Bloomberg Campaign Press Release - Mike Bloomberg Announces His Plan to Expand and Protect Women's Access to Reproductive Services

Trump has waged a war on women's reproductive rights, restricting access to affordable and effective birth control, encouraging states to roll back women's rights

NEW YORK — Today Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg released his plan to expand and safeguard access to reproductive services, including affordable birth control and protecting reproductive freedom. Bloomberg has spent nearly two decades supporting women's reproductive rights spanning his time as mayor of New York City and his commitments as a philanthropist.

By contrast, President Trump has taken aim at women's reproductive choices at every turn, including by appointing judges who want to restrict a women's right to choose and their access to reproductive rights. According to Planned Parenthood, Trump has nominated over 100 judges who are hostile toward reproductive rights. Trump has also undermined women's access to legal abortions. In one of his first moves as president, he reinstated and expanded the Global Gag Rule, which stipulates that foreign organizations receiving U.S. funds certify that they won't promote or perform abortions. He also instituted a domestic gag rule that prohibits family planning clinics that receive federal funding from counseling or referring patients for abortion.

"Reproductive freedom is under siege in Washington, and President Trump is leading the assault," said Mike Bloomberg. "For many years, I have been one of the strongest champions of Planned Parenthood, and as mayor of New York City I removed barriers so more women could access birth control. As president, I will fiercely protect a woman's right to choose, and I will appoint judges who will defend that right. On my first day in office, I will reverse the damage President Trump has done to women's rights and ensure that every woman has access to reproductive health care."

Mike's plan includes several pillars centered around his belief in women's right to choose if and when to have a family, expanding access to affordable birth control, and eradicating barriers to safe and legal abortions:

1. Mike believes women should be able to obtain a legal, safe abortion. As president, Mike will:

• End the domestic and global gag rules that President Trump has used to punish organizations that receive funding for family planning.
• Work with Congress to codify Roe v. Wade to expand access to reproductive health services.
• Repeal the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion except to save the life of a woman.
• Protect a woman's right to an abortion by opposing states' bans on insurance covering abortions as well as states' excessive regulations on doctors and reproductive health clinics, which jeopardize women's access to safe abortions.
• Appoint judges who respect established legal precedent.
• Empower the FDA to make decisions based on science, including a review of its current guidelines for mifepristone, which cannot currently be sold over-the-counter.

Given the frequent attacks on places and people who perform abortions in particular states, Mike will enforce regulations that protect women and providers. Mike will also encourage states to expand the types of medical professionals permitted to perform abortions like physician assistants, nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives. This would help address a lack of obstetrician-gynecologists.

2. Mike believes every woman should have access to affordable birth control. As president, Mike will:

• Reverse Trump's moves to limit a woman's ability to avoid pregnancy, which he's done by expanding religious and moral exemptions in the Affordable Care Act to undermine access to affordable and effective contraceptives.
• Direct federal funding to science-based sex health education.
• Boost funding for Title X providers and double federal grants to Community Health Centers.

As part of Mike's strategy to improve health care for all Americans, especially in rural areas, he will expand broadband access across the United States to facilitate telehealth services. He will encourage states to permit the prescription of birth control and mifepristone through telemedicine.

Mike has long supported women's reproductive rights. A few examples include the following from his tenure both as mayor and as a philanthropist.

Highlights from Mike's history of supporting women's reproductive rights and access:

• Bloomberg earned the support of prominent reproductive rights organizations for his work to ensure a woman's right to choose: Endorsed by NARAL in 2005 and 2009; Awarded NARAL's "Champion of Choice" Award in 2005; Awarded Planned Parenthood "Walk the Talk" Award in 2012; Awarded Planned Parenthood's Global Citizen Award for his record in 2014
• As mayor, Mike supported a program that trained all NYC OB-GYN residents in pregnancy termination (with religious and moral opt-out provisions).
• Mike made Plan B pills available at NYC schools during his time as mayor, without requiring parental consent.
• Following the Komen Foundation's decision to cut its Planned Parenthood funding, Mike stepped in and pledged to donate $250,000 of his own money to Planned Parenthood.
• As a philanthropist, Mike has committed $50 million to Family Planning 2020 with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He also funded a maternal health program in Tanzania to reduce that country's extraordinarily high maternal mortality rate and provide quality health care. To learn more: https://www.bloomberg.org/program/public-health/maternal-health/#overview

