About 400 events were set to take place across all 50 US states in defense of abortion rights
Continue reading...Category Archives: Abortion
Footballer Héctor Bellerín calls on sport to oppose Alabama abortion ban
Arsenal defender says ban also an issue for men, and garners support from Ian Wright
Héctor Bellerín, the Arsenal and Spain defender, has challenged fellow football professionals to speak out against the abortion bill passed this week in Alabama, in the US, which would make it a crime to perform a termination at any stage of pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest.
Bellerín, 24, tweeted: “I wanted to see if anyone from our industry would speak out about the abortion bill, but I guess people are too scared. This isn’t just an issue for women, it’s one for every human being. We fight for equality and this is something men should fight for and not hide away from.”
Continue reading...Women shouldn’t have to tell abortion stories to remind lawmakers they’re human
#YouKnowMe is both powerful and profoundly depressing – women shouldn’t have to justify wanting bodily autonomy
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Continue reading...Missouri lawmakers approve extreme eight-week abortion ban
The legislation, which is expected to be signed by the governor, echoes even tighter restrictions passed by Alabama this week
Missouri lawmakers on Friday approved legislation to ban abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, becoming the latest state to put severe restrictions on the procedure.
The legislation passed the Republican-led state house of representatives on Friday afternoon after being approved by the senate early on Thursday, and now heads to the desk of Missouri’s Republican governor, Mike Parson. Parson is expected to sign it.
Continue reading...Missouri abortion ban: protesters disrupt debate as House passes extreme bill – video report
The lower house of the Missouri general assembly passed a bill on Friday to prohibit women from seeking an abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy, days after Alabama enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the US.
The House of Representatives gave its final legislative approval in a 110-44 vote after protesters were removed from the public gallery. Missouri senators overwhelmingly approved the legislation on Thursday.
- Missouri House passes extreme eight-week abortion ban – live
- Missouri lawmakers approve bill to ban abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy
Missouri House passes extreme eight-week abortion ban – live
State’s Republican-led House joins states such as Alabama by passing sweeping bill, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest
The bill just passed in Missouri is designed not to go into effect – but to go to court. It is unconstitutional.
We published this analysis of near total abortion bans from Prof. B Jessie Hill this week. Hill is a professor at Case Western Reserve school of law and an expert in reproductive rights law.
Related: Could abortion become illegal in America? All signs point to yes | B Jessie Hill
Rather than pursuing the sort of incremental strategy that anti-abortion activists have favored in the past – such as banning abortions late in pregnancy, or attempting to gradually regulate abortion clinics out of existence with increasingly burdensome regulations – these newer laws are written to prohibit virtually all abortions in the state.
Fetal cardiac activity can be detected beginning at about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant. By banning all abortions after that point, “heartbeat” bans, if they take effect, would stop all but a very small percentage of abortions.
In addition to everything happening in Missouri today, the House debated the Equality Act, to expand protections for LGBT people.
The House just approved the Equality Act, a bill that would expand gay rights, extending to areas like employment, housing, loan applications, education and public accommodations.@SarahEMcBride of @HRC broke down the Equality Act for us ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ctY0DPxjqu
Continue reading...Pressure mounts on Google to pull ads for anti-abortion clinics that ‘deceive women’
‘Appalled’ Democrat urges action after Guardian revealed Google has given $150,000 in free ads to opaque anti-abortion group
Google is facing pressure in Washington to immediately remove online advertisements for “fake medical clinics” that are designed to “mislead” women who are seeking an abortion.
Related: Google has given $150,000 in free ads to deceptive anti-abortion group
Continue reading...Trump takes war on abortion worldwide as policy cuts off funds
Sexual health organisations warn women will die if they are forced to seek DIY abortions
The Trump administration has taken its war on abortion worldwide, cutting off all funding to any overseas organisation or clinic that will not agree to a complete ban on even discussing it.
