Barriers to Reproductive Care

Women continue to face restrictions when they try to access the reproductive health care they need. We're working to defend access to reproductive care and to oppose challenges such as pharmacy refusals and religious restrictions by those imposing their beliefs on women.

Highlights

Fact Sheet | 2013 State Level Abortion Restrictions at Mid-Year: An Extreme Overreach into Women’s Reproductive Health Care

September 17, 2013

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that affirmed a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion. Yet, anti-abortion state politicians continue to relentlessly attack this right, in the hopes of overturning Roe and preventing women from obtaining abortions. In the first 6 months of 2013, state lawmakers enacted 43 restrictions on abortion, including outright bans.   This is the second highest number of enacted restrictions at the mid-year mark, and equal to the total number of restrictions enacted in 2012.  These state restrictions are a dangerous overreach into women’s personal medical decisions.

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Fact Sheet | State Politicians Want Bosses to Make Women’s Health Care Decisions

June 14, 2013

State politicians are introducing bills that would allow a boss to trump women's health and women's access to the health care they need by refusing to comply with the birth control benefit of the health care law. These bill sare not about protecting religion. They are unconstitutional attempts to take away women's decision making, threatening women's health and equality.

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Fact Sheet | Requiring Crisis Pregnancy Centers to Disclose Limits on Care Is Part of a Long Tradition of Protecting Women’s Decision-making and Access to Reproductive Health Care

April 9, 2013

Women face many obstacles to receiving comprehensive, affordable, quality health care, including when individuals and institutions refuse to provide health care services.   Some even go so far as to refuse to inform women about their health care options or even to notify women that there are certain services or information that they will not provide.  This prevents women from participating fully in their own medical decision-making.  Not only are their rights compromised, their health may be harmed.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | NWLC Amicus Briefs Supporting the Contraceptive Coverage Benefit

August 12, 2013

The Center is filing friend of the court briefs in lawsuits challenging the federal contraceptive coverage benefit, brought by employers who want to deny their employees this important benefit.  These cases involve suits brought under the First Amendment to the US Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  These cases will decide whether a boss’s religious beliefs trump women’s health and women’s access to the health care they need.

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More Resources

Reports & Toolkits | Partners in Access: Working with State Pharmacy Boards to Stop Refusals in the Pharmacy: Section 6: Other Things You Can Ask Your Board to Do

June 09, 2008
If your board will not address refusals, there are other tacks you can pursue that may be less controversial but still beneficial to consumer access. Read more...

Fact Sheet | The Bush Administration's Recent Attack on Women's Health: Frequently Asked Questions

June 09, 2008

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a damaging new rule— which follows an earlier draft made public several weeks ago—which would significantly undermine patient’s access to vital health services and information by greatly expanding existing laws intended to govern the right to refuse to provide abortion care.

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Fact Sheet | The HHS Rule on Providers' Right to Refuse to Provide Health Care: Reaching Even Further Than Family Planning and Abortion Services

June 09, 2008

While attention has been given to the proposed HHS rule’s possible damage to family planning and abortion, the proposed rule has an even broader reach. It has the potential to limit information on and access to the entire range of health care services – including treatment of infertility, depression, drug addiction, HIV, and more.

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Fact Sheet | What Are Some Key Organizations Saying About the Proposed HHS Rule?

June 09, 2008
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Reports & Toolkits | Partners in Access: A Toolkit for Working with State Pharmacy Boards to Stop Refusals in the Pharmacy

January 31, 2008

State pharmacy boards are your friends, not your foes!
Work with them to ensure patient access to contraception in the pharmacy

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