Reproductive Rights News Roundup – 6/21/2019

Appeals court allows Trump abortion rules to take effect
By Gene Johnson
Associated Press
New Trump administration rules imposing additional hurdles for women seeking abortions can take effect while the government appeals decisions that blocked them, a federal appeals court said Thursday.

Women’s rights fighters take a page from the anti-abortion playbook
By Rui Kaneya
Center for Public Integrity
In the raging legislative battle over women’s reproductive rights, anti-abortion state lawmakers and their allies have been on a roll.

What States Protect Abortion? Some Have Back-Up Laws Should Roe V. Wade Fall
By Sarah Friedmann
Bustle
On Wednesday, Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island signed a new bill into law that protects abortion rights in her state even if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Florida’s Nikki Fried blasts Republicans as ‘anti-woman’ in fiery new video
News Service of Florida
WLRN Miami
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the state’s top elected Democrat, on Monday welcomed President Donald Trump to the state by blasting him and other Republicans on women’s rights.

Florida Anti-Defamation League condemns Bryan Lober’s Facebook posts.
By Bailey Gallion
Florida Today
The Florida branch of the Anti-Defamation League Tuesday joined a growing chorus of disapproval of recent Facebook posts by Brevard County Commissioner Bryan Lober, calling his remarks about abortion and snowplows “deplorable and irresponsible.”

GOP Brevard Commissioner jokes Democratic leader should seek abortion, kids would be ‘scourge on humanity’
By Ryan Nicol
Florida Politics
Republican Brevard Commissioner Bryan Lober went after a member of the Brevard Democrats on Facebook Thursday, saying she should turn to abortion in lieu of having any kids, arguing they would be a “scourge on humanity.”

How gerrymandering paved the way for the US’s anti-abortion backlash
By Adrian Horton , Tom McCarthy and Jessica Glenza
The Guardian
Public opinion polls in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and elsewhere have all found that a majority of citizens in those places prefer to keep abortion legal.

In age of mass incarceration, criminalizing abortion is big step backwards
By Joe Kimok
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Earlier this month, 42 elected prosecutors from around the country signed a letter pledging to use their discretion to decline to prosecute women and doctors pursuant to the new wave of draconian abortion laws sweeping parts of the nation.

The right is coming for birth control, too
By Mary Sanchez
Palm Beach Post
Surfing conservative websites, it didn’t take long to find this nugget of backward thinking, courtesy of American Thinker:

Planned Parenthood’s Birmingham Clinic Is Still Going Up Despite Alabama’s Abortion Ban
By Morgan Brinlee
Bustle
A near total ban on abortion signed into law last month by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has not deterred one of the nation’s leading affordable healthcare providers from maintaining a presence in the state.

End HIV/AIDS epidemic? It’s possible, and Floridians asked to get it done
By Cindy Krischer Goodman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The science exists to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is challenging Floridians to do their part and make it happen.

Duval County to get federal help to combat spread of HIV
By Tenikka Hughes
Action News Jax
A map from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells the story of the current state of HIV infections in the U.S.

If Gov. DeSantis signs bill, questionable health insurance policies could expand in Florida
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Florida Phoenix
The policies are likely to have a host of coverage loopholes, excluding items like pre-existing medical conditions, mental-health services, prescription drugs or maternity care.