In a sudden development in a case that has lingered in the courts for nearly a decade, the state of New York has given up on trying to enforce an insurance regulation that would have forced Catholic and other religious organizations to pay for abortions.
As the pro-life movement prepares for the 53rd annual March for Life, their cause faces a number of key issues such as preserving the Hyde Amendment, the recent approval of a new generic abortion drug and a rising abortion rate.
After President Donald Trump told House Republicans to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits public funding of elective abortions, in negotiations on health care subsidies, a key national pro-life group argued the policy should be “a minimum standard in the Republican Party.”
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new generic form of mifepristone – a pill commonly, but not exclusively, used for early abortion – drawing criticism from pro-life advocates. It marks the second time a Trump administration has approved a generic form of the pill.
Volunteers at the Life Center of New York in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn a pro-life facility, stood outside a Planned Parenthood clinic with other pro-life supporters praying the rosary in memory of aborted babies.
A federal appeals court has allowed implementation of a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would eliminate Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and its affiliates for one year.
A federal judge in Maine declined on Aug. 25 to prevent the government from stripping Medicaid funding from a network of abortion providers in Maine, arguing that doing so would circumvent “the will of the people as expressed by Congress.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has thanked the Trump administration for its recent decision to revoke a Biden-era rule that qualified veterans to receive abortions under their medical package.
Calling it a “money grab,” the New York State Catholic Conference is responding to reports that Planned Parenthood is requesting $35 million in funding from New York State to help offset Medicaid funding cuts by the federal government.
The Trump administration said Aug. 1 it would revoke its predecessor’s policy rule that included abortion as a covered health benefit for veterans and their dependents, and return to a policy of fully excluding abortion and abortion-counseling.
