"Overturning of Roe v. Wade GOVT 101" S 1 EP 1

TOPLESS GOVERNMENT

This show is a cross between Schoolhouse Rock and civics for the masses. I want to make this show relatable and fun for everyone who would like to know how YOUR government works. Originally, I was working on launching the show sometime in July, however, on Friday when the news broke that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, I decided now I should start my show and begin conveying my knowledge of government and politics so others can be better informed. Remember knowledge is power!

I am the host, Crystal Ellerbe. I live, breathe, eat, and sleep politics. I’ve done two tours of duty in the US Senate and one tour of duty in the US House of Representatives. I’ve had the privilege of working in state and local government, corporate America, and several lobbying firms here in Washington, DC. So tune in next week to Topless Government where I will share my thoughts on the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Thank you.

This was Topless Government, the government and politics show. If you enjoyed it, I would be pleased if you would subscribe, rate, and review the show. We’re on YouTube and Facebook right now. Production is courtesy of Marcus Donovan, the Pasteurized Chef. You can check out his show – the District of Misfits Show – every Sunday evening. They go live at 10 pm. This show is a District Dogface Studios Production.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my knowledge and love of politics. I look forward to geeking out with you again.

SHOW NOTES:

On Friday, June 24, 2022, SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade which was the settled law of the land on access to abortions by a vote of 5-4 with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the democratic liberal justices.

Politico What does ‘overturn Roe v Wade’ mean? June 24, 2022 12:21pm

• Right now 22 states have either made abortions illegal or had trigger laws in the event Roe v Wade was ever overturned by the Supreme Court – 30 days ban on abortion will take effect.

Politico Abortion laws by state: Where abortions are illegal after Roe v Wade overturned June 24, 2022

• ONLY three states – South Dakota, Louisiana, and Kentucky have laws that immediately ban most abortions.
• The 13 states with trigger laws also have different exceptions to their near-total bans. While they all allow abortions to save the life of the pregnant person, only five include exceptions for rape or incest.
• Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, and Iowa have laws prohibiting abortion once a fetal hearbeat is detected, around six weeks, but those laws were blocked by judges operating under Roe.
• Abortion will remain in the remaining 27 states, though the laws in those states aren’t uniform either.
• Colorado, New Jersey, Oregon, and Delaware are four states that protect the right to abortion throughout pregnancy

Congressional Research Service Legal Sidebar Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (May 2-May 8, 2022) May 9, 2022 Michael John Garacia, Deputy Assistant Director/ALD LSB10740 Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (May 2–May 8, 2022)

The Supreme Court concluded that there is not a constitutional right to an abortion and would overrule earlier Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. The Court’s decision will reshape the constitutional framework governing abortion. Legal questions about restrictions on abortion access would no longer turn on whether such restrictions unduly burden the exercise of a constitutional right to abortion. Instead, many of the central legal questions surrounding abortion regulation would concern the constitutional powers of the states and federal government. These questions may include, among others, the scope of Congress’s power to, directly and indirectly, regulate abortion access, such as through federal laws and policies that preempt inconsistent state policies; and the ability of a state to regulate travel by residents seeking abortions in other jurisdiction (e.g., in another state or on tribal lands)

Congressional Research Service Legal Sidebar Supreme Court Considers Mississippi Abortion Law Jon O. Shimabukuro Legislative Attorney LSB10669 Supreme Court Considers Mississippi Abortion Law

Considerations for Congress

The Supreme Court is not expected to issue a decision in Dobbs until early summer 2022. If the Court concludes that pre-viability abortion prohibitions are permissible, it seems possible that there could be greater support for federal legislation similar to the GAA. Federal legislation could potentially supersede varying state requirements and create a uniform national standard. Bills like the GAA were passed by the House of Representatives during the 113th, 114th, and 115th Congresses. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (PCUCPA), introduced as H.R. 1080 and S. 61 in the 117th Congress, would generally prohibit the performance or attempted performance of an abortion once the probable post-fertilization age of the fetus is 20 weeks or greater. The PCUCPA states that it would further a “compelling governmental interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain.”

Conversely, if the Court were to overrule Roe and Casey, determining that the Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion, those who support such a right might promote legislation that would establish a statutory right to access the procedure. The Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), introduced as H.R. 3755 and S. 1975 in the 117th Congress, would provide such a right and preempt state restrictions on the procedure. The House passed H.R. 3755 on September 24, 2021. The bill is awaiting further consideration in the Senate. Additional information on the WHPA is included in CRS Report Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response.

Congressional Research Service Report Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response RL33467Jon O. Shimabukuro Legislative Attorney Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response

Hyde-Type Amendments to Appropriations Measures

As an alternative to the unsuccessful attempts to prohibit abortion outright, opponents of abortion sought to ban the use of federal funds to pay for the performance of the procedure. Because most federally funded abortions were reimbursed under Medicaid, they focused their efforts primarily on that program.

The Medicaid program was established in 1965 to fund medical care for indigent persons through a federal-state cost-sharing arrangement.188 Abortions were not initially covered under the program. During the Nixon Administration, however, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare decided to reimburse states for the funds used to provide abortions to poor women. This policy decision was influenced by the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe, which, in addition to decriminalizing abortion, was seen as legitimizing the status of abortion as a medical procedure for the purposes of the Medicaid program.

