The Quickie: Repeal of Global Gag Rule Re-Introduced
For Immediate Release: March 29, 2023
Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: repeal of global gag rule introduced, abortion providers urge GA Supreme Court to block 6-week abortion ban in oral arguments, and anti-abortion politicians try to rig ballot initiative procedures.
HOUSE HEALTH CARE CHAMPIONS RE-INTRODUCE REPEAL OF GLOBAL GAG RULE: Yesterday, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) along with Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9) and Ami Bera (D-CA-6) led over 150 cosponsors in re-introducing the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act to permanently repeal the global gag rule. The global gag rule has been used by anti-reproductive rights politicians to prevent international organizations from receiving any U.S. global health assistance if they provide, offer counsel on, refer to, or advocate for abortion services — even if these activities are supported solely with non-U.S. funds.
“Sexual and reproductive health care should be available and accessible to everyone, no matter what country they live in,” Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “And access to reproductive health care and information should not hang in the balance every time there is a party change in the White House. People around the world deserve to live free from the shadow of the global gag rule.”
ABORTION PROVIDERS URGE GEORGIA SUPREME COURT TO BLOCK 6-WEEK ABORTION BAN: Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court heard oral arguments in SisterSong v. State of Georgia, a case challenging the state’s ban on abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. Advocates argued that the ban is void under a provision of the Georgia Constitution that prohibits the enactment of a law that violated either the state or U.S. Constitution at the time of its passage in 2019.
Since taking effect in July 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the six-week ban has forced countless Georgians to flee the state for essential, time-sensitive health care or to continue their pregnancies and go through childbirth against their will.
“Under Georgia’s abortion ban, pregnant people are denied the freedom to decide what is best for their health and for that of their families and communities,” said Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Alexis McGill Johnson in a statement. “For Black Georgians especially, forced pregnancy can be deadly. It is far past time for the courts to listen to the needs of Georgians. Every day this ban remains in effect is another day putting pregnant Georgians' lives at risk.”
Read more at AP and Bloomberg Law.
IF YOU CAN’T WIN IT, RIG IT: Last week, New York Magazine exposed anti-abortion lawmakers’ undemocratic attempts to limit state ballot initiatives for fear that voters will continue to approve abortion rights initiatives in their states. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion rights won big in 2022 elections, going six for six on state ballot initiatives.
Now, anti-abortion politicians are scared. Lawmakers in Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma are all considering ways to limit ballot initiatives and thwart the will of the people. Some of these attempts are especially transparent: In Mississippi, lawmakers have proposed specifically prohibiting abortion-related initiatives. In Ohio and Missouri — where there are forthcoming abortion rights ballot initiatives — lawmakers are trying to raise the voter threshold to impose supermajority rules for passage, all to limit the voices of those they don’t agree with.
Let’s call this what it is: a desperate attempt to advance a wildly unpopular anti-abortion agenda by any means necessary, including undermining democracy.
Read more at New York Magazine.