This morning, the Trump Administration finalized a rule that will take insurance coverage of abortion away from millions of patients. The rule requires that plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges offer separate coverage for abortion. It places burdensome regulations on insurers, dissuading them from offering abortion coverage, and will cause confusion among people who access their health plan through the ACA marketplaces, leading to people no longer having coverage they may need.

Today, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM)  and the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG) issued a joint statement taking the position that so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs)  are a health risk for young people.  

SAHM and NASPAG confirmed what young people have known for years: that CPCs draw young people in with misleading advertising, but do not provide abortion or contraception care or referrals. Further, these centers provide misleading and biased information about reproductive health.  

Advocates for Youth applauds the introduction of the Health Equity and Access under the Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Women and Families Act. The bill would remove the 5 year waiting period that all federally authorized immigrants must currently endure to gain access to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The HEAL for Immigrant Women and Families Act would also allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and undocumented immigrants to buy plans on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces with access to financial assistance.  

Advocates for Youth mourns the passing of Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Congressman and long time champion of young people’s reproductive and sexual health and rights. Throughout his career, Rep. Cummings spoke out for sex education, contraceptive access, and the right to safe and legal abortion.

Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the College Student Right to Access, or Senate Bill 24 by Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino). Advocates for Youth celebrates the signing of this historic bill that removes barriers to abortion access for young people by mandating all California public universities provide medication abortion, a simple two-pill procedure to safely terminate pregnancy, at their campus health centers.