Laura Bassett

A group of anti-abortion activists that Planned Parenthood has suspected is targeting it in a hoax investigation released the first of a series of videos on Tuesday that purportedly shows Planned Parenthood encouraging the selective abortions of girls in the United States.

The activist group, Live Action,...

Two OB/GYN clinics in Georgia that suspiciously caught fire this week appear to have been the victims of arson, the Federal Bureau of Investigations said in a statement Wednesday night.

On Wednesday morning, firefighters were called to Alpha OB/GYN in Marietta, Ga. after smoke began billowing out of the...

A swarm of Washington, D.C., residents descended on Rep. Trent Franks' (R-Ariz.) Capitol Hill office on Wednesday to drop off plastic rats, pictures of potholes, unfair parking tickets and other representations of municipal problems in protest of the D.C. abortion ban he sponsored.

Franks recently introduced a...

Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) will introduce legislation on Wednesday that would defund Planned Parenthood, adding his state to a list of four others that have pending bills to strip public funds from the family planning provider.

Metcalfe's bill, the Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act, would put health...

After repeatedly being accused of participating in a legislative "war on women," Republican women in the House of Representatives announced Monday that they're forming a new caucus dedicated to raising their profile as female lawmakers and presenting a "unified voice" on issues that affect women.

The Women's Policy Committee...

A nationwide ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy would be difficult to push through both chambers of Congress, but Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) is taking his chances on a consolation prize: a 20-week abortion ban in the District of Columbia.

The District of Columbia Pain-Capable...

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans on Wednesday passed their bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, despite protests from the White House, most Democrats and even some Republicans for not doing enough to protect LGBT, Native American and undocumented immigrant women.

The bill passed 221-205 on a largely partisan vote....

WASHINGTON -- The House Republican version of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, which has been decried by women's rights groups as a dramatic rollback of protections for domestic violence victims, has picked up the backing of a group that may prove to be an unhelpful ally: the National Coalition...

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) is pushing a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in the District of Columbia, but he has denied Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), D.C.'s only elected representative, the chance to testify on behalf of the city's residents.

Norton wrote a letter to...

WASHINGTON -- The White House issued a press release on Tuesday threatening to veto the House GOP's version of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, which the House is scheduled to vote on Wednesday afternoon.

"The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 4970, a bill that would undermine the core principles...

WASHINGTON -- The Planned Parenthood Federation of America has joined a growing list of civil rights organizations, women's rights groups, domestic violence workers and faith-based organizations in strong opposition to the House GOP's version of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization.

Planned Parenthood released a statement on Tuesday...

Franciscan University of Steubenville, a Catholic institution in Ohio, has decided to drop its entire student health insurance plan as of the fall semester 2012 because of the new federal rule requiring contraception coverage under most employee and student health policies. While a number of religious colleges have...

NARAL Pro-Choice America's political action committee became the first reproductive rights group to endorse President Barack Obama's reelection effort on Tuesday. It timed the endorsement to coincide with National Women's Health Week.

Nancy Keenan, NARAL's president, told The Huffington Post that the organization's strategy moving forward is...

Last week's blockbuster report in the Washington Post that Mitt Romney bullied a closeted gay classmate in prep school creates a bit of uncomfortable timing for House Republicans as they consider a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

The House will vote this week on VAWA. But...

Women's health has emerged as such a major theme of the 2012 elections that President Barack Obama has dedicated a week-long celebration to it. The president proclaimed on Monday that May 13 through May 19, 2012, will now be known as National Women's Health Week.

"I encourage all Americans to...

Nancy Keenan, president of the advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice America, announced on Thursday that she plans to step down from her leadership position in January 2013 in order to make room for a younger leader and a new generation of reproductive rights activists.

“There’s an opportunity for a new and...

House Republicans voted down an amendment to an appropriations bill on Thursday that would have increased funding for Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs by $20 million.

“This is a question of values and priorities. What kind of message do we want to send to women across the country?"...

Planned Parenthood does not have many GOP friends in Congress, but one rare, pro-choice Republican in the House of Representatives stuck his neck out on Wednesday and announced his plan to protect the family planning provider from his party's political attacks.

Freshman Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.) on Wednesday introduced H.R....

A top official at an anti-domestic violence advocacy group that has been encouraging the House GOP to roll back protections for immigrant victims in the Violence Against Women Act (or VAWA) is the founder of a controversial international matchmaking company, domestic violence workers warned lawmakers on Monday night....

Five minutes into a House Judiciary Committee mark-up of the GOP's Violence Against Women Act, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) called the bill a "flat-out attack on women" for eliminating protections for immigrant women, Native Americans and the LGBT community.

"This bill is a move backwards," Conyers told the...