Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge to Roe v. Wade

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court said it would review the constitutionality of a state ban on pre-viability abortion. The test case is from Mississippi which bans most abortions after 15 weeks. Anti-abortion politicians have been working for decades to shift the balance of the Court for just this moment: the opportunity to overturn 50 years of precedent under Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood as a federation is working alongside our partners to address the serious and deleterious access issues that would result if the Court rules in favor of opponents to abortion.

PPADMV, Howard University Students, and Planned Parenthoood Maine Action Fund Phonebank for DC Statehood

The fight for DC Statehood is one of the most important racial justice, civil rights, and reproductive rights issues in our region. On March 20, we hosted a phone bank with our Generation Action Howard students, a service fraternity at Howard, and Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund to make calls to Planned Parenthood supporters in Maine about contacting U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) and asking him to support S.51– the Senate bill that would make DC the 51st state. We're hoping this will be the first of many such action opportunities. We were thrilled to have DC Shadow Representative Oye Owolewa as a special guest speaker to join us and kick off the phone bank.

DC Statehood Bill Passes in the House. All Eyes Now Turn to the Senate

For the second time in history, the House passed legislation to make the District of Columbia the nation’s 51st state with a vote of 216-208. We celebrated DC Statehood passing the House of Representatives again on April 22, including by joining the vote watch party sponsored by our community partner DC Vote. All eyes are now on the Senate, and we expect a hearing on the Senate version of the bill by late June. If you are interested in getting involved in the fight, including by writing an Op-Ed, let us know. We'll also have future phone banking and text banking opportunities for statehood.

Work To Expand Access To Reproductive Health Care In Maryland Continues

Maryland General Assembly legislative session wrapped up in mid-April, with great results for access to reproductive health. Building on the telehealth victory in 2020, state and state-regulated insurance plans are now mandated to reimburse providers equally for in-person office visits and telehealth visits (called “reimbursement parity”), which will greatly aid the continued success of remote reproductive health care services. Additionally, the 2021 legislative session brought expansion for post-partum care, setting up a Maryland Commission on Health Equity, and providing menstrual hygiene products in schools. PPADMV applauds our champions in the Maryland General Assembly, and looks forward to continuing to work to further expand access in legislative sessions to come.

Virginia Elections on the Horizon

With Virginia holding elections this November for Governor, the House of Delegates, and other statewide positions, the stakes couldn't be higher for sexual and reproductive healthcare access. Since Virginians elected pro-reproductive health majorities in 2019, we've been able to make incredible progress on expanding reproductive health access in the state. A number of politically motivated and medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion have been removed, including the repeal of mandatory ultrasounds, a 24-hour waiting period requiring patients to have two appointments, biased counseling, and multiple other restrictions on abortion providers like being required to have a certain number of parking spaces and mandating hallway width.

Now, anti-reproductive health politicians are trying to roll back this progress and reimpose restrictions on reproductive healthcare. Glenn Youngkin, the recently selected Republican nominee for Governor, has made clear he will take steps to end abortion access in Virginia if elected. PPADMV will be joining forces with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia to organize across Northern Virginia to promote pro-reproductive health candidates in this year's elections, to make sure we protect the pro-reproductive health majority and can continue expanding access to care. As the general election nears, stay tuned for volunteer opportunities to come!

Want to get more involved in the fight to protect reproductive rights this year? Head to PPADMV.org for opportunities to take action in 2021:

Join the Planned Parenthood Action Mobile Network: To join and stay updated on fights for reproductive health and rights text "CONNECT" to 22422
Volunteer with PPADMV: To learn more about opportunities to join us on the frontlines of protecting body autonomy in the DMV, please reach out to Director of Organizing & Volunteer Programming Laura Mayock for opportunities in DC and NoVa, or Public Affairs Specialist Rahula Strohl for opportunities in Maryland