Today, the Trump administration is expected to issue an executive order, referred to as a domestic “gag rule”, that would strip funding from clinics that even mention the word abortion or refer patients to safe, legal abortion care. It’s an all-out attack on women’s health and rights, and imposes an unethical burden on health care providers.
Here’s what you need to know:
- This will have a big impact on Title X family planning providers, including Planned Parenthood, which serve over 4 million patients per year—the majority of which are low-income women, immigrant women, and women of color.
- Contrary to what conservatives would like you to believe, abortion care, which is a key component of comprehensive reproductive health care, constitutes only 3% of the services provided at Planned Parenthood health centers annually. Further, Planned Parenthood covers abortion with private funding, NOT federal funds.
- Title X providers offer essential health care services, including, but not limited to: STD and HIV testing, birth control, pap tests and women’s wellness exams, pregnancy services and prenatal care, and affirming health services for transgender people.
- The domestic gag rule is designed to force women’s health care providers like Planned Parenthood to face an impossible choice: stop providing patients with comprehensive, evidence-based information about their health care options, including abortion care, or lose federal funding.
Trump and Pence aren’t worried about the effect this gag rule could have on women’s health care—they just know this will fire up the most extremists in their base. And it’s clear Trump doesn’t even know what sexual and reproductive health care entails. In conversations with Bill Gates, Trump reportedly asked about the difference between HPV and HIV multiple times.
Don’t expect Planned Parenthood and the millions of Americans who rely on their services to take this news quietly. Stay tuned to @CAPAction on Twitter to hear updates about ways to fight back as the news unfolds.
ACTION OF THE DAY
Help Us Track Trump’s #CultureOfCorruption. Donald Trump and his Cabinet are mired in scandal after scandal. Every day there are multiple brand-new reports alleging fraud, crime, ill-advised spending, and other wrongdoing by members of the Trump Administration. The good news? We’re keeping track, and you can help. Head to Corruptipedia.org today, and let us know if we’re missing anything!
WHAT’S TRENDING
Again. Just a little over three months after the Parkland massacre, another school shooting has occurred in Texas, at Santa Fe High School. Law enforcement sources are confirming that multiple people are dead and others are injured.
Premium Sabotage. Remember the fight over the #TaxScam? It wasn’t just about Trump’s determination to make the wealthiest Americans even wealthier; it was also about Congressional Republicans’ crusade to systematically sabotage the Affordable Care Act. Now, their blind persistence will be responsible for severe premium hikes. Today, a new CAP analysis finds that premiums will increase by more than $1,000 nationwide in 2019. Some states could even see increases as high as $2,066 next year.
At Burger King While Black (And Homeless). In late 2015, Emory Ellis, a black, then-homeless man, attempted to buy breakfast at a Burger King in Boston. Instead of receiving an egg sandwich, Ellis received handcuffs and a sentence of more than three months in jail, “wrongfully accused of trying to pay for his meal with a fake $10 bill.” It was later determined that the bill Ellis had tried to use was in fact real, but that came after his time in jail. He still never received the $10 back. Being punished for being black is happening far too often.
OFF-KILTER
#CAPIdeas. This week on Off-Kilter, we broadcasted from the Ideas Conference and spoke to progressive leaders about the issues driving the movement forward. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio discusses his marijuana enforcement reform, Rep. Ted Lieu rips Trump’s treatment of his fellow veterans, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro joins to continue her fight against the draconian Farm Bill. Check out the episode here.
UNDER THE RADAR
Sessions Trap. From criminalizing those seeking refuge at our borders, to taking migrant children away from their parents, Attorney General Jeff Sessions continues to lay the groundwork for Trump to deport more people without due process. Yesterday, Sessions unilaterally rewrote immigration law to remove immigration judges’ authority to administratively close cases, which would drastically increase the existing court backlogs and fast track deportations of adults and children who have pending applications for relief.
GOOD NEWS
Resistance Works. Today, House Republicans’ cruel Farm Bill was resoundingly defeated in a vote of 198-213. The bill would have taken food assistance away from two million Americans and stripped 265,000 children of automatic access to school meals. The demise of this heartless bill is a welcome relief for the millions of families whom the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps put food on the table—and a testament to the thousands of people across the U.S. who raised their voices in opposition to this bill.