Tag: Hyde Amendment

According to Obama aides, the new President plans to repeal the global gag rule, which prevents U.S. foreign aid money from being sent to family planning organizations that counsel on or provide abortions, as one of his first acts in office: (via Seattle Times).

A Wall Street Journal article analyzes the federal appellate court appointments that President Barack Obama will be filling within his first year of office and how he has the chance to turn the conservative tide of the courts.

The special inauguration edition of Ms. Magazine features President Barack Obama on the cover with an article titled "This is What a Feminist Looks Like" that includes interviews with several prominent feminist activists about what goals they would like accomplished in the new administration: (via RH Reality Check).

An RH Reality Check article discusses a letter written to the head of Obama's Domestic Policy Council, Melody Barnes, encouraging her and Obama to end the Hyde Amendment and other funding restrictions for abortion for low-income women, which the many signatories see as "a clear violation of low-income women's human rights".

Boston Globe syndicated columnist Joan Vennochi investigates the double standard women face when being considered for cabinet positions. It appears men, such as Obama's pick for head of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, are allowed leeway with some ethics violations, whereas women will less serious infractions are often forced to withdraw from consideration: (via Seattle P-I).

Nigeria's Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics has attributed the country's high maternal mortality rate to its ban on abortion except to save the life of a woman.  Nigeria currently has a maternal mortality ratio of 800 per 100,000 live births with unsafe abortion responsible for 11% of these deaths (via All Africa).  

A new Oxford University study shows that oral contraceptives reduce the risk of death from ovarian cancer and continue to provide protection 30 years after women stopped taking them (via BBC).

The Bellingham Herald has further coverage on the rising cost of birth-control at university clinics.  

The National Network of Abortion Funds launches its Hyde - 30 Years is Enough! Campaign, calling on Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment and restore coverage of abortion for low-income women (via RH Reality Check).  

I was in Arizona awaiting my grandson Eli's birth in March, 1997, when I received a panicked call from my Washington, D. C. staff. "We've been summoned to appear before the joint House of Representatives and Senate Judiciary Committees to testify about the so-called Partial Birth Abortion Act. It's going to be a witch hunt," they told me. "You have to come back and prepare. It's a really big deal--you'll be under oath and intense media scrutiny."  

This would be my first face-to-face encounter with Rep. Henry Hyde  (R-IL), the silver-maned, vociferously anti-choice, then-chair of the House Judiciary Committee, who died on November 29. It'd be my first congressional testimony since I had become national president of Planned Parenthood the previous year, when President Clinton vetoed in play again.  

Dear Friend:

Abortion is still legal in the U.S., but every year thousands of women are denied this right because they don't have the money to pay for abortion care.  

Low-income women are often forced to use money they need for food and rent to cover the cost of an abortion. Many women cannot raise enough money and must continue the pregnancy and stay trapped in poverty. Women face this difficult situation because in 1976 Congress passed the Hyde Amendment, which excludes abortion from federally-funded health care programs.

Click below the fold to see how you can help.