Injunction against Trump abortion rule highlights precarious state of women's rights, professor says


LAWRENCE — A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration policy that would prevent any organization that refers patients for abortion services from receiving Title X funds. The Washington state judge’s ruling temporarily stops regulations from taking place that would also prohibit funds for covering services such as contraception and STD screenings for low-income patients being allocated to such organizations.

A federal judge in Oregon has also said he would issue an injunction blocking the rules, which were set to go into effect May 3. Alesha Doan, associate professor of women, gender & sexuality studies and public affairs & administration at the University of Kansas, is available to discuss the ruling with media. Doan also can discuss next steps, abortion law, reproductive freedom, Title X, the Trump administration policy at the center of the ruling and related topics. The ruling highlights how such policies can have effects beyond abortion.

“Today’s ruling emphasizes how precarious women’s reproductive rights are when their health care is framed as a partisan issue,” Doan said. “Access to other key services is quickly jeopardized. Even though abortion care is a routine aspect of women’s health care, anti-abortion activists and politicians have successfully separated it out as a moral issue. Women who are economically disadvantaged are the first casualty of these restrictive regulations and policies.”

Doan’s research expertise is centered in public policy, organizations and gender/social equity, with a specialized focus on reproductive policies. She has written numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and three books on the abortion and reproductive rights, including “Abortion Regret: The New Attack on Reproductive Freedom," “The Politics of Virginity: Abstinence in Sex Education” and “Opposition and Intimidation: The Abortion Wars and Strategies of Political Harassment.”

To schedule an interview, contact Mike Krings at 785-864-8860 or mkrings@ku.edu.

Fri, 04/26/2019

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Mike Krings

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