The Mexico City policy, dubbed the “global gag” by its critics, denies US federal funds to any organisation involved in providing abortion services overseas or counselling women about them. It was instituted by the then US president Ronald Reagan and has been revoked by every Democrat and reinstated by every Republican president since.
Continue reading...How a rightwing group accessed the White House to spread its anti-abortion agenda
The outsize influence of C-Fam in the top reaches of the Trump administration has helped turn the tide on the world stage on issues involving women’s reproductive rights
Last spring, Laurie Shestack Phipps, a diplomat at the US mission to the UN, received a set of talking points from the state department ahead of an international women’s conference, setting out clear red lines against mention of “sexual and reproductive health” care.
This had become the norm in the Trump administration, where the once uncontroversial phrase was seen as code for abortion. Use of the word “gender” was also strongly discouraged, as it was viewed as a stalking horse for LGBT rights.
Continue reading...White House refuses to sign on to Christchurch call to combat online extremism – live
White House said in response to an international agreement to to curb hate speech that ‘productive speech’ is the best tool to defeat it
The White House has criticized House Democrats’ investigation into obstruction of justice by the president as serving “political theater.” In turn, the lawmaker in charge of those investigations called the White House position “preposterous” in an interview.
The letter was sent by White House council Pat Cipollone, in response to a March request by Congressional investigators for documents. In a 12-page letter, Cipollone asked the committee to narrow its “sweeping” request and provide a legislative reason why the documents should be released, according to Reuters.
The White House will not participate in the committee’s ‘investigation’ that brushes aside the conclusions of the Department of Justice after a two-year-long effort in favor of political theater pre-ordained to reach a preconceived and false result,” Cipollone’s 12-page letter said.
The documents requested relate to everything from the contents of Trump’s meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin to his communications with former White House counsel Donald McGahn, the firing of former White House national security advisor Michael Flynn and former FBI director James Comey, and possible pardons for Trump associates who pleaded guilty to crimes stemming from the probe.
The committee also seeks documents aimed at probing whether Trump has used the White House to enrich himself in violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause.
Jameela Jamil, formerly a presenter on BBC Radio 1 and now one of the stars of the sitcom The Good Place, opened up about an abortion she had when she was young.
Jamila called it the “best decision I have ever made.”
I had an abortion when I was young, and it was the best decision I have ever made. Both for me, and for the baby I didn’t want, and wasn’t ready for, emotionally, psychologically and financially. So many children will end up in foster homes. So many lives ruined. So very cruel.
Continue reading...Alabama: Republican state passes near-total ban on abortion – video report
Alabama has passed a near-total ban on abortion, making it a crime to terminate pregnancy at any stage. The abortion ban is the strictest in the US and allows an exception only when the pregnant woman’s health is at serious risk. The bill was passed by 25 votes to six and also contains no exception for rape or incest. If the procedure was to take place the doctor could be punished with 10 to 99 years in prison; the woman who had the abortion would not face criminal charges
Continue reading...What female state senators had to say about Alabama’s abortion bill – video
Alabama’s new law imposing the strictest restrictions on abortion in the United States was passed by 25 white male Republicans. Minority Democrats introduced a slew of amendments in an attempt to block it. ‘This bill is about control,’ the state senator Linda Coleman-Madison told the bill’s proponents. There are only four women in the Alabama senate
Continue reading...‘You just said to my daughter, you don’t matter ‘ – senator reacts to Alabama abortion ban – video
The Democratic minority leader, Bobby Singleton, delivered an emotional speech after a rape and incest exception from the abortion ban bill failed to pass in a roll-call vote. Alabama’s Republican-controlled state senate has passed a bill to outlaw abortion, making it a crime to perform the procedure at any stage of pregnancy. The strictest-in-the-nation abortion ban allows an exception only when the woman’s health is at serious risk, and sets up a legal battle that supporters hope will lead to the supreme court overturning its landmark ruling that legalised abortion nationwide.
