Fact Sheets

2012 State Level Abortion Restrictions: A Dangerous Overreach into Women’s Reproductive Health Care

January 22, 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 opponents in the states continue to relentlessly attack this right.  In 2012, states passed 43 restrictions on abortion, the second highest number of new abortion restrictions passed in a single year.   These new obstacles to abortion represent a dangerous overreach into women’s reproductive health care and personal medical decisions.

How To Find Out If Your Health Plan Is Covering Women’s Preventive Services with No Co-Pay, as Required by the Health Care Law

January 22, 2013

Your health plan should be providing coverage for the women’s preventive services with no cost-sharing, if your plan is not grandfathered.* The best way to find out for sure that you have coverage for the women’s preventive services without cost sharing and to get information on how these services will be covered is to call your insurance company.

Below is a phone script for you to use when talking to your insurance company. ( If you are not getting the answers you need, call the National Women’s Law Center PILL4US hotline at 1-866-PILL4US or email pill4us@nwlc.org. We are here to help you if you aren’t getting the women’s preventive health services without a co-pay, as required by the health care law.

40 Threats to A Woman’s Right to Decide Whether to Have an Abortion

January 18, 2013

January 22, 2013, is the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Unfortunately, this historic Supreme Court decision and the fundamental constitutional right to abortion that it confirmed have been under ever-increasing attack. The following items summarize 40 of the current threats to Roe and to a woman’s right to safe, legal abortion.

Even More Than Abortion: The Constitutional Importance of Roe v. Wade and the Right to Privacy

January 18, 2013

Roe did far more than establish the right to abortion; it solidified and expanded the constitutional “right to privacy,” which has also been described as the right to autonomy or to be let alone.  This right to privacy is part of the right to liberty protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which state that no person shall be deprived of “life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”

Roe v. Wade and the Right to Abortion

January 18, 2013

The long-standing, well-established constitutional right to privacy places limits on the government’s ability to interfere with a person’s most basic, personal decisions – including the decision whether and when to bear children.  The right to abortion was first recognized four decades ago, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed its central holding, yet this fundamental constitutional right is under ever-increasing attack.

On the Edges: Child Care Assistance Policies that Affect Parents, Providers, and Children

December 18, 2012

This fact sheet discusses eligibility and reimbursement policies that have a significant impact of parents' access to affordable, high-quality child care.

Frequently Asked Questions About Refundable Family Tax Credits

December 13, 2012

A number of refundable tax provisions that help working families, including the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), were improved and expanded in 2001, 2003, and 2009. These credits, and their improvements, help millions of low- and moderate-income families work their way out of poverty, but the improvements are currently set to expire at the end of 2012.

Renewing Federal Emergency Unemployment Insurance Benefits: Vital for Women & Families – and the Economy

December 11, 2012

Persistently high unemployment – and historic levels of long-term unemployment – necessitate renewing federal emergency unemployment insurance benefits that are set to expire in December 2012.

Job Loss: The Hidden Cost of Medicaid Cuts to Women

December 07, 2012

Medicaid provides vital, affordable health coverage to over 60 million low-income individuals and people with disabilities, yet it is often targeted when policymakers seek to curb spending. Cuts to Medicaid, however, would restrict access to health services for the millions of Americans who rely on this coverage, including nearly 21 million adult women.  These women are far more likely to be poor, have poorer health, and lower educational attainment than women covered by private insurance.  Medicaid provides these low-income women with comprehensive health care that improves their health outcomes.

Women Suffer More Than Two-Thirds of Virginia’s Losses if Congress Ends Improved Tax Credits for Working Families

December 07, 2012

Congress faces a series of critical budget choices in the coming months, and must soon decide which federal income tax provisions set to expire at the end of this year should be renewed and which should end. If Congress fails to renew the 2009 improvements to the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, New York families would lose more than $260 million in tax credits.