Imagine being denied emergency contraception after a sexual assault; to not even be informed about the steps you can take to prevent an unwanted pregnancy; and to later find yourself pregnant as a result of the rape.
For thousands of Native American women this is reality.
That is why the ACLU and NACB have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with Indian Health Services (IHS) seeking information on policies governing access to over-the-counter emergency contraception (sometimes known as “Plan B”) at IHS facilities and demanding to know what steps the government is taking to solve this problem.
In the past four years, more than 20 women in Alabama have been prosecuted for no other reason than that they tried to continue their pregnancies while struggling with addiction. Today, the ACLU and the ACLU of Alabama submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals, urging that court to reverse the conviction of one of these women, Amanda Kimbrough.
The facts of this case are heartbreaking. On December 23, 2010, Shuai, a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was suffering from a major depressive disorder, attempted to take her own life. Friends found her in time and persuaded her to get help. Six days later, Shuai underwent cesarean surgery and delivered a premature newborn girl who, tragically, died four days later.
Yesterday, the Department of Defense (DOD) quietly made public its decision to require that emergency contraception (EC or Plan B) be available at all overseas military facilities. (Until it was picked up by the press, only the most avid readers of the minutes of the quarterly meetings of the DOD Pharmaceutics and Therapeutics Committee could have known about the decision).
Last December, doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix saved a young woman’s life. The woman, who was 11 weeks pregnant, was suffering from pulmonary hypertension, a condition that her doctors said carried a near-certain risk of death unless she ended the pregnancy. The nurse who authorized the life-saving abortion, Sister Margaret Mary McBride, a Catholic nun with 34 years experience in health care management, was rewarded with a demotion.
On Monday, a Cook County Circuit Court judge dismissed the ACLU's challenge to the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act; a law that prevents teens from having an abortion unless they notify a parent or go to court. We are obviously tremendously disappointed in the decision. For what it's worth, the judge didn't seem too happy about it either.
In light of ongoing efforts to restrict women’s access to abortion in health care reform, it is sometimes easy to forget that many women already face nearly insurmountable obstacles to obtaining abortion care. This is particularly true for the more than 200,000 servicewomen currently serving in the armed forces, as well as military dependents. These women face not only a funding ban, which prohibits military insurance from covering the cost of any abortion, except for those necessary to save a woman’s life, but a ban on using military facilities, as well: Even if they pay with their own money, and no federal funds are used, servicewomen and dependents cannot obtain abortions in military treatment facilities, unless they disclose that the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.
Dr. George Tiller drove a jeep with armor plating and a bombproof glass and undercarriage to and from work every day. His clinic, where he practiced medicine for decades, was a fortress. His out-of-town patients, many of whom were facing catastrophic pregnancies, could no longer stay at one local hotel because it was targeted by protesters. In early May 2009, someone cut the power to the security cameras and outdoor lights at the clinic and drilled holes in the roof. On May 31, 2009, Tiller was gunned down in the lobby of his church as he handed out flyers before the service. He was wearing his bulletproof vest at the time.
I'm going to do things a little backwards here... Ordinarily, I would give you what is called a time served sentence, and...your time in prison would effectively end today....[However] I'm inclined to keep you in jail, given your medical condition and the medical condition for your child, to prevent your child from being born HIV positive. And my inclination is to sentence you until September 15, which is a time after your due date, so that you can continue to receive the necessary medicine up to the time of your delivery.
— The Honorable John A. Woodcock, Jr., District Court of Maine, May 14, 2009
In the past four years, more than 20 women in Alabama have been prosecuted for no other reason than that they tried to continue their pregnancies while struggling with addiction. Today, the ACLU and the ACLU of Alabama submitted a 
Last December, doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix saved a young woman’s life. The woman, who was 11 weeks pregnant, was suffering from pulmonary hypertension, a condition that her doctors said carried a near-certain risk of death unless she ended the pregnancy. The nurse who authorized the life-saving abortion, Sister Margaret Mary McBride, a Catholic nun with 34 years experience in health care management, was rewarded with a demotion.