Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP)

06/23/2026

A Missouri judge this week struck down a series of restrictions on abortion, finding they violated a constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2024.

Many of the provisions were already on hold because of an earlier, preliminary court ruling. But it is resulting in one major change: The state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates say the new ruling means they’re going to start prescribing abortion pills to patients there for the first time since 2018.

The ruling is a clear legal victory for abortion rights advocates, but it’s not the final word. An appeal and another ballot measure are on tap.

A 72-hour waiting period is one of the provisions the judge nixed
Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang’s ruling Thursday came months after she held a 10-day trial on the issue earlier this year.

She ruled on whether 40 different state laws conflicted with the 2024 amendment. In most cases, she sided with abortion rights groups — and against the state government, which was arguing that the laws should be enforced.

She overturned a number of provisions including a requirement that women seeking an abortion see a doctor in person twice at least 72 hours apart, and another requirement that the initial dose of abortion pills, which are the most common way abortions are obtained, be taken in the presence of the prescribing doctor.

But she didn’t throw out a requirement that patients see a doctor in-person to confirm gestational age and rule out an ectopic pregnancy.

06/19/2026

Freedom for Some Is Not Freedom at All

Every June and July, America celebrates freedom.

On Juneteenth, we honor the day enslaved Black Americans in Texas finally learned they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. On the Fourth of July, we celebrate a nation built on liberty and self-determination.

But for millions of people, especially Black, Indigenous, low-income, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities, freedom has too often been delayed, conditional, or denied.

Nowhere is that contradiction clearer than in reproductive health care.

What does freedom mean if you cannot decide whether or when to have a child? What does liberty mean if access to essential medical care depends on your ZIP code, race, income, immigration status, or ability to travel hundreds of miles?

Since the fall of Roe, abortion bans have deepened existing inequities. Patients cross multiple state lines for care, sleep in their cars because they cannot afford hotels, delay care while trying to raise money, or are denied care altogether. Telehealth abortion access, one of the few lifelines for rural and low-income patients, remains under constant legal threat.

At WRRAP, most of the patients we help are already parents, working hard to support the families they have while facing impossible choices. They are survivors of domestic violence, students, low-wage workers, and people simply trying to protect their health and future.

For them, abortion access is not political. It is survival.

Juneteenth reminds us that rights on paper do not always translate into justice. The Fourth of July celebrates the promise of freedom. Together, these holidays challenge us to ask who truly has access to that promise.

A right without access is not a right at all.

A nation cannot claim to value liberty while forcing people into pregnancy against their will or criminalizing pregnant people, or denying lifesaving health care because of income, geography, or race.

Real freedom requires more than laws. It requires equity, access, dignity, and the ability for every person to make decisions about their own body and future.

Until then, America's promise of freedom remains unfinished.

06/07/2026

https://itemlive.com/2026/06/05/sylvia-ghazarian-silence-that-shapes-policy-men-power-and-the-cost-of-inaction/

There is a dangerous myth embedded in the fight for reproductive justice: that the battle is solely about women, or even solely about those who can become pregnant. It is not. It is equally about men, especially those who hold power, and perhaps more critically, those who choose not to use it, becau...

06/06/2026

Citing unnamed administration officials, the Wall Street Journal reported the study is likely to take at least six months, which means it will not be completed before the midterm elections.

The inquiry into the safety of the drug, which was approved by the FDA more than two decades ago and deemed safe and effective by experts, was reportedly opened after months of pressure from anti-abortion groups and some GOP lawmakers in Congress who have called for a crackdown.

The report noted the FDA is unlikely to ban the drug outright, but the study may allow the agency to block its distribution by mail or via telehealth without requiring an in-person doctor’s visit.

According to the Journal, the agency may have preliminary results available in July to meet an October deadline for a safety study ordered by a Louisiana federal court.

06/06/2026

https://thehill.com/newsletters/health-care/5912846-mifepristone-safety-review-fda/amp/

Presented by Planned Parenthood{beacon} Health Care Health Care PRESENTED BY The Big Story FDA to review abortion pill safety after sustained GOP ire The Food and Drug Admini…

06/03/2026

https://mailchi.mp/wrrap/thewrrapsheetpolicyeditionmay

Across the country, courts, legislatures, and political leaders continue to chip away at reproductive rights, creating confusion, fear, and barriers for pregnant people seeking care. Medication abortion remains under constant attack, state legislatures continue to introduce harmful restrictions, and...

05/31/2026

Seventeen years ago today, on May 31, 2009, Dr. George Tiller was murdered while serving as an usher at his church in Wichita.

