Reproductive Rights News Roundup – 7/12/2019

Appeals court denies demands to halt Trump abortion referral ‘gag rule’
By Jessie Hellmann
The Hill
A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that the Trump administration can proceed with its overhaul of the Title X family planning program, setting aside demands to halt a recent decision allowing the administration to enforce a “gag rule” for abortion referrals.

5 Telltale Signs of a Crisis Pregnancy Center
By Mattie Quinn
Self Magazine
Heather Shumaker — who represents National Women’s Law Center in our FRF coalition — is featured discussing tips on spotting those anti-abortion fake clinics. (“Since they’re not exactly transparent.”)

Abortion support is the highest it’s been in two decades as challenges mount
By Emily Guskin and Scott Clement
Washington Post
Support for legal abortion stands at its highest level in more than two decades according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, even as numerous states adopt restrictions that challenge the breadth of rights established by the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Abortion by the numbers in Florida: As nation trends downward, Florida sees an uptick
By James Call
Tallahassee Democrat
A recently released report on abortions indicates Florida may be bucking a national downward trend.

Republican abortion bills inspire EMILY’s List targeting effort
By Scott Powers
Florida Politics
EMILY’s List is launching a new $20 million campaign to support pro-abortion choice Democratic women for state and local offices in the 2020 elections including in Florida, partly in response to the wave of anti-abortion bills in state legislatures this year, the group announced Tuesday.

Republicans must stop state Sen. Dennis Baxley’s racist rhetoric
By Lauren Ritchie
Orlando Sentinel
Excerpt: Baxley, an Ocala Republican who represents a large portion of Lake County, uses the same “Great Replacement” rhetoric as King. In discussing why he opposes abortion, King mentioned that white women aren’t having enough babies to keep the white power structure — he calls it the “culture” — in place. Of course, he puts it in a more politically correct form.

The 29-Year-Old Politician Taking on the NRA in Florida
By John Nichols
The Nation
No issue is off limits for Anna Eskamani, a 29-year-old activist who was elected last year to the Florida legislature.

The Hyde Amendment Is Ideology Dictating Health Care—And Yes, It Should Be Repealed
By Leana S. Wen
Washington Post
Across the country, we are seeing unprecedented attacks on people’s access to reproductive health care.

The Corporations Funding the Group Behind the Country’s Most Extreme Anti-Choice Lawmakers
By Ally Boguhn
Rewire News
Corporations including Verizon and Pfizer financed a political group that aided in the election of the state lawmakers behind some of the country’s most extreme abortion bans.

Abortion Clinics Don’t Want Demonstrators Around, Even If They’re Pro-Choice
By Rebecca Grant
Vice
As an abortion rights advocate in a state trying to ban abortion, Helmi Henkin isn’t usually in the position of turning away support.

The American Medical Association is no Longer Neutral on Abortion
By Julie Rovner
Kaiser Health News
The American Medical Association is suing North Dakota to block two abortion-related laws, the latest signal the doctors’ group is shifting to a more aggressive stance as the Donald Trump administration and state conservatives ratchet up efforts to eliminate legal abortion.

Abortion and White Fragility: 5 Key Issues at the National Education Association Convention
By Madeline Will
Education Week Teacher
After much debate, delegates voted to pass a new business item that vocalized support for both the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and the “fundamental right to an abortion.”

More than 1,300 Florida parents had babies die before 1st birthday. Doctors race to find out why.
By Naseem S. Miller
Orlando Sentinel
Sixteen days after bringing him into this world, Andia and Keith Kolakowski were trying to let Isaac go.

Reproductive Rights Groups Tell FDA to Stop Restricting Medication Abortion
By Dennis Carter
Rewire
Four months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned online service Aid Access to stop shipping abortion pills to patients in the United States, dozens of reproductive rights advocates have come out against unnecessary regulation of medication abortion by mail.

Did Anti-Choice Groups Help Craft Trump’s Fetal Tissue Research Policy? Democrats Want an Answer.
By Ally Boguhn
Rewire
A group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives wants the Trump administration to explain how it crafted new restrictions on fetal tissue research and what influence anti-choice groups had on the policy.

Florida missing out on Medicaid expansion’s benefits
By Barbara Glass
Gainesville Sun
In 2011, the federal government began collecting tax dollars to make health insurance affordable for Americans who otherwise could not afford it.