Genevieve Plaster, M.A.

As of April 21, 2022, 42 states have introduced a total of 417 pro-life bills (or bills containing at least one pro-life provision) in 2022 or the current legislative session. This includes 273 bills introduced in 2022, and 144 bills introduced in 2020-2021 for the current legislative session. These bills contain a total of more than 600 pro-life provisions.

The Public Health Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly may soon vote on HB 5898, a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide. This past February, the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) abandoned its long-held stance of opposition to physician-assisted suicide for a position they term “engaged neutrality.”

In late November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that abortion in the United States has fallen to “historic lows” – with these most recent data revealing the lowest abortion rate since 1971, two years before the legalization of abortion nationwide via Roe v. Wade.

During this Wednesday’s committee mark-up, the District’s HHS Committee will consider proposed amendments to the bill, which was originally introduced in January 2015 by Councilwoman Mary Cheh (Ward 3). If the bill is voted out of committee, the full 13-member D.C. Council will vote on the legislation later this year.

Charlotte Lozier Institute Senior Policy Analyst Genevieve Plaster, M.A., submitted the following written testimony in support of making the Hyde Amendment, which largely prohibits federal Medicaid funds from paying for abortions, permanent law.

Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to pass the Conscience Protection Act of 2016 (S. 304) by 245-182. In light of egregious cases of prolife nurses being forced to assist in abortions, prolife employers – including churches – in California and New York being mandated to provide coverage of abortion in health plans, and privately funded prolife pregnancy resource centers being required to advertise abortion, this bill’s passage in the House is an important step towards more effectively protecting the civil rights of Americans who do not wish to participate in the abortion industry.

Now half a year since the opening of the 2016 Obamacare enrollment period, new state abortion mandates are just coming to light in New York. The Catholic Diocese of Albany and 12 other entities who have deeply-held objections to abortion were recently informed they had been covering elective abortions, unbeknownst to them, in their employer insurance plans under two state abortion mandates. Earlier this month, the 13 groups – including Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, and Lutheran churches, Catholic Charities agencies, a privately held organization and an employee of a religious organization – sued the New York State department that issues and enforces health insurance regulations as well as each of the plaintiffs’ respective insurance companies.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed the regulations for RU-486, the “abortion pill,” allowing its use up to 70 days into pregnancy, three weeks past the previous guidelines. On the same day, Abby Johnson’s The Walls Are Talking: Former Abortion Clinic Workers Tell Their Stories, was officially released. One chapter in particular stood out as especially timely in regards to the news: “Medication Abortion.”

Yesterday, during an MSNBC townhall event with Chris Matthews, presidential candidate Donald Trump was asked if he believes in “punishment for abortion” to which he replied that there should be “some form of punishment.” When asked whether this applied to women who have had abortions, Mr. Trump replied in the affirmative, though he later clarified that he believes only abortionists should be held accountable.