Today's congressional inquiry not only derides fetal tissue research, but attacks abortion care. The inaugural hearing in March 2016 gave Republicans a platform to compare fetal tissue research to Nazi experimentation. Republicans derided Democrats for exaggerating the importance of fetal tissue.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte's defenders have made claims about her commitment to "strengthening women's health" through action on various measures; reproductive rights advocates point out, however, that most of these measures would have done more harm than good.
Despite what a Yale Law School emeritus professor argues in the New York Times, the administration's “Dear Colleague letter” about Title IX and trans rights was a guidance document that doesn’t have the force and effect of law.
Amanda Allen, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement that the bill is “insulting” for pregnant people seeking abortion care.
Federal courts have blocked similar Republican-led attempts to ban abortion care in other states. The Supreme Court this year refused to review the North Dakota GOP's ban on abortion care as early as six weeks of pregnancy, as well as Arkansas’ ban on abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The CDC has reported 503 travel-associated cases of Zika in the United States and 701 acquired cases in U.S. territories. Dozens of pregnant people have contracted Zika under each scenario.
Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed a measure aimed at stripping Medicaid funding from abortion providers, despite a policy letter from the federal Medicaid program warning Medicaid directors that they cannot cut funding to health-care providers just because they offer abortion care.
Alyssa Miller, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said in a statement that the anti-choice bill is “dangerous” and “made even more extreme” by the lack of exceptions.
Republican lawmakers have pushed legislation to ban the D and E procedure in several states over the past year. The measures have been copies of bills drafted by the legislation mill known as the National Right to Life Committee.
