National Abortion Federation Blog: Saporta Reporter

Today, we issued the following statement:

We commend Representatives Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) for introducing legislation which includes programs and policies that take important steps to address women’s needs for access to reproductive health care. The Ryan-DeLauro bill expands access to family planning for low-income women, includes initiatives to reduce unintended pregnancies, and provides support services to women and couples who choose to carry a pregnancy to term.

While we applaud the provisions of the Ryan-DeLauro bill, it is imperative that women are also able to access the abortion care they need. Abortion is an integral component of comprehensive reproductive health care. Women facing an unintended pregnancy deserve to have the information and resources they need to make the choices that are right for them. NAF remains committed to working to ensure that abortion is safe, legal, and accessible to promote health and justice for women.

Labels: federal legislation, women

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear a challenge to a provincial law banning protests outside abortion clinics after 11 years of court proceedings. The Court confirmed a unanimous ruling by the British Columbia Appeal Court upholding the Access to Abortion Services Act or “bubble zone” law, which prohibits protesters from coming within 50 meters of reproductive health care facilities.

Anti-abortion extremist Donald David Spratt was arrested in 1998 for violating the Access to Abortion Services Act and has been challenging the law ever since. The day after this month’s Supreme Court decision, Spratt and a female protester were arrested outside NAF member Everywoman's Health Centre in Vancouver for again violating the bubble zone law. They are scheduled to appear in court this week.

>Learn more about clinic protection bills.

Labels: buffer zone laws, Canada, federal legislation

Wednesday, the Senate rejected a bill to reinstate the Global Gag Rule by a vote of 60-37. This policy prohibits any foreign organization receiving U.S. aid from providing, referring to, or even advocating for abortion care. During his first week in office, President Obama struck down this devastating policy so that women and families around the world could access the quality, comprehensive health care they need.

>Learn more about the Global Gag Rule.

Labels: federal legislation, Global Gag Rule, Obama Administration

This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), along with Representatives Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) introduced the Prevention First Act in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. This legislation would improve access to women’s health care, provide women with the resources they need to prevent unintended pregnancies, and save public health dollars.

“For every dollar spent on family planning services, it is estimated that almost four dollars is saved in public health spending,” Congresswoman Slaughter said.

The Prevention First Act aims to reduce unintended pregnancies through multiple channels, including increasing Title X funding, ensuring that all federal programs provide medically accurate information, and expanding Medicaid family planning services.

Labels: federal legislation, Title X

Last night, the U.S. Senate rejected an anti-choice amendment by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to the 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (H.R. 3043). The measure would have restricted federal funding for clinics providing vital health services if they also use their own, private funds to provide abortion care.

Labels: anti-choice, federal legislation

We issued the following release today:

Washington, DC - The National Abortion Federation (NAF) condemns President Bush's decision today to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which would expand federal funding for promising medical research. This legislation passed both the House of Representatives and Senate with strong bi-partisan support, and was also supported by a majority of Americans.

“In vetoing this legislation, the President has put his own politics above the lives and health of millions of Americans,” said Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of NAF. “He is out of step with the majority of Americans who support this potentially life-saving medical research.”

NAF supports embryonic stem cell research, which has the potential to find new treatments, or even cures, for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's, ALS, and Alzheimer's.

We applaud Congress's passage of this bill.

Labels: federal legislation, stem cell research

Today, the U.S. Senate will consider the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (S. 5), which lifts existing federal restrictions and expands the number of stem cell lines that are eligible for federally funded research. Such research has the potential to help find new treatments for diseases like cancer, diabetes, Parkinsons, ALS and Alzheimers. Please urge your Senators to support this important legislation!

Labels: federal legislation, stem cell research

Representative Slaughter (D-NY) and Representative DeGette (D-CO) introduced the Prevention First Act in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday. Passage of this Act would improve women’s access to comprehensive reproductive health care services; fund medically accurate sex education and pregnancy prevention programs for teens; and increase federal funding for Title X, the nation’s family planning program.

