U.S. House, Senate Pass Bill Repealing Obamacare, Defunding Planned Parenthood

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Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure repealing Obamacare and withdrawing most federal funds from Planned Parenthood. The measure redirects the funds from Planned Parenthood clinics to facilities that offer quality healthcare, but do not perform abortions.

Casey Mattox with Alliance Defending Freedom said,

“This historic vote recognizes the many issues of a scandal-plagued organization with a long track record of abusive and potentially fraudulent billing practices, caught in authenticated undercover videos trafficking aborted babies’ body parts, and that has repeatedly failed to report the sexual abuse of girls. For the first time, a bill will reach the president’s desk that will end taxpayer subsidies of an abortion business that has enjoyed nearly a billion dollars in profits over the last decade while taking more than $4 billion from American taxpayers.”

The U.S. Senate passed the same measure last December. With passage in the House, the measure now goes to President Obama’s desk. While few expect him to sign it, yesterday’s vote signals both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate may be ready to repeal Obamacare and end federal subsidies to Planned Parenthood in 2017, when President Obama’s successor takes office.

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Judge Issues Eleventh-Hour Order Against Pro-Life Law

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On New Year’s Day, Act 577–the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act–was set to go into effect; the law passed by the Arkansas Legislature last spring requires abortion doctors to follow the FDA’s protocols when performing drug-induced abortions, and it requires abortion clinics to contract with a physician who has admitting privileges at a local hospital to handle complications that arise from the abortion.

Late in the afternoon of December 31, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a temporary restraining order blocking these two portions of the law. The restraining order will last 14 days, giving the State of Arkansas and Planned Parenthood more time to prepare and present arguments in the case.

According to the Attorney General’s office, the restraining order only affects Planned Parenthood of the Heartland; no other abortion clinics are impacted by the ruling–meaning the surgical abortion clinic in Little Rock must follow the new law.

Under the federal Food and Drug Administration’s protocols, doctors may only administer abortion-inducing drugs like RU-486 through the seventh week of pregnancy; however many abortion clinics disregard the FDA’s protocols by offering the drugs as late as the ninth week of pregnancy.

Abortion-inducing drugs are typically given in two rounds. The first round poisons the unborn baby; the second causes the baby to be expelled from the woman’s body. Under the FDA protocols, both rounds of drugs must be administered by the physician at the clinic, but many doctors disregard the FDA’s protocols by allowing the woman to take the second round of drugs at home, without any medical supervision. This presents serious risks for women who experience complications as a result of the drugs.

Also, many doctors administer lower dosages of the abortion-inducing drugs than the FDA protocols require. Many believe this makes it more likely a woman will experience complications resulting from the abortion.

Requiring abortion clinics to contract with a physician who has admitting privileges at a local hospital arguably is not an undue burden. As it stands, women who experience complications resulting from an abortion are referred to the nearest Emergency Room. These complications can be life-threatening. E.R. doctors have had no prior contact with these women, presenting obstacles in terms of continuity and quality of care. The Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act helps address these concerns.

Critics of the new law claim it will prevent them from dispensing abortion-inducing drugs. That simply is not true. The new law requires doctors and abortion clinics to follow the FDA’s protocols when administering these drugs–which is hardly burdensome–and maintain a relationship with a physician who has admitting privileges at a local hospital–which may help save the lives of women who experience complications as a result of these abortion-inducing drugs. This is just commonsense. It isn’t the legislature’s fault if a clinic can’t or won’t follow the law.

Perhaps Governor Asa Hutchinson said it best last week:

“As made evident by their lawsuit, Planned Parenthood places a premium on the convenience of abortion providers over the health and welfare of women seeking these procedures.”

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Understanding Planned Parenthood’s Lawsuits Against the State of Arkansas

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In recent months Planned Parenthood has been involved in two federal lawsuits against the State of Arkansas. The first was in the summer and fall of 2015 when Planned Parenthood sued the State for ending Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood clinics. The second was filed in December of 2015, regarding a new law that requires abortion clinics to follow FDA protocols when administering abortion-inducing drugs like RU-486. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker handled both lawsuits. Below is a brief overview of each suit.

The Lawsuit Over Medicaid Funds for Planned Parenthood

Following the release of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood doctors and officials discussing the harvest and sale of organs from aborted babies, Governor Asa Hutchinson ordered the State of Arkansas to discontinue Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood.

A federal lawsuit was filed against the state as a result. Judge Kristine Baker issued an injunction forcing the State of Arkansas to continue providing Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has filed to have the lawsuit upgraded to a class action suit.

The Lawsuit Over Requiring Abortion Doctors to Follow FDA Protocols

Drug-induced abortions are not necessarily safer than surgical abortions. According to Planned Parenthood’s own fact sheet from 2014, during the first 63 days of gestation a chemical abortion is 10 times more likely to result in the death of the woman than a surgical abortion. [1]

When the Food and Drug Administration approved abortion-inducing drugs, it also approved instructions for how the drugs ought to be administered and how doctors ought to follow up with women after chemical abortions. However, evidence suggests many doctors choose not to follow the FDA’s protocols when administering abortion-inducing drugs.

Early in 2015 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 577 requiring doctors to follow FDA protocols when administering abortion-inducing drugs like RU-486. Act 577 also requires abortion clinics to contract with a physician who has admitting privileges at a local hospital to handle emergencies resulting from chemical abortions.

In December 2015 Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which has two clinics in Arkansas, filed a lawsuit against the State of Arkansas, arguing, among other things, that it is unnecessary to require doctors to follow the FDA’s protocols for abortion-inducing drugs and that Planned Parenthood has been unable to find a doctor with admitting privileges at a local hospital to handle emergencies resulting from these chemical abortions. If Act 577 is enforced, Planned Parenthood says it no longer may be able to perform drug-induced abortions in Arkansas.

A hearing on the suit was held on Wednesday, December 30, 2015. As of December 30, Judge Baker had not issued any ruling regarding the lawsuit. Any decision she issues likely will be appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Depending on how the Eighth Circuit rules, the decision could be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

[1] “Abortion After the First Trimester,” Page 3. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. 2014.

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