He was killed by an anti-abortion extremist because he believed every person deserved the ability to make their own decisions about their body, their future, and their family.

Dr. Tiller was more than an abortion provider. He was a courageous physician, a compassionate advocate, and a lifeline for patients who had nowhere else to turn.

Today, we honor not only his life, but the legacy he left behind.

Seventeen years later the fight remains.

Across the country, clinics continue to close. Providers face harassment, intimidation, and violence. Patients are forced to travel hundreds of miles for care. Medication abortion remains under relentless political attack despite being proven safe and effective for more than two decades. And once again, the future of access hangs in the balance.

Dr. Tiller understood what we are witnessing today: abortion access has never been equal.

Those with resources will always have options.

It is low-income people, Black and Brown communities, immigrants, rural residents, young people, people with disabilities, and those already struggling to make ends meet who bear the greatest burden when access is restricted.

Every person has their own story. Their own circumstances. Their own reasons.

Everyone deserves safe, affordable, compassionate abortion care regardless of where they live, how much money they make, or who they are.

At WRRAP we see the impact of these barriers. We also see the resilience of patients, providers, and advocates who refuse to give up.

Today, we remember Dr. Tiller. We honor his courage.

And we recommit ourselves to the work he dedicated his life to: ensuring that access to abortion is not determined by a zip code, a bank account, or political ideology.

Racial justice is reproductive justice. Economic justice is reproductive justice.

Healthcare is a human right.

We will never stop fighting.


|sHealthcare TrustWomen BIPOCHealth

05/31/2026

Seventeen years ago today, on May 31, 2009, Dr. George Tiller was murdered while serving as an usher at his church in Wichita.

He was killed by an anti-abortion extremist because he believed every person deserved the ability to make their own decisions about their body, their future, and their family.

Dr. Tiller was more than an abortion provider. He was a courageous physician, a compassionate advocate, and a lifeline for patients who had nowhere else to turn.

Today, we honor not only his life, but the legacy he left behind.

Seventeen years later the fight remains.

Across the country, clinics continue to close. Providers face harassment, intimidation, and violence. Patients are forced to travel hundreds of miles for care. Medication abortion remains under relentless political attack despite being proven safe and effective for more than two decades. And once again, the future of access hangs in the balance.

Dr. Tiller understood what we are witnessing today: abortion access has never been equal.

Those with resources will always have options.

It is low-income people, Black and Brown communities, immigrants, rural residents, young people, people with disabilities, and those already struggling to make ends meet who bear the greatest burden when access is restricted.

Every person has their own story. Their own circumstances. Their own reasons.

Everyone deserves safe, affordable, compassionate abortion care regardless of where they live, how much money they make, or who they are.

At WRRAP we see the impact of these barriers. We also see the resilience of patients, providers, and advocates who refuse to give up.

Today, we remember Dr. Tiller. We honor his courage.
And we recommit ourselves to the work he dedicated his life to: ensuring that access to abortion is not determined by a zip code, a bank account, or political ideology.

Racial justice is reproductive justice. Economic justice is reproductive justice.

Healthcare is a human right.

We will never stop fighting.


|sHealthcare TrustWomen BIPOCHealth

05/25/2026

05/24/2026

Some lives are measured in years. Yours is measured in lives changed.

In doors opened. In hands held during the hardest moments. In quiet “yeses” whispered into a world that too often said “no.”

Joyce, you did not just build WRRAP. You built a lifeline.

Through uncertainty. Through resistance.
Through moments that would have asked anyone else to stop.

But you never stopped.

For 35 years, you kept showing up because somewhere, someone needed help and for you, that was always reason enough to keep going.

When systems failed, you became one.
When funding disappeared, you found a way.
When hope felt out of reach, you stretched it farther, patient by patient, call by call until it reached across this entire country.

This is your legacy:

Not just an organization. But generations changed.

There are thousands of people who may never know your name, but will live different lives because of you. Because you believed they deserved care. Because you believed dignity is not optional. Because you believed access is love in action.

75 years of fire and grace.
35 years of refusing to give up.

Today we celebrate not only what you’ve built, but who you’ve always been:

Unwavering. Relentless.
Compassionate beyond measure.

A founder. A force.
A fighter for people who needed someone to stand in the gap.

Happy 75th Birthday, Joyce.
And thank you for 35 years of courage, care, and extraordinary leadership. 💚

With my deepest gratitude and love,

Sylvia

National Reach Local Impact FundAbortion 35YearsOfCare 75YearsOfCourage