Title X is the only federal program designed to fund family planning and reproductive health care services. More than 5 million low-income individuals annually take advantage of these preventative health care services. However, the Bush Administration has repeatedly attacked the Title X program. In addition to inadequately funding the program, last year Bush appointed anti-birth control ob-gyn, Dr. Eric Keroack to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs, which oversees the Title X program.

The Prevention First Act calls for funding for a public education campaign focusing on emergency contraception (EC), and requires emergency rooms to provide victims of sexual assault with EC. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Reid (D-NV).

Labels: access, Contraception, Eric Keroack, federal legislation, Title X

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (H.R. 3), which lifts existing federal restrictions and expands the number of stem cell lines that are eligible for federally funded research. NAF strongly supports this important legislation, which passed the House and Senate last year with strong bipartisan support. Unfortunately, it was then vetoed by President Bush.

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act promotes potentially life-saving embryonic stem cell research that could benefit millions of Americans, and such research has the potential to help find new treatments for diseases like cancer, diabetes, Parkinsons, ALS and Alzheimers. Please urge your Representative to support this important legislation!

>Take Action Now!

Labels: federal legislation, stem cell research

NAF commends the House of Representatives for voting against an ill-advised bill, which would have intruded upon the physician-patient relationship and substituted political agendas for sound science and medicine. H.R. 6099 would have required providers to inform a patient seeking a legal abortion after 20 weeks that there is "substantial evidence" that a fetus may feel pain during an abortion procedure. This would have been accomplished by forcing women to read and sign a statement with inflammatory rhetoric that projected a level of certainty that far exceeded the scientific research. We are grateful that legislators recognized that available science failed to support the conclusions drawn by the legislation and its required statement. Women deserve to make private health care decisions based upon accurate, unbiased medical information, without interference from Congress.

Labels: federal legislation

Just weeks ago, voters across the country rejected extremism and elected candidates supportive of reproductive freedom. But as anti-choice politicians in Congress prepare to adjourn for the year, they are attempting to interfere with private health care decisions by requiring doctors to provide women seeking an abortion with misleading information.

Anti-choice advocates are going to bring H.R. 6099, the “Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act” to a vote on Wednesday, December 6. This ill-advised bill would inappropriately interfere with the way doctors provide care to women, advance political agendas over sound science, and would punish doctors for providing responsible patient care.

Women seeking a legal abortion after 20 weeks would be forced to read and sign a statement saying that "there is substantial evidence the process of being killed in an abortion will cause the unborn child pain." Available scientific evidence fails to support the conclusions drawn by this legislation and its required statement.

Doctors already share relevant information about health care options and respect the decisions made by their patients. This legislation intrudes upon the doctor-patient relationship by requiring doctors to provide information that they may not believe is appropriate or accurate for an individual patient. Responsible medicine requires that patients and doctors be able to make treatment decisions together based on each patient’s unique circumstances.

Requiring doctors to share misleading mandated communication with their patients, is a dangerous insertion of Congress into private health care decisions. We urge you to contact your Representative to oppose this legislation so that doctors and patients, not politicians, can continue to determine what constitutes medically appropriate care.

>Read NAF's position statement opposing this legislation

>View NAF's press release

Labels: anti-choice, federal legislation

In an eleventh hour maneuver, Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate has announced plans to bring anti-choice legislation, S. 403, to the Senate Floor for debate and vote.

This dangerous and unconstitutional legislation passed the House of Representatives earlier this week, and if it passes in the Senate, it would be signed into law by the President. However, we have an opportunity to protect teens and prevent this law from going in to effect this year. The Senate will be voting tonight on a cloture motion, which must pass with 60 votes in order to allow the Senate to proceed with a vote on S. 403. Therefore, if enough Senators vote “NO” on cloture, we can stop the Teen Endangerment Act from coming to the Floor.

Please call your Senators today and urge them to vote NO on cloture!
The Capitol Switchboard can be reached at 202.224.3121

>View talking points and let us know you made calls to your Senators

Labels: anti-choice, federal legislation

Last night NAF issued this press release:

Washington, DC - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure that combines the Child Custody Protection Act, which was passed by the U.S. Senate this past summer, with provisions substantially similar to the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives last year. This callous legislation, more aptly called The Teen Endangerment Act, could endanger teens and violate their constitutional rights. Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, released the following statement condemning this harmful legislation:



Tonight, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives chose anti-choice politics over protecting the health and safety of our teens with their passage of the Teen Endangerment Act. This legislation would make it a federal crime for a person other than a parent to help a minor from certain states obtain an abortion in another state if the minor has not fulfilled the parental involvement requirements of her home state.