Continue reading...Alabama abortion ban: Republican senate passes most restrictive law in US
Law bans abortion except if there is a ‘serious health risk’ to the mother, with no exceptions for rape and incest
Alabama’s Republican-controlled state senate passed a bill Tuesday to outlaw abortion, making it a crime to perform the procedure at any stage of pregnancy.
The strictest-in-the-nation abortion ban allows an exception only when the woman’s health is at serious risk, and sets up a legal battle that supporters hope will lead to the supreme court overturning its landmark ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Continue reading...Google has given $150,000 in free ads to deceptive anti-abortion group
Obria Group’s ads suggest it provides abortion services, when in fact it tries to persuade women not to terminate pregnancies
Google has given tens of thousands of dollars in free advertising to an anti-abortion group that runs ads suggesting it provides abortion services at its medical clinics, but actually seeks to deter “abortion-minded women” from terminating their pregnancies.
Related: Abortion: judge strikes down Kentucky restriction but governor to appeal
Continue reading...Better the devil they know: how Christians came to terms with Trump
Evangelical backing for a thrice-married celebrity is not as odd as it seems: on abortion, the supreme court and more, the president keeps delivering
After bowing his head in prayer, Donald Trump addressed faith leaders in the sunshine of the White House rose garden.
Related: Trump wants Barr to consider investigating Biden – Giuliani
Continue reading...The Guardian view on abortion: protecting a human right | Editorial
Cruel laws risk lives and harm women around the world. Attempts to extend them must be resisted
No law can end abortions, however severe its restrictions and however harsh its penalties. Each day almost 70,000 unsafe abortions are carried out around the world, and they are vastly more likely to happen in countries with strict laws. What such legislation does do is force some women to continue pregnancies against their wishes, while risking the lives and wellbeing of others. Women in the US have seen their ability to terminate pregnancies dismantled piece by piece. Now states are racing to outlaw or dramatically curb abortions with extreme and unconstitutional bills. The aim is to directly challenge Roe v Wade, the US supreme court ruling that established that abortion is legal before the foetus is viable outside the womb, at around 24 weeks. Last Tuesday, the governor of Georgia signed a bill essentially banning abortions after six weeks from 2020. Some described it as a sign that men who wish to control women’s bodies have no idea of how they actually work. More likely, those who pushed hardest for the change understand all too well that many women will not know they are pregnant until it is too late.
Five other states have signed similar bills; several more are considering them. (Others have introduced more incremental curbs.) The Alabama senate will this week consider a near-total ban on abortion – with prison sentences of up to 99 years for doctors – which Republicans initially tried to sneak through without even a vote. The state’s lieutenant governor said he believes Roe v Wade will be overturned thanks to Donald Trump’s appointment of conservative jurists.
Continue reading...Alyssa Milano calls for sex strike as protest over Republican abortion laws
- Actor provokes storm with call to regain ‘bodily autonomy’
- GOP-held legislatures in quest to overturn Roe v Wade
The actor Alyssa Milano ignited a social media storm with a call for women to join her in a sex strike, to protest against strict abortion laws passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures.
Related: Abortion: judge strikes down Kentucky restriction but governor to appeal
Continue reading...Abortion: judge strikes down Kentucky restriction but governor to appeal
Federal judge says 2018 law would create ‘substantial obstacle’ to abortion rights
After a federal judge struck down a Kentucky abortion law that would halt a common second-trimester procedure to end pregnancies, the state’s anti-abortion Republican governor immediately vowed to appeal.
Related: All the president’s judges: how Trump can flip courts at a record-setting pace
Continue reading...Meghan McCain, John McCain’s daughter, is the very definition of toxic femininity
Daughter of the late senator has made herself the authority on antisemitism. Did we mention she’s John McCain’s daughter?
Meghan McCain seems to have appointed herself the leading authority on antisemitism in America. She may not be Jewish herself but some of her best friends are Jewish, you know? And of course, she’s also the daughter of the late senator John McCain, something she is not shy about pointing out, which automatically qualifies her as an expert on everything.
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