Since Roe, Congress has attached abortion funding restrictions to several other appropriations bills. Although the Foreign Assistance Act of 1973 included the first of such restrictions,189 the greatest focus has arguably been on the Hyde Amendment, which generally restricts Medicaid abortions under the annual appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).190

Since its initial introduction in 1976, the Hyde Amendment has sometimes been reworded to include exceptions for pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest, or abortions that are sought to prevent long-lasting physical health damage to the mother. Until the early 1990s, however, the language was generally identical to the original enactment, allowing only an exception to preserve the life of the mother.191 In 1993, during the first year of the Clinton Administration, coverage under the Hyde Amendment was expanded to again include cases of rape and incest.192 Efforts to restore the original language (providing only for the life of the woman exception) failed in the 104th Congress.

Beginning in 1978, Hyde-type abortion limitations were added to the Department of Defense appropriations measures. 193 This recurring prohibition was eventually codified and made permanent by the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985. 194

In 1983, the Hyde Amendment process was extended to the Department of the Treasury and Postal Service Appropriations Act, prohibiting the use of funds for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) to pay for abortions, except when the life of the woman was in danger.195 Prior to this restriction, federal government health insurance plans provided coverage for both therapeutic and nontherapeutic abortions.

The restriction on FEHBP funds followed an administrative attempt by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to eliminate nonlife-saving abortion coverage. OPM’s actions were challenged by federal employee unions, and a federal district court later concluded that the agency acted outside the scope of its authority. In American Federation of Government Employees v. AFL-CIO, the court found that absent a specific congressional statutory directive, there was no basis for OPM’s actions.

The restriction on FEHBP funds was removed briefly in 1993, before being reinstated by the 104th Congress. That Congress passed language prohibiting the use of FEHBP funds for abortions, except in cases where the life of the mother would be endangered or in cases of rape or incest.197

Under Department of Justice appropriations, funding of abortions in prisons is prohibited, except where the life of the mother is endangered, or in cases of rape or incest. First enacted as part of the FY1987 continuing appropriations measure,198 this provision has been reenacted as part of the annual spending bill in each subsequent fiscal year.199

Finally, since 1979, restrictive abortion provisions have been included in appropriations measures for the District of Columbia (DC). The passage of the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1989, marked the first successful attempt to extend such restrictions to the use of DC funds, as well as federal funds.200 Under the so-called “Dornan Amendment,” DC was prohibited from using both appropriated funds and local funds to pay for abortions. In 2009, Congress lifted the restriction on the use of DC funds to pay for abortions. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, only federal funds were restricted. 201 The Dornan Amendment has since been reimposed.

The House of Representatives took action on protecting women’s access to contraception. H.R. 8373, the Right to Contraception Act was introduced on July 14, 2022, by Congresswoman Kathy Manning (D-NC-6). This bill sets out statutory protections for an individual's right to access and a health care provider's right to provide contraception and related information. Contraception refers to an action taken to prevent pregnancy, including the use of contraceptives (i.e., a device or medication used to prevent pregnancy), fertility-awareness-based methods, and sterilization procedures.

Generally, the bill prohibits measures that single out and impede access to contraception and related information. However, a party may defend against a claim that a measure violates the bill's prohibitions by demonstrating, through clear and convincing evidence, that the measure significantly advances access to contraception and cannot be achieved through less restrictive means.

The Department of Justice, individuals, or health care providers may bring a lawsuit to enforce this bill, and states are not immune from suits for violations.

The House passed H.R. 8373 - Right to Contraception Act on July 21, 2022, by a vote of 228 - 195, 2 Present. Only 8 Republicans voted with the Democrats on the final pass of H.R. 8373 – Reps. Cheney, Fitzpatrick, Upton, Mace, Katko, Gonzalez, Kinzinger and Salzar. The bill was received in the Senate on July 21, 2022.

On July 27th, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sought unanimous consent to pass the Right to Contraception Act to protect every American’s fundamental right to use birth control—but Republican Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) blocked the legislation.

Courthouse News: Senate Republicans block bill that would federally enshrine right to contraception

US Senator Ed Markey Press Release: SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK SENATOR MARKEY’S RIGHT TO CONTRACEPTION ACT

Congressional Overrides of Supreme Court Statutory Interpretation Decisions, 1967-2011 Matthew R. Christiansen* & William N. Eskridge, Jr.*

The Hill.com: Five times Congress overrode the Supreme Court John Kruzel, Staff Writer

ACLU – 15-week abortion ban in Florida take affects on July 1st state constitutions can protect the right to an abortion.

National ban on abortion – expand access to abortion

Plessy v Ferguson – separate but equal

Brown v Board of Education – segregation of education

Peacefully protest, vote, donate

Emily’s List – elects pro-choice women candidates

SCOTUS Opinion

Vox.com: The Supreme Court overturned Roe. What happens next?

Vox.com: The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

LA Times: The woman who brought down Roe vs. Wade

Planned Parenthood: Roe v. Wade Overturned: Supreme Court Gives States the Right to Outlaw Abortion

NY Times: Live Updates: Ending Constitutional Right to Abortion, Supreme Court Reshapes U.S. Politics

POLITICO Playbook PM: A fractured Supreme Court upends American politics- POLITICO

NBCDC Abortion Laws in DC, Maryland, Virginia: What Happens After Roe v. Wade Ruling

The Hill.com: Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade