Reproductive Rights News Roundup

Reproductive rights advocate reacts to Supreme Court decision
By Seán Kinane
WMNF Tampa Bay
Joining WMNF by phone to talk about it was Amy Weintraub, reproductive rights program director with Progress Florida.

Supreme Court Undercuts Access To Birth Control Under Obamacare
By Nina Totenberg
NPR
The U.S. Supreme Court has made it more difficult for women to get access to birth control as part of their health plans if their employer has a religious or moral objections to contraceptives.

The Supreme Court gave abortion-rights supporters a win, but those on both sides of the debate say the battle is far from over
By Meera Jagannathan
Marketwatch
The Supreme Court last week struck down a Louisiana law requiring that doctors who provide abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. But abortion-rights advocates still see a number of challenges on the horizon, while those opposed to abortion see other potential victories ahead in their own work to reduce access to the service.

Florida Delegation Reacts to Supreme Court’s Obamacare Contraceptive Mandate
Staff Report
Florida Daily
Members of the Florida congressional delegation weighed in after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania to allow the Trump administration to offer exemptions for employers with religious objections to the contraceptive mandate included in former President Barack Obama’s federal healthcare law.

Abortion rights group says new parental consent law harms vulnerable girls
By Evan Donovan
WFLA Tampa
Excerpt: Sunday morning on 8 On Your Side’s weekly political show Battleground Florida, Amy Weintraub of Progress Florida said more than 90% of Florida teenagers already involve their parents when they are seeking abortion care. “This new law isn’t going to affect those teens,” Weintraub said. “This law will impact the teenagers who need access the most, who don’t have that strong family, who may come from a family of dysfunction, where the parent is in prison or abusive. Those are the people who are often from communities of color or very low-income families.”

Florida governor Ron DeSantis quietly signs controversial abortion bill
By Louise Hall
The Independent
Governor Ron Desantis has quietly signed an abortion law that will require those under the age of 18 to get a parent’s permission before having an abortion.

New Florida legislation restricts abortion access to young citizens
By Teegan Oshins
USF Oracle
On July 1, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring parental consent prior to an abortion being administered to a minor. Florida’s newest restrictions on abortion limits access for minors, striking controversy for those who are strong believers in a woman’s choice to have an abortion.

US anti-abortion groups received millions in federal Covid-19 aid
By Jessica Glenza
The Guardian
Christian anti-abortion lobbying organizations received millions in taxpayer-backed forgivable loans from the US government’s coronavirus aid program, even as lawmakers demanded the nation’s largest abortion provider return federal loans.

Family Planning Providers Show Creativity and Resilience in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Leah H. Keller and Ruth Dawson
Guttmacher Institute
Family planning providers across the country are adapting to the COVID-19 crisis and continuing to meet patients’ sexual and reproductive health needs by introducing innovative ways of delivering care.

Florida’s COVID-19 anti-mask protesters need to abort their messaging
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
Excerpt: The consequences of that decision made by the woman doesn’t affect the people standing next to her, by chance, in the supermarket checkout line. If she chooses to have an abortion, it doesn’t kill your parents, shut down your business, or close your beach. And if you’re a woman who comes within six feet of another woman who had an abortion, your ovaries will be unchanged. In contrast, whether or not to wear a face mask during an airborne-spread virus pandemic, is a decision with implications that potentially affects an ever-expanding circle of people.