Salon.com > Anti-abortion movement

Michigan, Virginia pass backdoor abortion restrictions

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:44:00 +0000

On the Friday before the long holiday weekend, the Republican governors of Michigan and Virginia snuck in a little New Year's surprise for the women of their states, quietly signing abortion legislation that helped make 2012 the second most restrictive year for reproductive rights.

In Michigan, Rick Snyder signed a bill passed by the lame-duck Senate -- the same one whose anti-union legislating dominated headlines in recent weeks -- requiring clinics that perform more than 120 abortions a year to become surgical outpatient facilities, a level of licensing intended to be onerous and put clinics out of business. He also approved a bill that purports to screen for women being coerced into abortions.

Snyder did veto another bill limiting insurance coverage in private employee plans, which would have required purchase of a separate abortion rider. He objected to that on the grounds that rape victims would have to pay out of pocket if they didn't buy the rider, and because, "As a practical matter, I believe this type of policy is an overreach of government into the private market." Overreach of government into other realms, of course, is another matter entirely. (According to Michigan resident Emily Magner, one legislator interrupted her to cry, "THIS ISN’T ABOUT WOMEN! THIS IS ABOUT PROTECTING FETUSES!”)

Texas’ abortion drug bill: More side effects and higher costs

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 10:50:00 +0000

A GOP lawmaker is looking to make Texas the latest state to restrict the use of abortion medications in a way that some experts warn could increase the drugs’ side effects while making them more expensive.

Anti-abortion activists and legislators can’t enact an outright ban on abortion-inducing drugs like mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486). Instead, they have sought to force doctors to strictly adhere to U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines that appear to be significantly out of step with the current scientific understanding of how the medications should be used.

Lawmakers have passed abortion drug restrictions in Arizona and Ohio, overcoming legal challenges. The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently ruled that similar legislation in that state was unconstitutional. A North Dakota bill is currently tied up in litigation.

House Republicans’ new Todd Akin moment

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000

If there’s one thing this election taught us, it’s that fighting against abortion in the case of rape should be avoided at all costs. And yet, Republicans may come back for another serving of Todd Akin’s humble pie.

Right now, if you’re a woman in the military, which has startlingly high rates of sexual assault, and you get raped, you face the added insult of having to pay for an abortion out of your own pocket. That’s because the military's health insurance plan is the only one in the federal government that does not cover abortion in the case of rape or incest. It'll only cover the procedure if the woman's life is in danger

Democrats in the Senate have tried to change this, but House Republicans have so far resisted, thus producing two different bills -- one with the change and one without. Yesterday, the House named its representatives to a bicameral committee that will hammer out the differences between the two bills, including this provision. While killing the amendment could reignite the explosive abortion and rape debate of the summer, Republicans generally oppose the expansion of reproductive rights, even for raped female soldiers.

Michigan Legislature passes harsh abortion restrictions

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:13:00 +0000

Fresh off passing a right-to-work law and considering a ban on Shariah, the Michigan state Legislature also passed two harsh new measures to restrict abortions in the state.

From the Detroit Free-Press:

One bill passed the Senate, 27-10, and calls for more stringent licensing of abortion clinics; the other, passed out of the House insurance committee into the full House, would allow health care providers to refuse service based on moral objections, religious reasons or matters of conscience.

Both must be voted on by the full House.

Two bills already on Snyder’s desk would limit abortion coverage on policies sold on a statewide health insurance exchange unless consumers purchase it as an add-on. The exchange is a Web-based marketplace where consumers will be able to buy insurance as health care reform takes full effect in 2014.

“Those three issues were our top issues: conscience, insurance and regulation and reform,” Ed Rivet, a spokesman for Michigan Right to Life, told the Free-Press. “That we’re doing them all simultaneously is pretty remarkable."

Rick Perry: My goal is to make all abortion “a thing of the past”

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:51:00 +0000

Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, is pushing state lawmakers to put into place further restrictions on abortion, telling them that "To be clear, my goal, and the goal of many of those joining me here today, is to make abortion, at any stage, a thing of the past."

In a press conference Tuesday, organized by Texas Right to Life, Perry said that he wants to eliminate all abortion: "While Roe v. Wade prevents us from taking that step, it does allow states to do some things to protect life if they can show there is a compelling state interest. I don’t think there is any issue that better fits the definition of 'compelling state interest' than preventing the suffering of our state’s unborn."

Laura Bassett of HuffPo reports:

Federal judge rules “Choose Life” license plates unconstitutional

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:55:00 +0000

A federal judged has banned North Carolina from issuing "Choose Life" license plates, ruling that it is unconstitutional for the state not to offer a pro-choice alternative.

U.S. District Judge James C. Fox wrote in his ruling that "The State's offering a Choose Life license plate in the absence of a pro-choice alternative constitutes viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment."

Reuters reports:

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in September 2011 after state legislators approved the "Choose Life" plate but refused to authorize voluntary license plates with abortion rights slogans such as "Respect Choice."

The anti-abortion plate was one of approximately 70 new specialty plates approved by the Republican-led legislature and signed into law by Democratic Governor Bev Perdue in June 2011.

How the right plans to overturn Roe v. Wade

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:21:00 +0000

In January, two major events will take place within a day of each other: Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision guaranteeing women the right to an abortion, will turn 40, and a president will be sworn in who will likely determine the 1973 ruling's fate. And if that president is Mitt Romney, anyone who cares about access to a safe and legal abortion should be very worried.

Here's what's important to know about the right's plan for Roe: It will be slow, and it will be indirect -- to avoid a backlash -- but the inexorable goal is to overturn it and ban abortion wherever possible. With an eye toward the court's oldest member, women's rights pioneer Ruth Bader Ginsburg, antiabortion activists would be counting on a President Romney to appoint one or more justices who would upset the fragile 5-4 balance that currently maintains the federal right to an abortion. In the meantime, they've been working hard to lay the groundwork to get a case before the Court that would allow justices to revisit, and possibly overturn, Roe.