ADDITIONAL QUOTES

Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington D.C. and National Co-Chair: "I stand firmly behind Mike Bloomberg's plan to put control of women's reproductive rights back where they belong – in women's hands. Over the past few years, I have watched in horror as Trump and his administration have done their utmost to undermine access to critical women's health services. And we desperately need to elect a new president who will make sure women have the ability to decide what's best for their bodies and their families. Mike is that person, and he'll see to it that women and their health care providers have the resources they need to make the best decisions about their care – and stay healthy and empowered at every stage of their lives. This is my goal for every woman and I'm so glad that Mike shares my commitment to this vision."

Jill Lafer, Former Board Chair of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and NARAL New York: "Trump's attendance at the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C. on January 24 is one more indication that he and his administration are hellbent on restricting the rights of women – and dragging them back to the days of botched back alley abortions. That's a dangerous signal and we all should be sounding the alarm. Regardless of where you fall on the issue of abortion, no one — not the president, not the vice president, and not lawmakers — should dictate access to medical treatment, intervene in the relationship between a woman and her doctor and hold it hostage to personal views.

"Mike Bloomberg has been an incredible champion and longstanding supporter for women's reproductive rights and health. We need him in the White House to reverse the war on women and ensure that women retain control over their own bodies. It is one of the primary reasons I support Mike, and I'm confident that he will continue to be a firm advocate for women's health and wellbeing from the moment he takes office."

Joan Malin, Former President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City: "Bloomberg has long championed public health issues, including reproductive health care. As mayor, he provided leadership in providing OB/GYN training for abortion care at City hospitals and in ensuring greater access to reproductive heath care. He understands that women's health needs and women's rights are core to ensuring healthy and strong communities. His plan speaks to the critical needs for these services across the country, especially at this time when many states are stepping back from these vital services. I know he will be an outspoken champion on behalf of reproductive health care and rights."

Laura MacIsaac, MD, MPH, OB/GYN practicing in NYC for 20 years: "I support Mike on family planning because we both understand, believe and act upon what the data tells us: women's access to reproductive health care is of vital importance to the health of our country.

"As an OB-GYN, I'm deeply concerned about how my patients and women across the U.S. are increasingly unable to plan healthy families. The disparity of health care access – particularly women's access to reproductive health care – is only getting worse. Fewer and fewer doctors in this country are trained in all aspects of women's reproductive healthcare.

"Mike has stepped up to the plate on women's issues for decades. He understands that high quality and accessible family planning is a driver of many other health care and economic benefits, including lower maternal mortality rates, healthier children, healthier families, and healthier communities across our nation.

"I worked and taught in New York City public hospitals when Mike was mayor. Under his leadership he instituted policies to improve quality in and expand access to the full scope of women's reproductive health care. His position on this issue will continue to have benefits for the entire nation when he is in Washington.

"Whether a woman intends to build a family now or in the future, or not at all, they all need everything from pap smears to breast cancer screenings to contraception just to stay healthy and productive throughout their adult lives."

Dr. Edgar Mandeville, Visiting Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, State University of New York, Downstate, Brooklyn, New York: "In New York, Mike saw the need for women's health care and he decided to do something about it. He upgraded the training of residents and those residents moved to other places and they brought that training with them. Mike understands the importance of women's health care. I fully expect him to replicate that nationally. That's what good leaders do – they take the plans that work and they bring them to scale. Mike is a champion for women's reproductive rights and access. He practiced it for decades in New York and he'll do it in Washington for all Americans."