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For Immediate Release
March, 17 2020, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
National Abortion Federation (NAF) Statement on Abortion Provision During COVID-19 Pandemic
As states and municipalities enact measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, more non-essential businesses will be instructed--or required--to close. At the same time, hospitals are preparing for a surge in COVID-19 cases and increased strain on their staff, resources, and systems, and will likely begin indefinitely postponing non-essential or elective procedures. During this public health crisis, pregnancy care, including abortion care, remains an essential health service.
WASHINGTON
As states and municipalities enact measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, more non-essential businesses will be instructed--or required--to close. At the same time, hospitals are preparing for a surge in COVID-19 cases and increased strain on their staff, resources, and systems, and will likely begin indefinitely postponing non-essential or elective procedures. During this public health crisis, pregnancy care, including abortion care, remains an essential health service. The National Abortion Federation (NAF) calls on leaders to ensure that outpatient abortion clinics can remain open and urges hospitals to continue to provide abortion care.
Abortion care is a time-sensitive service that cannot be significantly deferred without profound consequences for women and their families. Abortion is provided for almost one in five pregnancies in the United States, as part of the continuum of pregnancy care. It is an essential health service. An individual and family decide to end a pregnancy for a complex constellation of reasons that include the impact of pregnancy and birth on their health, ability to work, and strained economic circumstances. These are conditions that do not go away--and are likely heightened--in pandemic conditions. Denying or deferring abortion care places an immediate burden on patients, their families, and the health system, and can have profound and lasting consequences. Patients presenting for time-sensitive care, including abortion care, need timely access to treatment, even during this pandemic.
As we navigate COVID-19, it is critical that leaders treat outpatient abortion providers as essential businesses, and that hospital systems ensure the continuation of abortion care as an essential service.
The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers.Our members include individuals, private and non-profit clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, women's health centers, physicians' offices, and hospitals who together care for approximately half the women who choose abortion in the U.S. and Canada each year. Our members also include public hospitals and both public and private clinics in Mexico City and private clinics in Colombia.
LATEST NEWS
As Gaza Water Crisis Worsens, Israel Bombs Critical Facility in Possible War Crime
"This station was one of the most important remaining sources of clean water in Gaza City," said an activist who has used it to supply desperate families.
Jul 06, 2026
As Gaza is gripped by a water crisis, Israel has reportedly attacked a facility that provided safe drinking water to thousands of families in Gaza City.
Tamer Nahed, a journalist and activist with the recently created humanitarian group Sake For Gaza, reported via social media on Monday that his group had been forced to suspend its efforts to provide clean water to some of Gaza's most dangerous areas after the facility they partnered with was "directly struck, resulting in the deaths of several people and injuries to others working there."
Middle East Eye reported on Monday that the attack, east of Gaza City, "struck a gathering of displaced people in front of a water refilling station" and killed two people as Israel shelled the city early on Monday.
The Palestinian outlet Al-Quds said the attack "directly targeted civilians as they stood in front of a water filling station" in the Al-Samar area, and was "part of a series of attacks launched by the occupation forces against civilian gatherings and vital facilities in the besieged areas of the Gaza Strip, exacerbating the already deteriorating humanitarian crisis."
Under international law, deliberately attacking civilian facilities or those that are essential for survival, like water facilities, is considered a war crime.
Israel has destroyed or damaged nearly 90% of water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which says the military has used water as a "weapon" in its genocidal war against Gaza.
The group has documented the military firing upon clearly marked trucks and destroying boreholes and desalination plants relied on by thousands of residents. The group has also documented attacks on civilians accessing clean water.
A late-May report from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) found that around 82% of families in Gaza remain water insecure, and up to 70% are unable to collect even six liters of water per person each day. A person needs between 50 and 100 liters of water per day to meet their most basic needs, according to the World Health Organization.
Monday's attack came less than an hour after Nahed announced that the group's 11th truck had "reached one of Gaza’s most dangerous areas, carrying 5,000 liters of fresh drinking water."
The group had been attempting to send one truck per day to families living in tent cities, many of whom have been forced to rely on groundwater and contaminated water in order to survive, leading to serious illness.
Nahed said he and his team "truly risked our lives to reach this place, as it is located very close to military deployment areas, and the road was extremely dangerous at every moment."
