skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NM Reacts to Trump's Rollback on LGBT Rights, Birth Control

play audio
Play

Monday, October 9, 2017   

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A group in New Mexico that advocates for reproductive justice and health care says the state's rural communities will suffer the most from the Trump administration's decision Friday to limit birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

The employer contraceptive coverage mandate under ACA regulations provided access to birth control to more than 62 million women and saved women $1.4 billion in 2013.

Denicia Cadena, policy director for the advocacy group Young Women United, says New Mexico is one of the states that has benefitted the most from the ACA, and the new directive is turning back the clock.

"It just shows how much this administration has really committed themselves to attacking the most marginalized people in our society,” she states. “We know that both of those groups – that people of color, low-income people – are likely to be most impacted."

The Trump administration also issued sweeping religious freedom directions that could override many anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the states of California and Massachusetts filed lawsuits immediately after the announcement Friday, arguing that the federal government cannot authorize discrimination.

New Mexico recently became the fourth state in the nation where pharmacists can prescribe birth control, which helps those living in rural areas where there are doctor shortages.

Cadena says the Trump directive to allow companies not to cover birth control as part of their health plan is being promoted as religious liberty but is truly a health access issue.

"Contraception allows women and people to be able to make decisions about if and when they have a family, so we know this attack isn't about good health care or about cost savings but is really an attack on women and our families," she stresses.

Research shows 55 percent of pregnancies in New Mexico were unintended in 2010 compared with 45 percent nationally in 2011.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021