Does the decline in abortion rates indicate better reproductive health choices and outcomes for women? And if so, how do we continue to build on this success?
On the Senate floor earlier today, Senator Rebekah Warren—longtime champion of reproductive rights—offered several amendments to the bill, all of which were defeated. Warren argued for the removal of the tele-med ban, pointing out the necessity of tele-medicine access in a state with many rural areas that lack abortion providers.
It's been six months since the Michigan State House voted in favor of HB 5711, the anti-abortion "super bill" considered one of the most extreme in the country. Now that the year is about to come to a close, it appears that the bill is back on the legislature's agenda, and is expected to be voted on by the Senate as soon as today.
In two new lawsuits in Texas, Planned Parenthood continues its fight against exclusion from providing publicly funded family planning care, arguing that Texas doesn't have the authority to keep it out of the new, state-funded Texas Women's Health Program (TWHP) or to implement the program's "poison pill" clause which would close the TWHP down entirely should a court allow Planned Parenthood back into the program.
Moving forward, our agenda is clear: young people must be meaningfully involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of international development policies.
