, will repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortions unless a woman’s life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest.īiden, a longtime supporter of the amendment, reversed himself in 2019 and now favors its repeal. Another order would rescind what abortion-rights supporters called the “domestic gag rule,” barring Title X family planning funds from going to any health care providers who perform abortions or make referrals for them. foreign assistance for abortion-related services. One such order would rescind the so-called “global gag rule” that prohibits the use of U.S. Referring to anti-abortion lawmakers, Nash said, “They see the Supreme Court as being in their corner, and it’s their job to continue to pass restrictions and bans.”Īmong abortion-rights activists, there’s relief and optimism as the Biden administration takes power Biden is expected to soon issue executive orders reversing anti-abortion actions taken by Trump. Similar bills have passed in several other states, but courts have blocked their implementation.Įlizabeth Nash, who tracks state government issues for the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, says anti-abortion legislation may get top priority even in states where lawmakers confront multiple crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and severe budgetary woes. ![]() South Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks after conception. Bullock supported abortion rights during eight years in office. ![]() In Montana, anti-abortion bills are expected to advance now that Republican Greg Gianforte has replaced Democrat Steve Bullock as governor. The Texas legislature also will consider several sweeping abortion bans. The measure declares: “It is time for the United States Supreme Court to redress and correct the grave injustice and the crime against humanity which is being perpetuated by its decisions in Roe v. In Arkansas, a new bill would criminalize abortions except to save a pregnant woman’s life. and we are going to see judges who are open to them.” “I am very optimistic.” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee.
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