Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel & Director of State Reproductive Health Policy

Gretchen Borchelt is Senior Counsel and Director of State Reproductive Health Policy at the National Women’s Law Center. She oversees the Center’s state-based legal and policy efforts to protect and expand women’s access to reproductive health care. Gretchen also works on a range of issues as part of the Center’s Health and Reproductive Rights Team, including health care law implementation, access to contraception, refusals to provide health care, and judicial nominations. Previously, she worked at Physicians for Human Rights and was a Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow at the National Partnership for Women and Families. Gretchen is a graduate of Columbia Law School and the University of Virginia.

Expert in: Abortion, Pharmacy Refusals, Barriers to Reproductive Care, Family Planning, Health Care & Reproductive Rights
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My Take

Ho Ho Horror! State Politicians Don't Let the Holidays Stop Their Attacks on Women's Reproductive Health

Posted by Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel & Director of State Reproductive Health Policy | Posted on: January 04, 2013 at 04:45 pm

Think the holidays were just a time for joy, merry making, and generosity? Think again. This holiday season, state politicians continued their attacks on women's reproductive health. Here's a wrap up of from the past 2 weeks.

Importantly, the holidays also brought a few victories for women's reproductive health:

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Tags: Abortion, Abortion, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Reproductive Health, Reproductive Rights, Texas, Virginia, Barriers to Reproductive Care, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 4 comments

Letting Women Die, Michigan?

Posted by Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel & Director of State Reproductive Health Policy | Posted on: December 12, 2012 at 10:50 am

Remember the terribly tragic story of Savita Halappanavar who was refused an abortion at a hospital in Ireland, and died because of it? Some legislators in Michigan evidently think refusing abortion in such cases is not only acceptable, but should not even bring any punishment on the hospital. 

Michigan Senate Bill 975 passed the Senate last week – when they locked the public out of the state capitol – and is scheduled to be considered in a House committee this morning. It would allow a hospital to let a pregnant woman die, without risking its license or a lawsuit or even a fine.

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Tags: Abortion, Abortion, Michigan, Pharmacy Refusals, Reproductive Refusals and Restrictions, Reproductive Rights, Barriers to Reproductive Care, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 1 comment

Texas Proves that Slashing Funds for Birth Control Hurts Women and Families

Posted by Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel & Director of State Reproductive Health Policy | Posted on: September 28, 2012 at 02:24 pm

If you think we’ve been crying wolf when we say that women’s access to birth control is under attack, here’s some proof. A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluated the initial impact of recent birth control-focused budget cuts in Texas. In 2011, Texas lawmakers cut funding for birth control services by two-thirds. And to add insult to injury, they adopted a provision that would give the remaining funds first to entities other than family planning clinics. In other words, family planning clinics were the very last on the list to get limited family planning funds!

The impact? Already, 53 clinics that provided birth control services have closed. Clinics that remain open have been forced to restrict access to the most effective contraceptive methods (like IUDs) because of their higher up-front costs. And clinics are requiring women to pay for services.

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Tags: Birth Control/Contraceptives, Texas, Barriers to Reproductive Care | Add new comment

Breaking News: Ninth Circuit Comes Through for Arizona Women

Posted by Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel & Director of State Reproductive Health Policy | Posted on: August 01, 2012 at 04:36 pm

We just heard that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a preliminary injunction, stopping the extreme pre-viability ban in Arizona from going into effect pending consideration of the case. This is great news for women in Arizona.

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Tags: Abortion, Abortion, Arizona, Courts, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 1 comment

Arizona Women Put at Risk Thanks to Judge Ignoring Roe v. Wade

Posted by Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel & Director of State Reproductive Health Policy | Posted on: July 31, 2012 at 04:00 pm

In a devastating setback for women in Arizona, a federal judge yesterday upheld a state law that bans all abortion procedures at 20 weeks from a woman’s last menstrual period (PDF). This law is an unconstitutional attempt to take away from women, their doctors, and their families an extremely personal, medical decision. It harms women in the most desperate situations by ignoring women’s health needs and individual circumstances.

Passing these types of laws has been a recent trend in the states, spurred by those who want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Since 2010, when Nebraska passed the first such law, states have taken them up with alarming speed. There are now 9 states that ban abortion earlier in pregnancy than current law allows. We’ve already seen the devastating consequences for women in Nebraska.

As bad as all of these laws are, the Arizona law is particularly egregious. It bans abortion earlier than the other state laws, with only a severely limited emergency exception. 

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Tags: Abortion, Abortion, Arizona, Roe v. Wade, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 2 comments