#abortion access

Plan B has a shelf life of 4 years

Plan B has a shelf life of 4 years

Plan B has a shelf life of 4 years

Plan B has a shelf life of 4 years

Plan B has a shelf life of 4 years

Plan B has a shelf life of 4 years

Plan B has a shelf life of 4 years

Plan B has a shelf life of 4 years

Julianne McShane at MS NOW:

The Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented an abortion ban after the Department of Justice issued a memo last week that prohibited the VA from providing abortion services to veterans and their dependents who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest or in cases when life or health are endangered by carrying a pregnancy to term. The memo, issued December 18 and authored by Joshua Craddock, deputy assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, states that the Biden-era rule that allowed the VA to provide limited abortion counseling and services to more than 9 million veterans and their beneficiaries is not valid.

Screenshots of what appears to be an internal memo sent Monday to the leaders of the VA’s 18 regional care systems by the VA’s under secretary of health — obtained by the national legal nonprofit Democracy Forward and provided to MS NOW — state that the VA must comply with the DOJ memo effective immediately. The directive also states that the changes to the VA policy “do not prohibit providing care to pregnant women in life-threatening circumstances, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages.” The government argued in its proposed rule in August that the VA “has never understood this policy to prohibit providing care to pregnant women in life-threatening circumstances” and said “for the avoidance of doubt” this exception would be spelled out in the new policy. Pete Kasperowicz, press secretary for the VA, confirmed to MS NOW in a statement Tuesday morning that the VA is no longer providing abortions as a result of the memo.

“DOJ’s opinion states that VA is not legally authorized to provide abortions, and VA is complying with it immediately,” Kasperowicz said. “DOJ’s opinion is consistent with VA’s proposed rule, which continues to work its way through the regulatory process.”   Kasperowicz did not immediately respond to further questions. The VA’s compliance with the memo speeds up what would have otherwise been a lengthier implementation of the ban. After the proposed rule was published in the Federal Register in August — the first step in the federal rule-making process — that triggered a 30-day public comment period that attracted more than 24,300 comments. The next step in that process is the publication of the final rule in the Federal Register, and the implementation of the ban, at the earliest, 30 days later. But the final rule has still yet to be published in the Federal Register. Abortion rights advocates slammed the news on Tuesday.

[...] The DOJ memo follows a proposed rule, filed by the Trump administration in August, to reverse a Biden-era rule from September 2022 that was part of a bid to safeguard abortion access after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade that June. The Biden administration’s rule said the VA could provide abortion services when pregnancies were a result of rape or incest or when the life or health of the pregnant person would be endangered. At the time, then-VA Secretary Denis McDonough called it “a patient safety decision.” The filing of the proposed reversal unleashed a torrent of opposition from abortion rights supporters, who said it would amount to one of the strictest nationwide abortion bans, given its potential impact in states where abortion is not otherwise banned. More than a dozen states currently ban abortion in almost all circumstances.

The Trump Regime’s Veterans Affairs implements a draconian abortion ban that bars the VA from providing abortion services to veterans and their dependents who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest or in cases when their health is endangered by carrying a pregnancy to term.

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Anyone who knows me well knows that Hollanov and abortion are basically my two main special interests, and I have been fundraising for abortion funds in the midwest for over a decade. This is truly my life's passion. So I’m so excited to be raising money through the National Network of Abortion Funds with these cute (if I do say so myself!) tote bags!

The tote bags are $30 and proceeds will go to helping people leave Indiana (where abortion is essentially totally illegal except in very rare cases that require involving the legal and medical systems in extremely invasive and harmful ways) to get safe, legal abortion care.

You can get one here!

These will only be available until May 15, so don't wait if you really want one. And if you want to donate but don't want a tote bag, DM me and I can send you a link to make a small donation.

And if you don't have the funds to spare (really, who does in these times?) a reblog to boost the fundraiser would also be a big help.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 3709, which requires Illinois colleges and universities to provide students access to contraception and abortion medications at campus pharmacies starting this school year. This win deserves an extra shout because the bill was an initiative from University of Illinois students!

Gov. Pritzker also signed other bills this past week that will improve access to abortion medications and protect all Illinois healthcare workers from prosecution in other states for providing abortion care in the state.