What Trump is Doing: Reproductive Rights

UPDATE JAN. 31 - TRUMP PICKS GORSUCH AS SUPREME COURT NOMINEE

Gorsuch has a long history of not supporting women’s health. He has ruled against contraceptive coverage under the ACA, suggested public hospitals should be able to opt out of abortions and sided with states trying to defund Planned Parenthood.

Almost immediately after being sworn in, Donald Trump signed the global gag rule, which blocks federal funding to international groups that:

  • Provide abortion-related information to their patients and clients

  • Provide referrals to other health care providers who perform safe abortions

  • Provide legal abortions or legal abortion-related services

  • Advocate for the legalization of abortion in their country

This rule will lead to millions of women in other countries having unsafe abortions. 

If the ACA is repealed without a replacement, insurance companies will no longer have to offer birth control without a copay, and they can make you pay higher premiums just for being a woman.. Trump has also pledged to work with legislative Republicans on efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, which millions of women rely on for everyday health care services such as cancer screenings.

Finally, Trump will appoint at least one Supreme Court Justice, and he’s promised to appoint judges who would seek to overturn Roe v. Wade. Trump himself has said he’s in favor of repealing Roe, letting states ban abortion entirely and even punishing women who choose to have an abortion.

What's Happening in NC

UPDATE FEB. 20 - NEW NC BILL TARGETS ABORTION ACCESS

This bill would require an “out” after the first abortion pill, which people receiving abortions don't need because they enter the clinic knowing why they are there and what they are going to do. Furthermore, the bill's ultrasound requirement would make medication abortions almost impossible to access for anyone who needs to travel to a clinic. It’s based on junk science that hasn’t gone through any medical testing means that this bill, if passed, would be actively harmful to people needing abortions.

In NC we've seen a number of anti-abortion restrictions passed into law of the last few years. NC already has a 20 week abortion ban, and in 2015, politicians further limited the exceptions to that ban.

Politicians also passed a 72-hour waiting period bill, which severely restricts abortion access for those women who live in rural communities, where they might be hours from the nearest provider.

With Trump's election and the prospect of a new Supreme Court Justice, we expect politicians in NC to redouble their efforts to restrict access to abortion, perhaps even passing a law that will serve as a test case to overturn Roe v. Wade.

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