Latest news with #abortionban
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Planned Parenthood offices begin rejecting Medicaid after Trump signs bill to defund healthcare organization
At least two regional Planned Parenthood affiliates have notices on their websites telling patients that, thanks to a provision in Republicans' new tax-and-spending bill that 'defunds' the reproductive healthcare giant, they can no longer accept Medicaid. However, this provision – which abortion rights supporters have called a 'backdoor abortion ban' – was recently blocked by a court order. Other Planned Parenthood affiliates are continuing to treat patients who use Medicaid to pay for treatment. Although the Planned Parenthood network is overseen by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, it includes dozens of independent affiliates that directly provide care to patients. As of Wednesday afternoon, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains had notices on their websites alerting patients that they can no longer accept Medicaid, the US government's insurance program for low-income people. 'With the passage of the reconciliation bill into law on July 4, 2025, Planned Parenthood health centers, including Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC (PPMW) centers, can no longer accept Medicaid coverage for care,' reads the statement on Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC's website, which lists a number of ways patients can still find funding for care. 'This 'defund' provision is a cruel, harmful, and inhumane law that will strip health care from thousands of people in the DC metropolitan region and millions across the country.' Neither Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC nor Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains immediately responded to a request for comment. 'There are no other providers who can fully meet the needs of millions of patients if the 'defunding' of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand,' Danika Severino Wynn, vice-president of care and access at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. 'Planned Parenthood health centers are committed to doing everything they can to still see patients – and will continue to do so – while complying with all laws amid the chaos, cruelty and confusion intentionally sown by the new law the Trump administration and its backers in Congress passed that seeks to shut down Planned Parenthood and ban abortion nationwide.' Some of these affiliates' notices were initially flagged by reporter Susan Rinkunas of Autonomy News, an outlet that covers issues related to bodily autonomy. On 4 July, Donald Trump signed into law a sprawling tax-and-spending bill that, in addition to directing trillions of dollars towards tax cuts and immigration enforcement, blocks Planned Parenthood affiliates from receiving Medicaid funding for at least one year. This ban, which fulfills conservatives' long-running pledge to 'defund' Planned Parenthood, would force the organization to close roughly 200 health centers. Blue states, which are home to larger numbers of Medicaid beneficiaries, would probably take a disproportionate hit. Planned Parenthood sued over the 'defunding' provision on Monday, claiming that it violates the US constitution in multiple ways. A judge agreed to freeze the defunding provision for at least two weeks. A spokesperson for another affiliate, Planned Parenthood of Florida, confirmed that, after the judge's order, the group was again scheduling patients who rely on Medicaid. Related: Planned Parenthood sues Trump administration over funding cuts in big bill 'Over the weekend, we had to cancel appointments for patients that used Medicaid coverage to receive care at our health centers, which was an incredibly painful and stressful process for the patients and the staff,' said Michelle Quesada, vice-president of communications for Planned Parenthood of Florida. 'It's a rapidly changing situation.' Since it is illegal to use Medicaid to pay for the vast majority of abortions, Planned Parenthood clinics rely on the insurance program to reimburse them for providing services like birth control, STI tests and cancer screenings. About one in 10 female Medicaid beneficiaries between the ages of 15 and 49 go to Planned Parenthood for their family-planning services. 'We're facing a reality of the impact on shutting down almost half of abortion-providing health centers,' Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Federation of Americas's CEO, told the Guardian last week. 'It does feel existential. Not just for Planned Parenthood, but for communities that are relying on access to this care.'
Washington Post
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Dominican protesters rally against a proposed set of laws on abortion, corruption and rights
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Dominican Republic's congressional building on Thursday to rally against proposed new laws that would uphold an abortion ban , allow discrimination based on sexual orientation and exempt churches, municipalities and others from criminal liability. The conservative Caribbean country currently operates on a penal code dating from 1884, and efforts to reform it in the past 23 years have failed. 'It's a code that has many setbacks in terms of rights,' said Sergia Galván Ortega, with the Coalition for Women's Lives and Rights. She joined the demonstrators on Thursday who demanded that abortion be allowed in cases of rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormalities. The Dominican Republic is currently one of only a handful of countries with an absolute abortion ban . Others include Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. Thursday's protest was especially important to some Dominicans given that the government cannot be held criminally responsible for the recent collapse of a nightclub's roof that killed more than 230 people. While the nightclub's owner and his sister were detained , many were outraged that the government cannot be held liable — not under the current or the proposed new penal code. Protesters also noted that the proposed penal code does not recognize marital rape and would allow physical violence against children if the adult does not demonstrate a pattern of aggression. It also calls for lesser prison time for child sex abuse cases with no penetration. 'That's terrible,' said Natalia Mármol, an activist and member of the women's coalition. The proposed code was fast-tracked in commission and is expected to be approved by the Dominican Senate and Chamber of Deputies. It would then go to President Luis Abinader , who several years ago said he supports allowing abortion under certain circumstances. A decade ago, former President Danilo Medina vetoed a different proposed penal code , demanding that abortion be allowed under certain circumstances. Lawmakers amended the code, but a court eventually struck it down amid opposition from religious officials.