He called the attack on the water supply facility "very heartbreaking news" and said as a result, "we have been forced to suspend our water distribution project until further notice."
"This station was one of the most important remaining sources of clean water in Gaza City and served as a lifeline for thousands of families, especially after most other water stations had stopped operating," he said. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and by the suspension of a project that was providing clean drinking water to people enduring these extremely difficult conditions."
Monday's attacks were some of the latest of Israel's near-daily strikes despite October's ceasefire agreement. Israel has expanded its control over the Gaza Strip in recent months, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying last week that the military “will not withdraw from the territory" as the agreement requires.
He added on Sunday that unless Hamas fully disarms, there also would be "no reconstruction in Gaza without dismantling and demilitarizing the strip."
Netanyahu described the occupation zone as a "new Gaza envelope inside of Gaza," a term that could refer to permanent occupation or annexation, as the term "Gaza envelope" refers to the communities inside Israeli territory near the Gaza border.
Other ministers in Israel's far-right government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have called for Israel to complete the "conquest" of Gaza and move Israeli settlers to replace the Palestinian population.
A recent proposal by the "Board of Peace," led by US President Donald Trump, conditioned the entry of basic humanitarian supplies, including shelter-building material, reconstruction aid, and other life essentials, on the total disarmament of Palestinian militant groups.
Last week, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that “the continued expansion of areas under Israeli control in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement in October 2025 is intensifying risks to civilians and further constraining humanitarian efforts."
“Humanitarian access remains severely constrained due to restrictions on movement, which results in delays or pauses in lifesaving activities,” the statement said. “Some partners have had to scale down or temporarily suspend lifesaving activities, particularly following the killing of service providers in those areas. This has affected up to thousands of families in the vicinity.”
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'People Will Go Hungry': Aid Cuts That Susan Collins Voted to Advance Could Cost Maine $50 Million a Year
"People who really, really need SNAP could potentially no longer receive it and not have a way to buy their groceries," warned one anti-hunger campaigner.
Jul 06, 2026
Maine taxpayers could be on the hook for around $50 million per year in spending on federal nutrition assistance under the Republican budget law that Sen. Susan Collins voted to advance as it moved through Congress last year.
The GOP law requires states to pay a portion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit costs for the first time in the program's history, starting in October 2027. The size of states' obligation will range between 5% and 15% of their benefit costs; states with higher payment error rates—which experts say largely reflect administrative mistakes rather than fraud or abuse, as the Trump administration claims—will be forced to pay a larger percentage of benefit costs.
According to the latest data from the US Department of Agriculture, Maine's SNAP payment error rate in Fiscal Year 2025 was 10.81%—just above the national average of 10.62%. Maine's error rate puts the state in the 15% category for benefit cost obligations, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
“It’s shocking, and it’s wildly unfair,” Anna Korsen, deputy director of the Maine-based advocacy group Full Plates Full Potential, told Maine Morning Star last week. “If the state can’t find a way to pay for these benefits, that will mean that eligible people will go hungry. People who really, really need SNAP could potentially no longer receive it and not have a way to buy their groceries.”
Facing criticism from Democratic challenger Graham Platner—whose campaign has accused Collins of siding with President Donald Trump to give "billionaires and corporations a handout paid for by cuts to Medicaid and SNAP"—the Republican incumbent has emphasized that she voted against final passage of the Republican budget package.
But last June, Collins cast what Maine Public Radio described at the time as a "pivotal vote to begin debating" the budget measure, which will cut SNAP and Medicaid by roughly $1 trillion combined over the next decade. Thousands of Mainers—and millions of people nationwide—have lost SNAP and Medicaid benefits since the Republican law's enactment last summer.
Advocates have warned that the unprecedented shift of a portion of SNAP benefit costs onto states could be devastating, potentially forcing governments to cut SNAP benefits further, slash spending on education and other priorities, or potentially end their participation in the program completely.
Democrats are working to include a provision in the annual Farm Bill that would delay the SNAP cost-shift to give states more time to prepare. Last month, as Common Dreams reported, Senate Republicans unveiled legislation that omitted Democrats' proposed delay.
