Topics in the News: Contraception
Joe Biden on Abortion
: Apr 14, 2021
Restore federal Title X family planning program
PROMISE MADE: (Campaign website JoeBiden.com): Biden will reissue guidance specifying that states cannot refuse Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers and reverse the Trump Administration's rule preventing these
organizations from obtaining Title X funds.PROMISE KEPT: (NPR News, 4/14/21): The Biden administration is moving to reverse a Trump-era family planning policy that critics describe as a domestic "gag rule" for reproductive healthcare
providers. The proposal would largely return the federal Title X family planning program to its status before Trump took office. The current rules, implemented by Trump in 2019, forbid any provider who provides or refers patients for abortions from
receiving federal funding through Title X to cover services such as contraception and STD screenings for low-income people.
ANALYSIS: Since 1970, the Title X Program provides family planning services, without abortion funding.
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Source: NPR on Biden Administration promises
Howie Hawkins on Abortion
: Aug 30, 2020
Health insurance must cover contraception, abortion
Q: Require health plans to cover birth control?Howie Hawkins: Yes. "Contraception and abortion must be included in all health insurance policies in the U.S."
Jo Jorgensen: No.
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Source: CampusElect on 2020 Third Party presidential candidates
Bernie Sanders on Abortion
: Sep 4, 2019
Totally absurd for U.S. to limit birth control abroad
Q: Do you support empowering women and educating everyone on the need to curb population growth as a means to accomplish sustainability? SANDERS: The answer is yes. And the answer has everything to do with the fact that women in the United States of
America have a right to control their own bodies and make reproductive decisions. And the Mexico City agreement, which denies American aid to those organizations around the world that are--that allow women to have abortions or even get involved in
birth control to me is totally absurd. So I think, especially in poor countries around the world where women do not necessarily want to have large numbers of babies, and where they can have the opportunity through
birth control to control the number of kids they have, it's something I very, very strongly support.
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Source: CNN Climate Crisis Town Hall marathon (10 Democrats)
Donald Trump on Abortion
: Feb 3, 2018
Increased programs and funds covered by Mexico City policy
One of his very first acts [as President] was reinstating the pro-life "Mexico City Policy," requiring nongovernmental organizations to agree not to "perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations".
But in typical Trump fashion, he went bigger and bolder by significantly increasing the amount of global health assistance funds and government programs that would be covered under the policy.
In another significant move,
Trump signed a resolution into law that gives states the ability to withhold federal dollars from facilities that provide abortions.
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Source: The Faith of Donald J. Trump, by Brody & Lamb, p.271
Mike Pence on Abortion
: Mar 30, 2017
Tie-breaker vote to defund Planned Parenthood
Senate Republicans, aided by Vice President Mike Pence and an ailing Georgia colleague who gingerly made his way to the Capitol with the aid of a wheelchair and a walker, voted Thursday to undo an Obama administration rule preventing states from
blocking funding for family planning clinics that also provide abortions.Democrats all voted against the bill, as did two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Ms. Collins and Ms. Murkowski have long opposed
attacks on funding Planned Parenthood, which they argue provides services for women in areas with scarce health care options.
Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, who returned after two back surgeries, was cleared by his doctors to travel
for one day only to help pass the measure, but it took Pence's final vote to break the 50-50 tie. The measure will now head to Trump's desk, a onetime supporter of Planned Parenthood who adopted an anti-abortion rights position during the campaign.
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Source: N.Y.Times on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Donald Trump on Abortion
: Jan 27, 2017
Reinstate Mexico City Policy: end abortion funding abroad
Trump signed an executive order to reinstate the Mexico City Policy, a policy regarding non-governmental organization (NGO) funding and abortion named after the city in which it was announced. The Mexico City Policy--called the "Global Gag Rule" by
political opponents--was introduced by President Ronald Reagan (R) in 1984 and makes "neither performing nor actively promoting abortion as a method of family planning in other nations" conditions of receiving federal funding for any NGO.
Rescinding or reinstating this policy has become a tradition when party control of the White House changes. After being instituted in 1984 by Reagan, President Bill Clinton (D) rescinded the policy on January 22, 1993.
Exactly nine years later, President George W. Bush (R) reinstated the policy, only to have in rescinded by President Barack Obama (D) on January 23, 2009.
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Source: Ballotpedia.org coverage of 2017 Trump transition
Donald Trump on Families & Children
: Sep 15, 2016
Supports birth control without a prescription
Donald Trump says he believes women should be able to obtain birth control without a prescription. Speaking on an episode of "The Dr. Oz Show," the Republican nominee suggested that, for many women, obtaining a prescription can be challenging. "I would
say it should not be prescription," he told the audience, adding that many women "just aren't in a position to go get a prescription."The GOP's 2016 platform says it opposes the FDA's "endorsement of over-the-counter sales of powerful contraceptives
without a physician's recommendation." The comment comes days after Trump unveiled a plan aimed at making childcare more affordable for women.
Trump has sometimes stumbled when it comes to reproductive health issues. During the Republican primary, he
was criticized for saying that, if it the abortion were to be outlawed, women should be punished for having them. He later said that providers, not women, should be the ones who face penalties.
