In a direct attack on women’s health care and reproductive justice, the House passed a bill yesterday that would ban abortion after 20 weeks. The legislation, misleadingly called the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, relies on the idea that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks – but science says otherwise. Jennifer Conti, an OB-GYN at Stanford University, notes that even if the bill fails to pass the Senate, “You’re really providing false and dangerous information that is affecting millions of women.”
Of course, fake science doesn’t cause Trump any concerns. He has already promised to sign the bill if it reaches his desk. The Office of Management and Budget wrote that the bill, “secure[s] critical pro-life protections.” But research shows that banning abortion doesn’t reduce the number of abortions. Instead, women resort to dangerous methods for terminating pregnancy that are completely unregulated and medically unsafe. In fact, an “estimated 47,000 women worldwide die every year because of complications stemming from unsafe abortions, a major cause of maternal mortality,” something the WHO calls a “preventable pandemic.” It’s also ironic that some congressional GOP leaders continue to brag that they are “pro-life”—even as they refuse to renew funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), try to strip millions of Americans of healthcare, and push a budget that would devastate Medicare.
Attacks on reproductive health, rights, and justice are not new – but they have escalated under the Trump administration, especially with anti-choice Mike Pence as Vice President. These attempts to regulate women’s bodies are unconstitutional and, as noted above, dangerous. Planned Parenthood Action Fund is leading the fight against these disastrous bills. Find out more here.
ACTION OF THE DAY
Trump’s Tax Scam. The House is set to vote tomorrow on a budget that will cut programs for working families to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and big businesses. Visit trumptaxtoolkit.org to tell your representative to vote no on this budget resolution and take a stand against tax cuts for the 1%. Then, share the graphic below!
WHAT’S TRENDING
Las Vegas. Today, Trump is visiting Las Vegas to visit with the injured victims of the mass shooting. After the horrendous visit to Puerto Rico yesterday, hopes are not high for today’s trip. While Trump “tests [his] emotional depth,” others are calling for action. To support the victims of the Las Vegas massacre, you can attend a vigil near you by checking out ResistanceNearMe.org. To prevent future attacks, commonsense gun reform is needed. House Democrats gathered this morning to honor the victims and to call for action in Congress. Senator Dianne Feinstein is poised to introduce legislation later this week to “ban the sale of ‘bump stocks,’ a device that allows semi-automatic firearms to function like an automatic weapon.”
Failing. For far too long, Ivanka Trump has been held up as the “moderating voice” in an otherwise devastating Administration for women and families. Unfortunately, the reality of her role tells a different story. Averaging an F, the Center for American Progress’s new report card highlights her failure to effectively address the issues she claimed to champion, before and as she joined her father’s Administration. Whether it’s been paid family leave, child care, education or promoting equality and upholding women’s rights, Ivanka Trump has either not fought for those most impacted or instead, has chosen to look the other way, allowing millions to languish. Check out Ivanka Trump’s Report Card on Women’s and Working Families’ Issues and #AskIvanka what she’ll be doing to right so many wrongs.
#GetUSCovered. The Trump Administration has made it clear that they are unwilling to fulfill their duties on health care enrollment, by shortening the open enrollment period, slashing the budget dedicated to advertising and outreach during the upcoming open enrollment season and shutting down Healthcare.gov periodically during the shortened enrollment period for “maintenance.” But a new campaign is filling that vacuum left by the inept Administration. Get America Covered is committed to ensuring that more “people get covered and stay covered.” Join the campaign with #GetUSCovered, and follow along @GetUSCovered.
Not Qualified. This week, Judge Charles Goodwin became the first of President Trump’s judicial nominees to receive a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. The ABA committee reviews judicial nominees at the federal level, and rates them on a scale; nominees receive ratings of “well qualified,” “qualified,” or “not qualified.” The majority of committee members gave Goodwin the lowest rating, the first time this has happened since 2006. And just in case President Trump decides to claim the ABA has a liberal bias, the facts are clear: 24 of the 32 Trump nominees reviewed thus far have received the highest possible rating from the Standing Committee.
UNDER THE RADAR
Deadly Nominees. Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is holding a hearing on four EPA nominees, all of which seek to cripple ongoing efforts to combat climate change and keep our air and water clean for all Americans. One of the nominees, William Wehrum, has been picked by Trump to lead the EPA air office—yet, he doesn’t think silica dust is a big deal. Newsflash: It is. Learn more about Wehrum’s horrible positions here.