CBPP estimated in a recent analysis that states "may soon face a collective bill of roughly $9 billion, threatening benefits for millions of SNAP households, 79% of which include a child, a senior, or a person with a disability, who count on SNAP to help them meet their basic needs."
"Without immediate congressional action to delay this cost shift for all states," the think tank warned, "the unfolding emergency will only worsen as more people lose the SNAP benefits they need to afford groceries."
George Kelemen, senior vice president of the national No Kid Hungry campaign, called the GOP law's cost-shift "an existential threat to our most powerful anti-hunger program."
"Most states could be forced to cut funding for SNAP or other essential services, and at least four states have said they may be unable to continue administering SNAP entirely if this benefit cost shift goes into effect," Kelemen said last month. "This means millions of eligible kids and their families will lose access to vital grocery benefits."
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‘Unprecedented, Incomprehensible, and Unjustifiable’: Amid Trump Meddling, FIFA Ripped for Balogun Decision
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, said one UK sports broadcaster, “needs to resign, he needs to resign today."
Jul 06, 2026
The world football governing body FIFA is facing international condemnation for its decision to suspend—at the reported urging of President Donald Trump—a one-game ban for Folarin Balogun, a top player on the US Men's National Team currently competing in the World Cup.
According to numerous reports, the Trump administration last week undertook a pressure campaign against FIFA to overturn Balogun's suspension, which included a personal phone call from Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino where the American president urged him to review the referees' decision.
On Sunday, FIFA shocked soccer fans by announcing that Balogun would be eligible to play in Monday’s World Cup match against Belgium. The decision—especially in light of the US being one of the host nation's for this year's Cup and the chummy relationship that Infantino has cultivated with Trump—drew widespread accusations of corruption and favoritism.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) on Monday issued a statement accusing FIFA of "crossing a red line" by overturning Balogun's suspension, which it said damaged the World Cup's reputation.
"When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined," said UEFA. "Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition."
"We express our disbelief," the group added, "at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustifiable decision."
UK sports broadcaster Jeff Sterling was among those in the world of football commentary who ripped into FIFA’s decision, which he labeled a "disgrace."
"To me, Gianni Infantino needs to resign, he needs to resign today," Sterling said during a Monday episode of talkSPORT's morning program. "He's the man who came up with the great idea of the FIFA Peace Prize and gave it to his mate, Donald Trump. And of course, his mate is the one who tries to influence this decision and have this suspension overturned."
Sterling said Infantino's position as FIFA president was rendered "untenable" by the decision.
"The smell of corruption allegations is particularly unpleasant," he added.
😡 "A disgrace!"
😡 "Infantino needs to resign!"
😡 "Shameless!"
Jeff Stelling is furious with Gianni Infantino after FIFA decided Folarin Balogun can play for the USA vs Belgium! 😤#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/z1p7PtViEN
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 6, 2026
Former UK football star Wayne Rooney delivered a similarly scathing assessment during a Sunday BBC broadcast.
"I think is an absolute disgrace and Infantino, he should be ashamed of this because I think for the sportsmanship of this game is in question here," said Rooney. "If I'm the USA's opponent I'd be absolutely fuming. I just think it's wrong in every way. I think it's an absolute disgrace."
"I think it's an absolute disgrace." 😡
Wayne Rooney questioned the call around Florian Balogun’s suspended red card for the USA. pic.twitter.com/beDcgnWNHO
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 6, 2026
Other current and former football professionals also slammed FIFA's decision.
Norway coach Stale Solbakken described the overturned suspension as "a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup."
Former Manchester United players Gary Neville and Roy Keane joined with Arsenal great Ian Wright in decrying FIFA's handling of the matter.
- YouTube youtube.com
For his part, Keane said that the overturned suspension “seems unfair because it is unfair.”
Irish former professional footballer Roy Keane said that the overturned suspension "seems unfair because it is unfair."
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) declared itself "astonished by FIFA's decision," and demanded that the organization provide a justification for its actions.
RBFA also accused FIFA of trying to sabotage any efforts by Belgium to challenge the overturned suspension by only giving it "a few hours" to submit an appeal and by not responding to its request that FIFA provide justification for the original decision.
"For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA’s own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant," RBFA said. "While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible.
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