What We're Reading This Morning -- January 26
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Good morning everyone! We had a great evening last night with our DC launch of Women are Watching. Nearly 400 Action Fund members came out to hear a number of elected officials and Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards speak. The place was packed! More on that later... In the meantime, make sure to check out our morning reads!
Less than a week after President Obama approved a new rule that requires most employers to cover birth control, Republicans are objecting. Think Progress has the latest: “GOP Rep. Slams Obama’s Contraception Rule, Claims Birth Control Is ‘Unrelated To Basic Needs Of Health Care’” – “Despite the fact that the new rule maintains a religious exemption for religious institutions and non-profits, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) introduced the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act to ensure that all providers can back out of contraception coverage if they claim religious objection….Fortenberry decried Obama’s decision as ‘a bailout for Planned Parenthood’ that is ‘politically and ideologically driven’ because, somehow, birth control ‘is unrelated to the basic needs of health care’”.
In case you forgot about Republican Congressman Joe Pitts, author of the Protect Life Act (commonly referred to as the “Let Women Die” bill), he’s at it again. POLITICO reports: “House GOP to offer health reform 'replace' plan after SCOTUS rules” – “Any plan would have to be crafted in response to how the court handles the law, Pitts said, as the court could leave the whole law in place, get rid of the whole thing, strike the mandate alone or strike other pieces with the mandate. It could also say that a federal tax law prevents it from ruling on the mandate’s constitutionality until after 2015.”
And so we can finally end on a positive note…New York legislators are putting forward a new resolution to protect women’s reproductive rights. “New state law sought for abortion rights” – “The legislation would ensure abortion remained legal in New York in the event federal law was made more restrictive. The state legalized abortion in 1970, three years before the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.”
