Week in Review 5-18-2018

President Trump today announced a domestic gag rule preventing doctors from sharing information -- sometimes life-saving information -- with women if it involves abortion services. The Trump administration is using censorship as a road block to undercut Roe v Wade.

The rule "gags" doctors by banning them from receiving federal Title X health care funding if they even talk about abortion or abortion-related services. This blocks patients from their doctors and makes it impossible for Planned Parenthood health centers, which receive Title X funds, to serve safely and adequately serve their patients. Millions of women will be impacted by this rule.

If a woman needs an abortion to protect her health or save her life, her doctor or nurse couldn't refer her to a provider. They couldn't even tell her she needed one. This rule has no exceptions - even for a woman's life.

This is an extreme move to prevent women from determining their best health care options. It removes the guarantee that they're getting full and accurate information about their health care from their doctor. The government will now make that decision, not your doctor.

To further ensure that women are left in the dark about their healthcare the FCC revoked net neutrality. Net neutrality ensures the internet providers cannot slow down or block content they do not like. This week the Senate voted to restore net neutrality. The bill now moves to the House where its fate is uncertain.

Without net neutrality, women searching for abortion services on the internet may not be able to find the critical information they need. Those pertinent websites could be blocked if the internet provider is anti-choice. Net neutrality prevents censorship. It is another guarantee that freedom of speech applies to all forms of media - and all subject matters.

Free and open access to information strengthens our democracy. This must apply to information you receive in your doctors office or on-line.  Attempts to limit this by our government, under any circumstances, sets a dangerous precedent. What will be next?

WHAT YOU CAN DO

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