Associated Press
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Dominican protesters rally against a proposed set of laws on abortion, corruption and rights
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Dominican Republic's congressional building on Thursday to rally against proposed new laws that would uphold an abortion ban, allow discrimination based on sexual orientation and exempt churches, municipalities and others from criminal liability. The conservative Caribbean country currently operates on a penal code dating from 1884, and efforts to reform it in the past 23 years have failed. 'It's a code that has many setbacks in terms of rights,' said Sergia Galván Ortega, with the Coalition for Women's Lives and Rights. She joined the demonstrators on Thursday who demanded that abortion be allowed in cases of rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormalities. The Dominican Republic is currently one of only a handful of countries with an absolute abortion ban. Others include Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. Thursday's protest was especially important to some Dominicans given that the government cannot be held criminally responsible for the recent collapse of a nightclub's roof that killed more than 230 people. While the nightclub's owner and his sister were detained, many were outraged that the government cannot be held liable — not under the current or the proposed new penal code. Protesters also noted that the proposed penal code does not recognize marital rape and would allow physical violence against children if the adult does not demonstrate a pattern of aggression. It also calls for lesser prison time for child sex abuse cases with no penetration. 'That's terrible,' said Natalia Mármol, an activist and member of the women's coalition. The proposed code was fast-tracked in commission and is expected to be approved by the Dominican Senate and Chamber of Deputies. It would then go to President Luis Abinader, who several years ago said he supports allowing abortion under certain circumstances. A decade ago, former President Danilo Medina vetoed a different proposed penal code, demanding that abortion be allowed under certain circumstances. Lawmakers amended the code, but a court eventually struck it down amid opposition from religious officials.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Planned Parenthood offices begin rejecting Medicaid
At least two regional Planned Parenthood affiliates have notices on their websites telling patients that, thanks to a provision in Republicans' new tax-and-spending bill that 'defunds' the reproductive healthcare giant, they can no longer accept Medicaid. However, this provision – which abortion rights supporters have called a 'backdoor abortion ban' – was recently blocked by a court order. Other Planned Parenthood affiliates are continuing to treat patients who use Medicaid to pay for treatment. Although the Planned Parenthood network is overseen by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, it includes dozens of independent affiliates that directly provide care to patients. As of Wednesday afternoon, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains had notices on their websites alerting patients that they can no longer accept Medicaid, the US government's insurance program for low-income people. 'With the passage of the reconciliation bill into law on July 4, 2025, Planned Parenthood health centers, including Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC (PPMW) centers, can no longer accept Medicaid coverage for care,' reads the statement on Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC's website, which lists a number of ways patients can still find funding for care. 'This 'defund' provision is a cruel, harmful, and inhumane law that will strip health care from thousands of people in the DC metropolitan region and millions across the country.' Neither Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC nor Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains immediately responded to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. Some of these affiliates' notices were initially flagged by reporter Susan Rinkunas of Autonomy News, an outlet that covers issues related to bodily autonomy. On 4 July, Donald Trump signed into law a sprawling tax-and-spending bill that, in addition to directing trillions of dollars towards tax cuts and immigration enforcement, blocks Planned Parenthood affiliates from receiving Medicaid funding for at least one year. This ban, which fulfills conservatives' long-running pledge to 'defund' Planned Parenthood, would force the organization to close roughly 200 health centers. Blue states, which are home to larger numbers of Medicaid beneficiaries, would likely take a disproportionate hit. Planned Parenthood sued over the 'defunding' provision on Monday, claiming that it violates the US constitution in multiple ways. A judge agreed to freeze the defunding provision for at least two weeks. A spokesperson for another affiliate, Planned Parenthood of Florida, confirmed that, after the judge's order, the group was again scheduling patients who rely on Medicaid. 'Over the weekend, we had to cancel appointments for patients that used Medicaid coverage to receive care at our health centers, which was an incredibly painful and stressful process for the patients and the staff,' said Michelle Quesada, vice-president of communications for Planned Parenthood of Florida. 'It's a rapidly changing situation.' Since it is illegal to use Medicaid to pay for the vast majority of abortions, Planned Parenthood clinics rely on the insurance program to reimburse them for providing services like birth control, STI tests and cancer screenings. About one in 10 female Medicaid beneficiaries between the ages of 15 and 49 go to Planned Parenthood for their family-planning services. 'We're facing a reality of the impact on shutting down almost half of abortion-providing health centers,' Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Federation of Americas's CEO, told the Guardian last week. 'It does feel existential. Not just for Planned Parenthood, but for communities that are relying on access to this care.'
