Insights & Updates

Article by: Diya Chadha On Monday, October 14, two women empowerment and health-focused student groups, Planned Parenthood Generation Action and Empower Her Voice, partnered with NARAL-NC, a pro-choice advocacy group to host a reproductive health panel on campus at the Freeman Center. Lynne Walter from NARAL-NC, Dr. Jonas Schwartz from Duke University Hospital, Gloria de los Santos from The Action Network, and Dani Hoffpauir from Planned Parenthood answered a series of moderated questions on the topics of the Hyde Amendment and the rising influence of pregnancy crisis centers/clinics in North Carolina. Two specific points that they brought attention to were the amount of funding directed from the state towards such emergency clinics and the subsequent negative impact that the clinics have on the healthcare options available to women, as well as the evolving narrative around the idea of abortion and healthcare access in the changing domestic political climate. In the state of North Carolina, crisis pregnancy centers receive nearly $1.3 million in state...

Article by Jackie Vicksman Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker signed a progressive reproductive rights bill into law on June 12, 2019. The Reproductive Health Act identifies abortion as a “fundamental right” for individuals, and states that a “fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights.” It also explicitly does not permit the State to “deny, interfere with, or discriminate against these fundamental rights.” By repealing old restrictive laws such as the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975 and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the Reproductive Health Act also removes barriers to abortion such as waiting periods, consent from a partner, and TRAP laws that incriminate doctors who provide abortions or post-abortion care. The new law also requires private insurance companies to cover abortions along with contraceptives. As several other states such as Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri have attempted to intensively restrict abortion access and other reproductive resources, the passage of this law is especially essential....

Article by Jackie Vicksman In March 2019, the Lancet published a study titled “Maternal and perinatal mortality and complications associated with caesarean section in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” In one of the most comprehensive studies to date, a research group from the Queen Mary University of London found that a “disproportionately high” number of women in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are dying due to caesarean sections, especially in Sub-Saharan countries. The mortality rate was 7.6 out of 1000 women who had the procedure and in Sub-Saharan countries the number rose to 10.9/1000. The study used a systematic review of online databases and analyzed information from 196 studies in 67 LMICs. The study found that risks arise when the procedure is not preceded by quality antenatal care, delayed during obstructed labor, or not considered for at-risk women until complications arise. The biggest risk was for women receiving emergency c-sections in the second stage of labor. In...

Article by Emmy Duerr In February of 2019, the Trump administration proposed changes to Title X’s family planning program that forbid Title X-funded clinics, such as Planned Parenthood, from performing some of their foundational services. Under the new propositions, providers and staff are not permitted to refer patients for abortion or accept funds to provide cancer and STI screenings, even if they use non-federal funds to fund abortion. In place of these services, the rule recommends referral for prenatal care and social services such as foster care or adoption. The Trump Administration’s proposed changes, widely known as the “domestic gag rule” went into effect on July 15, forcing Planned Parenthood to completely withdraw from the Title X program. Although the intention of the new ruling is to decrease domestic abortion rate, the consequences will likely reflect those of its international counterpart, the “global gag rule”. The rule is unlikely to decrease abortion because it reduces women’s access to a broad spectrum of reproductive health services including contraception, resulting in an increase in...

Article by Jackie Vicksman After criminalizing abortion for more than a century, Northern Ireland has finally reached a breakthrough. Although the rest of the United Kingdom legalized abortion in the 1967 Abortion Act and the Republic of Ireland repealed its restrictive abortion laws in September of 2018, these laws did not extend to Northern Ireland, which maintained its extremely strict policies. Until now. Beginning October 22 of this year, women in Northern Ireland may be given the right to have an abortion in certain circumstances. This possibility is due to the fact that Northern Ireland has not had a functioning government for the past two years because of partisan conflict between Unionists and Republicans, as both parties have an agreement to share power equally in the country. As a result, the U.K. was able to sign an amendment that decriminalizes abortion in the region. The amendment will go into effect on October 21 if the government of Northern Ireland has not...