By Chris Walker, CC BY-NC-ND- 4.0

Photo by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0

This article originally appeared in Truthout

January 23, 2024 (New Hampshire) -- Nikki Haley, a Republican candidate facing uphill odds against Donald Trump to become the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee, stated on Sunday that she was fully supportive of a nationwide abortion ban.

Haley, a former United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration who previously served as governor of South Carolina, has tried to portray herself in town halls, debates and other appearances as a “moderate” choice for Republicans. However, although she opposes her former boss’s false claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, her record is decidedly much further to the right than she admits.

During an appearance on Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Haley admitted her views on abortion differ from most Americans.

Haley at first tried to sidestep the issue, claiming that the question was trying to put “fear and judgment” into the American people.

By Kristen Hwang, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters

Photo:  an exam room at Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties’ health center. Image courtesy of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties

September 28, 2022 (Sacramento) - California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 12 bills Tuesday, establishing some of the strongest abortion protections in the nation — a direct reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn federal abortion guarantees earlier this year.

By Miriam Raftery

July 21, 2022 (Washington D.C.) – After the Supreme Court ruled that states can ban or restrict abortion access, overturning Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration has taken several actions to protect abortion access in certain circumstances. Specifically:

• The administration cited a law on the books since 1986, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires abortions be allowed in all states if a woman’s life or health is at stake; hospitals that refuse can lose Medicare and Medicaid funding.
• The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department warns that pharmacists must dispense medications used for miscarriages and early-term abortions, or face potential criminal penalties. Attorney General Merrick Garland similarly issued a statement that states cannot ban mifepristone, a drug approved by the FDA for early pregnancy termination among other uses.
• HHS launched a website to help people nationwide find reproductive care and understand their rights at https://reproductiverights.gov/
• President Joe Biden signed an executive order to protect patient privacy and access to emergency contraception and medication abortions.
• HHS has advised pharmacies not to discriminate based on types of contraception sold, if any birth control items are sold in their retail stores.
  

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: CC via Bing

Hear the full interview

July 19, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- Bonnie Burns Price and Bella Barna, two East County residents and long-time women’s advocates, speak out on their efforts to help women get abortions before and after Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion access across America.

In an interview aired on the East County Magazine Show on KNSJ radio, they also shared their concerns over how the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe vs. Wade will impact vulnerable women.

In addition, Barna shared her personal experiences with an abortion and a failed miscarriage which put her life in jeopardy.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Mike Pence, cc by NC via Bing

June 28, 2022 (Washington D.C.) – Former Vice President Mike Pence, a potential future presidential candidate, praised the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision allowing states to outlaw abortion, tweeting, “Life Won.”  Now Pence wants to go farther.  In an interview with conservative news outlet Breitbart News, he pledged support for banning abortion nationwide.

By Miriam Raftery

June 9, 2022 (San Diego) – As the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban or restrict abortion, San Diego’s State Senator Toni Atkins (D-39) has introduced Senate Constitutional Amendment 10 to protect women’s right to access abortion and contraception in California.

By Suzanne Potter, California News Service

May 8, 2022 (Sacramento) -- Leaders from the California Legislative Women's Caucus vowed to protect a person's right to have an abortion in the Golden State after a leaked draft opinion appears to show the U.S. Supreme Court is ready to overturn the decision known as Roe v. Wade this summer. That would turn the matter over to the states.

By Miriam Raftery

October 1, 2021 (San Diego) – In the wake of restrictive laws and fears that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade, a March for Reproductive Rights is slated to be held Saturday, October 2 at 10 a.m. at San Diego’s Waterfront Park. The march is one of 500 marches planned nationwide in the wake of restrictive laws in several states and fears that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade. Details are available on the event’s Facebook page.

Numerous other states have enacted abortion restrictions and Missippi is reportedly preparing to ask the conservative majority on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs. Wade. These actions have galvanized both anti-abortion activists and abortion rights supporters.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has passed legislation that aims to protect most abortion access. Among San Diego’s Congressional delegation, Democrats Sra Jacobs, Mike Levin, Scott Peters, and Juan Vargas voted in favor, while Congressman Darrell Issa voted against.

By Ellen Holzman, Julian, California

August 27, 2018 (San Diego) - With the November election on the near horizon, it’s vital that we all understand why we must vote for Ammar Campa-Najjar for Congress: Ammar believes “women are capable of making their own choices regarding their bodies and reproduction.”

East County News Service

Hear our interview, originally aired February 3, 2017 on KNSJ 89.1 FM radio, by clicking the audio link.

“It wasn’t the e-mails; it was the white males,” – Bonnie Price, on sexism she believed prevented Hillary Clinton from becoming president

February 18, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – Spring Valley resident Bonnie Price is a long-time women’s rights advocate, political scientist and feminist. In January, shortly after Price marched in the historic women’s march in San Diego, we interviewed her about her concerns over the erosion of women’s  rights that she spent much of her lifetime fighting to attain.

 Price has advocated for women’s causes from equal pay to the equal rights amendment.  She once established a Planned Parenthood clinic in rural Pennsylvania. She’s also been active in recruiting women  to run for political office through the nonpartisan Run Women Run and has served as president of the East County Democratic Club. A supporter of Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations, Price still hopes to see the ultimate glass ceiling broken in her lifetime. 

Scroll down to read highlights of her commetns , or click the audio link to hear our full interview.

Reprinted with permission from The Moderate Voice, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

By Joe Gandelman, Editor-in-Chief, The Moderate Voice

March 30, 2016 (San Diego) -- It’s common in the United States to call talk show hosts or DJs who try to be outrageous “shock jocks.” It’s abundantly clear now that Republican businessman and showman Donald Trump — who at this point seems to be the GOP’s likely nominee — is a shock politician. In yet another match thrown on the GOP’s post 2012 Presidential election “autopsy” that outlined things the party should do to win national elections, Trump now suggests there should be some form of punishment for women who abort.

East County News Service

February 15, 2016 (El Cajon) – The East County Pregnancy Care Clinic in El Cajon is among the plaintiffs in a case set for appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether or not the state of California can require “crisis pregnancy clinics” established by religious or other anti-abortion groups to post notices informing low-income women patients of their rights to obtain free or low-cost abortion, contraception and pre-natal care through public programs—including a phone number to call.

East County News Service

October 3, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Pregnant women seeking emergency care at Trinity Health hospitals, a chain of 80 Catholic hospitals nationwide, have become septic, experienced hemorrhaging, contracted life-threatening infections and suffered severe pain for days after being denied medical care during pregnancy complications including miscarriages, a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) contends.

In some cases, the water or membrane surrounding a fetus burst during early stages of pregnancy, meaning a baby could not survive, but the mother’s life was in danger without termination of pregnancy.  However the Catholic hospitals’ directives prohibit doctors from terminating a pregnancy for any reason, even when a miscarriage is in progress. Their doctors are also banned even from telling a woman than an abortion could save her life or health.

The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of women members including some who live in cities or counties where Trinity is the only hospital providing emergency care for obstetrical and gynecological conditions or is the only hospital that takes the member’s insurance.

East County News Service

Photo: Anti-abortion protestors at a Mississippi abortion clinic

June 26, 2014 (Washington D.C.) – Today the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics in Massachusetts violate the free speech rights of protesters.  But ironically, the high court has its own, far wider 100-foot-wide buffer zone to keep protesters away from the Supreme Court.

Massachusetts passed its law to protect abortion workers and patients after a gunman killed two abortion clinic receptionists and wounded five others at two area clinics in 1994.    Violence against abortion providers has occurred elsewhere, notably the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who provided abortions in Wichita, Kansas.

Similar laws are on the books in other states, including California. But abortion opponents argued that such restrictions violated their First Amendment free speech rights.