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Source: Jill Colvin and David Sharp, Associated Press on SFGate.com
Bernie Sanders on Abortion
: Sep 5, 2015
Advocate for family planning and funding for contraceptives
Q: Where does Bernie stand on access to contraceptives?A: In addition to being a strong proponent of access to safe abortions, Bernie has been a vocal advocate for family planning and funding for contraceptives. In January 2009, he supported the
Prevention First Act, which includes grants to states for family life education. These programs expand funding for family planning and access to contraceptives, and are aimed toward teens to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STDs.
Q: Why is there so much congressional activity in this area?
A: Over the past few years, there has been an "unprecedented wave of state-level abortion restrictions" rolling back progress on women's reproductive healthcare rights. Access to safe
resources for healthcare have been more limited than in the past. Bernie has actively worked to combat restrictions by co-sponsoring a bill that would lift restriction on abortion, known as the Women's Health Protection Act.
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Source: 2016 grassroots campaign website FeelTheBern.org, "Issues"
Bernie Sanders on Abortion
: Sep 5, 2015
Lifetime pro-choice record, plus funding for family planning
Q: Where does Bernie stand with regard to women's reproductive health?A: Bernie believes in protecting a woman's right to choose and has a lifetime pro-choice record:
In 1993, he co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act, which aimed to bar states
from restricting the right to terminate a pregnancy before fetal viability or at any time when a termination is necessary to protect the health of a woman.In April 2012, Bernie wrote "We are not returning to the days of back-room abortions, when
countless women died or were maimed. The decision about abortion must remain a decision for the woman, her family and physician to make, not the government."Bernie voted numerous times to allow women to travel interstate for abortions, supported
permitting federal funding of organizations that conduct abortions, and voted to increase access and funding for family planning for women.In light of these votes, Bernie has repeatedly received ratings of 100% from NARAL Pro-Choice America
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Source: 2016 grassroots campaign website FeelTheBern.org, "Issues"
Jill Stein on Abortion
: Nov 1, 2012
Healthcare is a right, including women's reproductive rights
Q: You have stated your support of the Obama administration's mandate that insurance companies provide birth control to women free of charge. Would you exempt religious organizations from this mandate?
STEIN: Religion and healthcare have nothing to do with each other. It should not be the prerogative of an employer to exercise his personal beliefs in determining the healthcare of his employees.
Healthcare is a human right and we need to provide it through "Medicare for all". It needs to be a system that does away with this divide and conquer mentality that pits the religious community against the health of employees.
It doesn't make any sense. We have a right to healthcare and there is a way to make it affordable.
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Source: iSideWith.com interview of Jill Stein
Chris Christie on Abortion
: Jun 5, 2012
Eliminate family planning funding from state budget
Christie angered many of the Democratic women in the legislature, but thrilled social conservatives, by eliminating so-called family planning funding from the state budget. The name's a bit of a misnomer; the program provides health care services
such as pap smears and mammograms to women and doesn't fund abortions. But because some of the funds went to Planned Parenthood centers, conservatives say the funding essentially enables such centers to be able to use other revenues to provide a service
they find morally reprehensible. Christie argued that low-income women can access the health services they need at other clinics, primarily Federally Qualified Health Centers, in repeatedly vetoing
Democrats' efforts to provide $7.5 million in family planning funds. Democrats framed the family planning cuts as part of a bigger picture in which Christie has some sort of problem with women.
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Source: Rise to Power, by B. Ingle & M. Symons, p.205
Jill Stein on Abortion
: May 16, 2012
Maintain abortion rights & provide free birth control
Q: Should abortion be outlawed in the United States?A: No, but providing birth control, sex education, and social services could help reduce the number of abortions.
Q: Should the government require health insurance companies to provide free birth control?
A: Yes.
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Source: Presidential comparison website www.iSideWith.com
Jill Stein on Education
: May 16, 2012
Supports evolution; supports sex education
Q: Do you support the theory of Evolution?A: Yes.
Q: Should abortion be outlawed in the United States?
A: No, but providing birth control, sex education, and social services could help reduce the number of abortions.
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Source: Presidential comparison website www.iSideWith.com
Jill Stein on Families & Children
: Dec 21, 2011
Family planning is 1st principle of reproductive healthcare
Q: Is abortion a woman's right?A: Reproductive healthcare needs to be an essential part of healthcare in general. Women's access to family planning--that should be the first principle of reproductive healthcare.
When women can plan their health future, we can make abortion obsolete. Those who object to abortion on moral grounds ought to be promoting family planning and contraception as the means to avoid abortion.
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Source: 2011 OnTheIssues interview with Jill Stein
Jill Stein on Abortion
: Oct 9, 2002
Give women easy access to "morning after" pill
[I would] ensure that women have access to "emergency contraception" which generally involves a dose of birth control pills that are taken within a few days of unprotected sex. Emergency contraception is a safe way to prevent unintended pregnancy.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, emergency contraception can reduce unintended pregnancies by 50%.
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Source: Campaign web site, www.JillWill.org, "Issues"
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