In many cases where a teen is not comfortable involving her parent, she reaches out to trusted aunts, sisters, grandmothers, or other friends as a resource. However, the Teen Endangerment Act effectively removes this alternative and prohibits anyone except a parent from taking a minor across certain state lines for an abortion if the teen has not already met her home state's parental involvement requirements. As a result, a teen may be compelled to pursue drastic alternatives in order to avoid involving her parents, or she may encounter dangerous delays as she attempts to navigate the legal system and obtain a judicial bypass.

The Teen Endangerment Act also places burdensome restrictions on doctors, and puts them at risk for criminal and civil liability. On behalf of health care providers, and the teens for whom they care, we condemn the House for passing this dangerous legislation.

Labels: anti-choice, criminal penalties laws, federal legislation, parental involvement

Here is the press release we issued today on the Teen Endangerment Act

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider a federal parental notification law that combines the Child Custody Protection Act, which was passed by the U.S. Senate this past summer, with provisions substantially similar to the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives last year. This callous legislation, more aptly called The Teen Endangerment Act, could endanger teens and violate their constitutional rights. Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, released the following statement condemning this harmful legislation:



In most instances, parents know about a teenage daughter's decision to terminate a pregnancy. However, the government cannot legislate good family communications, and parental involvement may not be a realistic option for teens who come from homes that are emotionally or physically abusive, or for those who are victims of rape or incest.

In many cases where a teen is not comfortable involving her parent, she reaches out to trusted aunts, sisters, grandmothers, or other friends as a resource. However, the Teen Endangerment Act effectively removes this alternative and prohibits anyone except a parent from taking a minor across certain state lines for an abortion if the teen has not already met her home state's parental involvement requirements. As a result, a teen may be compelled to pursue drastic alternatives in order to avoid involving her parents, or she may encounter dangerous delays as she attempts to navigate the legal system and obtain a judicial bypass.

The Teen Endangerment Act also contains onerous notification requirements that place an unprecedented burden on health care providers. Its requirements operate differently depending on the laws of the teen's home state, and compliance with this provision essentially would require doctors to become experts on every U.S. state's abortion laws. In addition, teens may be forced to comply with two different state's laws; in other situations, some teens may not even have the option of seeking a judicial bypass in lieu of informing their parents.

The Teen Endangerment Act threatens the welfare of young women by isolating them from trusted adults and creating delays and burdens that could endanger young women's health. Further, it places burdensome restrictions on doctors, and puts them at risk for criminal and civil liability. On behalf of health care providers, and the teens for whom they care, we are urging Representatives to oppose this dangerous legislation.

Labels: criminal penalties laws, federal legislation, parental involvement

NAF condemned the U.S. Senate’s 65-34 passage of the Child Custody Protection Act (CCPA), more aptly called the Teen Endangerment Act. The Teen Endangerment Act would make it a federal crime for a person other than a parent to help a minor from certain states obtain an abortion in another state if the minor has not fulfilled the parental involvement requirements of her home state. By preventing teens from receiving the help they need from trusted family and friends, this legislation may cause teens to delay seeking care or pursue dangerous alternatives.

>View NAF's press release

Labels: federal legislation, parental involvement

NAF condemned yesterday’s decision to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act by President Bush. The legislation, which passed both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate with strong bi-partisan support, would have expanded federal funding for promising medical research. NAF supports embryonic stem cell research and we applaud Congress’s passage of this bill.

>View NAF's press release

Labels: federal legislation, stem cell research

The United States Senate will soon consider the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810), which the House of Representatives passed with strong bipartisan support on May 24, 2005. NAF has endorsed this important legislation, which expands federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act promotes potentially life-saving medical research that could benefit millions of Americans. Please urge your Senator to support this legislation!

>Take Action Now!

Labels: federal legislation, stem cell research