ICYMI: TRUMP'S HHS TARGETS 13 STATES WHERE ABORTION COVERAGE IS PROTECTED WITH NEW INVESTIGATION

The following information was released by Reproductive Freedom for All:

The Guardian recently reported that Trump's Department of Health and Human Services has launched investigations into 13 states that currently require health insurance plans to cover abortion care, claiming that these protections violate the Weldon Amendment.

Reproductive Freedom for All-endorsed New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill criticized the investigations in a statement last Thursday as "nothing but a fishing expedition wasting taxpayers' money."

"I will fight tooth and nail to defend and protect New Jerseyans' abortion rights against attacks from Donald Trump, or anyone else,' she said. 'New Jersey requires health insurance plans to follow all applicable laws, including protecting women's reproductive freedom."

The Weldon Amendment has long been used to let politicians and health care entities impose their personal beliefs on patientsallowing hospitals, insurance companies, and individual health care professionals to deny care, coverage, or referrals for abortion.

This isn't the first time the Trump administration has sought to weaponize the Weldon Amendment to attack states that have passed laws to safeguard abortion access. In 2020, the Trump Administration announced it would withhold $200 million in federal Medicaid funds quarterly from California by claiming that the state's requirement for abortion coverage in health care plans violates the Weldon Amendment.

Trump and his allies have lied time and again by saying that they're leaving abortion access up to the statesand this latest move from Trump's HHS reaffirms that this was never going to be the case. This is part of a broader strategy to chip away at abortion access nationwide, including in states where it is legally protected, and the Trump administration won't stop pressuring providers, restricting medication abortion, and challenging health care coverage until they reach that goal.

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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levelsincluding access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leavefor everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.