War on Women

The "War on Women" describes the legislative and rhetorical attacks on women and women’s rights taking place across the nation. In includes a wide-range of policy efforts designed to place restrictions on women's health care and erode protections for women and their families. Examples at the state and federal level have included restricting contraception; cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood; state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasounds; abortion taxes; abortion waiting periods; forcing women to tell their employers why they want birth control, and prohibiting insurance companies from including abortion coverage in their policies.

09/08/2011
Alaska

Young Women Seeking Abortion Care Get the Cold Shoulder in Alaska

By Andrew Beck, Reproductive Freedom Project at 2:02pm

For decades, teens in Alaska had been able to obtain abortions without the state ordering the involvement of their parents. In 1997, however, the Alaska legislature passed a law preventing young women from obtaining abortions without parental consent. The ACLU, together with Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights, sued the state, and in 2007, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the law violated the Alaska Constitution.

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08/31/2011
Abortion Insurance Ban

Contraceptive Coverage Should Be the Rule, Not the Exception

By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:53pm

Far too often, government policies tend to be at odds with reality when it comes to women's reproductive health by ignoring the services that women need most. Which is why guidelines recently issued by the Department of Human Services requiring insurance coverage for contraception and other preventive services were so welcome. After all, virtually every woman of childbearing age practices some sort of contraception at some point.

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08/17/2011
Abortion Insurance Ban

Unintended Pregnancies Are Not the Same as Flat Tires

By Kari Ann Rinker, State Coordinator, Kansas National Organization for Women (NOW) & Member, ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri at 11:28am

Yesterday the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri brought a challenge against my home state's ban on comprehensive insurance coverage of abortion. The case was brought on behalf of the ACLU's members who are losing their abortion coverage as a result of the law — I am one of those members. I am also the State Coordinator for Kansas NOW, and a large part of my job is to keep abreast of the Kansas Legislature. I have watched and fought against piece after piece of anti-abortion legislation that has been pushed through in the 2011 session. Every piece of this legislation has become law, rubber-stamped by a governor who has promised to promote a "culture of life" within the state. But this so called "culture of life" puts the very health of Kansas women in jeopardy and drastically infringes upon their individual rights.

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08/16/2011
Abortion Insurance Ban

Drawing a Line in the Sand: Stopping Politicians from Taking Away Insurance Coverage for Abortion Care

By Brigitte Amiri, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 5:07pm

Today the ACLU and the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri filed a case challenging a Kansas law that prohibits insurance companies from providing abortion coverage in their comprehensive plans. Since 2010, 13 states have passed laws prohibiting some or all insurance plans from covering abortion care. Kansas's law is the first to take effect, and our lawsuit is the first to take a step toward putting an end to this growing trend.

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02/08/2013
Abortion Legislation

2013 Has Just Started and We’re In For A Bumpy Ride

By Elissa Berger, Advocacy and Policy Counsel, ACLU at 4:08pm

Think the war on women is over? Think again.

Some politicians have decided to start the 2013 state legislative session by targeting women's reproductive health.

Yesterday in North Dakota, state senators voted on a measure that could be used to ban abortion, restrict treatment for infertility, and threaten access to contraception. If politicians in North Dakota get their way, women would be prevented from seeking abortion and other reproductive health care in the state.

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02/02/2013
Abortion Legislation

Which State Will Ban Abortion First?

By Elissa Berger, Advocacy and Policy Counsel, ACLU at 1:26pm

Isn't it outrageous that we even have to ask that question?

In Arkansas this week, the State Senate passed a bill that would ban almost all abortions. Within a month, women in Arkansas could be prevented from receiving abortion care, no matter what their circumstances.

In North Dakota, the legislature is poised to vote on set of bills that aim to ban abortion, close down women's health centers, and could prevent couples from using in-vitro fertilization to build their family. The Senate is expected to vote on those bills next week.

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01/22/2013
Abortion Legislation

Forty Years After Roe, the American People Have Spoken. Will Politicians Finally Listen?

By Jennifer Dalven, Reproductive Freedom Project at 11:12am

Forty years ago today, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that recognized that a pregnant woman...

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07/16/2012
Abortion Legislation

Some Michigan Politicians “Wanna Be My Doc.” Use Our New Twitter Generator to Challenge Them

By Rana Elmir, ACLU of Michigan at 4:51pm

It looks like some Michigan politicians want to “play doctor” and take away a woman’s ability to make personal, private medical decisions for herself. In June, Michigan vaulted to the top of the list of states with outrageous, regressive legislation on women's health, placing a monster omnibus package - House Bills 5711, 5712 and 5713- on the fast-track to becoming law. HB 5711, or the War on Women Mega Bill, passed in the House and if it survives in the Senate, it would effectively make safe abortion services inaccessible in the state.

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05/17/2012
Abortion Legislation

Bubba And His Poor, Pitiful Women

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 12:10pm

Yesterday, a video leaked of Mississippi Representative Lester "Bubba" Carpenter (pictured above) gloating that he and his anti-choice cronies had passed a bill that could effectively put an end to safe, legal abortion in the state of Mississippi. The money quote:

It's going to be challenged, of course, in the Supreme Court and all — but literally, we stopped abortion in the state of Mississippi, legally, without having to — Roe vs. Wade. So we've done that. I was proud of it. The governor signed it into law. And of course, there you have the other side. They're like, 'Well, the poor pitiful women that can't afford to go out of state are just going to start doing them at home with a coat hanger. That's what we've learned over and over and over.'

But hey, you have to have moral values. You have to start somewhere."

And now everybody's reaching for their smelling salts because, oh my, a politician trying to outlaw abortion doesn't care if women die. You know what I say? Finally. Finally, someone willing to speak the truth. Finally, someone is willing to drop the bullshit about health, safety, and a "culture of life" and admit that he'd rather women die than abortion remain legal.

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05/13/2012
Pregnancy Discrimination

Respecting Moms on Mother's Day

By Tiseme Zegeye, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 10:27am

This Mother's Day, we need to work towards a country where women's work is truly respected and valued both inside and outside of the home.

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