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
A baby born to a brain dead mother: this is the horror of abortion bans
On Friday 13 June, a baby was born in an Atlanta hospital to a woman who had been dead for four months. Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old Black nurse and mother, was declared brain dead in February after blood clots formed in her brain. Legally, and by all meaningful measures, she was dead then: the woman who loved her family, laughed with her friends, comforted her son, helped her colleagues and cared for her patients was gone then, and was never coming back. But the state of Georgia, and the administrators of the hospital where she was declared dead, kept her corpse in a state of artificial animation for months. That's because when Smith went to the hospital in February complaining of a headache, and later became unresponsive, she was about eight weeks pregnant. According to her family, doctors at Emory hospital, in Georgia, told the family that the state's abortion ban required them to maintain the regimen that falsely animated their daughter's corpse so that the fetus inside her could continue to grow. The Georgia state attorney general denies that the state's abortion ban required this abuse of Smiths's body. But other supporters of the law disagree. The result, either way, was the same: in deference to a law that created genuine ambiguity about what freedoms Smith's doctors and family had in the wake of her death, a woman who did nothing other than be pregnant was denied the right to rest in peace. Brain death is distinct from a vegetative state or a coma; it is the complete and permanent loss of the function of the entire brain, including the loss of the function of the brain stem, which is needed for basic organ functions like the reflexive intake of breath and the beating of the heart. There is no chance of recovery; usually, the invasive life support required to sustain the body of a brain dead patient is administered only long enough for the patient's family to say goodbye. That's because what life support does to a patient's body, in addition to being medically futile, is also extreme and invasive. The artificial ventilator that acts as a bellows, pushing air in and out of the dead lungs, involves tubes inserted through the nose and throat, extending into the stomach and windpipe. These tubes, in Smith's case, were tools of the state, extending the force of the law into the inside of her corpse. It was the state, via these machines, that pumped her heart, contracted her lungs, and pushed blood into the dead tissues of her body, so that cells could continue dividing inside her uterus. It was the state that used these machines to desecrate Smith's corpse – to turn it from the vessel for a beautiful person, the nurse and mother, into an object that symbolized women's degradation and Smith's disposability. What should have been a respected artifact of a loved person became a macabre marionette, pushed and pulled by a state apparatus that sees all women's bodies as mere means to its own ends. Last month, the fetus was cut out of her corpse prematurely; presumably, doctors did not think that the dead body could sustain a pregnancy any longer. Physicians working on Smith's case told her family that as a result of gestating inside a dead uterus, the resulting child could experience health complications ranging from blindness to the inability to walk. The infant that was extracted from the dead woman, a baby boy, weighs less than 2lbs, and is currently in neonatal intensive care. The family has named him Chance. The desecration of Smith's corpse by Emory University hospital and the state of Georgia is a grim reminder of how little women's personhood is esteemed in post-Dobbs America. But Adriana is not the first woman to have her dead body abused this way. In 2013, a 33-year-old Texas woman, Marlise Muñoz, was declared brain dead after suffering a pulmonary embolism. Because she was 14 weeks pregnant, the hospital argued that the state of Texas required her to be kept on life support, solely so that her corpse could be used to continue the cultivation of the fetus. Her husband, Erick, sued to have her removed from life support so that he could bury his wife and grieve in peace; still, the hospital artificially animated her corpse until a judge ordered them to stop. Marlise's family would tell reporters that as they visited her body in the hospital, they could smell her flesh decaying. There is something particularly unsettling about seeing a corpse: the absence of the person who was once there is so conspicuous that it makes the body uncanny. That the body is not the person becomes clear the moment you see a body without a human person in it. And yet the body is the instrument and vessel of the person who animates it, and as such it commands to be treated with dignity, with a kind of reverence, with the respect you would give to a human being. Abortion bans disregard this: they appropriate the body for the ends of the state, indifferent to the will or the dignity of the person who lives in it. Rape functions this way, too—using a body for an end, without deferring to the person who inhabits it. In both cases—rape and abortion bans – the body of a living person is reduced to an instrument for someone else's use. That contrast – between the dignity that a human being's body demands and the instrumentalization with which it is treated – is what supplies abortion bans and sexual violence with their moral horror. They treat living people as mere objects. In that sense, a corpse might be the perfect vehicle for the anti-abortion movement's agenda: it is a female instrument without the annoying encumbrance of a female person. But Adriana Smith was a person; so was Marlise Muñoz. They were not objects, or instruments; they were people endowed with dignity and rights. In life and in death, they deserved better. Every woman does. Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist
