U.S. Repro Watch, January 29

U.S. Repro Watch provides periodic updates on news of interest on U.S. reproductive rights. Here are a few recent items you won’t want to miss.

Days After Taking Office, Trump Administration Targets Abortion

In a chaotic first week, the Trump administration took aim at abortion and global health by:

1. Reinstating the Global Gag Rule (GGR).

• Also known as the Mexico City Policy, this harmful policy will restrict U.S. foreign assistance to organizations providing, counseling, or advocating for legal abortion services—regardless of local laws or non-U.S. funding sources. The GGR, imposed by Republican administrations since 1984, has led to health clinic closures and the elimination of services critical to the health and well-being of underserved populations across the world.

2. Withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO).

• As the UN agency responsible for global public health, the WHO does critical work in setting global standards for sexual and reproductive health and rights. The move will jeopardize the health and well-being of millions around the world.

3. Pardoning abortion clinic harassers and attackers.

• The 23 people pardoned were convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act), which was passed in direct response to extreme acts of violence against abortion providers, including murder. Many were serving prison sentences for physically blocking patients from accessing their doctors, breaking into clinics, and accosting pregnant patients.

4. Signing an anti-trans executive action that has implications for reproductive health.

• The order requires the federal government to recognize just two sexes: male and female, and a person’s sex assigned “at conception”—a dangerous concept pushed by the anti-abortion movement.
• This ideology has potential to be used against abortion, IVF, and miscarriage management, as well as discrimination against pregnant people, transgender people, and bodily autonomy at large.

Repro Red Flags: Trump Administration Appointments Dangerous to Reproductive Rights

U.S. Senate confirmation hearings progressed for key Trump administration nominees.

• Marco Rubio, who co-sponsored a national abortion ban when he was in Congress, was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of State on January 20. In this role, Rubio oversees funding for international health programs and is involved in the interpretation and implementation of the Global Gag Rule.
• Russell Vought, nominated for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—and co-author of Project 2025—said at his January 22 hearing that he will implement the president’s anti-abortion agenda. As Director of OMB, Vought would make funding decisions about Title X and other government programs that impact reproductive rights and add harmful restrictions to the president’s budget.
• Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has major ties to the anti-science community, has a confirmation hearing as nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 29. In that position, Kennedy would administer major federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and programs such as Title X and Medicaid.

Explore the Center’s new tool, “Repro Red Flags: Agency Watch,” to learn more about these and other anti-repro appointments.

In the States

1. Hospital system sues state over strict abortion ban.

• Idaho’s largest hospital system, St. Luke’s, has sued the state to ensure their doctors can provide emergency abortion care. The lawsuit—which marks the first time a hospital has sued a state over its abortion ban—argues that the ban violates federal law, which requires hospitals to stabilize patients with medical emergencies who enter the emergency room.
• Since Idaho’s strict abortion ban’s only exception is to prevent the pregnant person’s death, doctors often feel they can’t intervene until the patient is too close to death.

2. Some states are trying to amend abortion bans to include criminal charges for pregnant people—including homicide.

• Indiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina have introduced bills to amend their abortion bans to include homicide charges for the pregnant person. Lawmakers in Texas have pledged to do the same. Some of the states are death penalty states, where prosecution of homicide may result in capital punishment.

International News

UN Committee establishes standards to protect survivors of sexual abuse.

• The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued rulings holding Ecuador and Nicaragua accountable for violating the human rights of three girls who were raped at ages 12 and 13, denied abortion care, and forced into motherhood.
• The groundbreaking rulings are the result of an international legal strategy initiated in 2019 by the Movimiento Son Niñas No Madres (the “They Are Girls, Not Mothers” Movement), a coalition composed of more than a dozen organizations, including the Center for Reproductive Rights.

New anti-abortion campaign targets men to report partners’ abortions.

• Texas Right to Life is launching an advertising campaign to reach the husbands, boyfriends and sex partners of women who have had abortions in the state—with the goal of recruiting them to file lawsuits against those who assisted the women in obtaining the abortions.

New York Governor Hochul expected to expand protections for doctors sending abortion pills to patients in other states.

• Senate Bill S36A would allow pharmacies and doctors filling prescriptions to use the practice name instead of the doctor’s name on the prescription label for abortion medication.
• This bill expands on an existing state law that allows providers in the state to send abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is banned.