March 2024 – REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ALERTS

31 Mar

No One Could Say: Accessing Emergency Obstetrics Information as a Prospective Prenatal Patient in Post-Roe Oklahoma

AnnetteLatest News, United StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, Abortion Pills, Abortion Rights, Civil and Criminal Penalties, Dobbs v Jackson, Emergency Obstetrics, Health Care Providers, Healthcare, legislation, Oklahoma, Post-Roe, Prenatal care, Supreme Court, travel, United States, Woman's Health Organization

In the wake of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Oklahoma residents are currently living under three overlapping and inconsistent state abortion bans that, if violated, impose severe civil and criminal penalties on health care providers.

30 Mar

Texas woman charged with murder for self-induced abortion sues Starr County district attorney

AnnetteLatest News, United StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, Abortion Pills, Abortion Rights, Healthcare, legislation, Murder, self-induced abortion, Star County, Texas, Texas Woman, United States

LOCAL NEWS Texas woman charged with murder for self-induced abortion sues Starr County district attorney When a Texas woman was arrested and jailed for self-inducing an abortion in 2022, her name and mugshot were quickly broadcast around the world. Three days later, the Starr County prosecutor dropped the charges and was later disciplined for bringing them at all.

29 Mar

Variability in Payment Rates for Abortion Services Under Medicaid

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Services, Healthcare, Medicaid, Payment Rates, United States

"Medicaid is a joint federal and state program and Medicaid payment rates, which are set by the states, have been the focus of policy attention since its early days. Generally speaking, Medicaid reimbursement rates have historically been lower than those paid by Medicare and are even lower relative to private insurance rates. These lower rates have been cited as a disincentive to Medicaid provider participation, which limits the pool of providers willing to serve Medicaid enrollees and constrains their access to care..."

28 Mar

HEINRICH, COLLEAGUES INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO EXPAND CAPACITY FOR ABORTION SERVICES IN NEW MEXICO

BarbraLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Healthcare, New Mexico

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined Senate colleagues to introduce the Abortion Care Capacity Enhancement and Support Services (ACCESS) Act. This legislation would establish a federal grant program for health care organizations to expand their capacity to provide abortion services and additional reproductive care in New Mexico and other states where it remains legal.

27 Mar

Mental health & pregnancy + sudden cardiac arrest in women

BarbraLatest News, United StatesCardiac Care, Mental health, Pregnancy, Woman's Health

Every year, about 350,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital. Almost 90 percent of all cases are deadly. 40 percent of these episodes are made up by women. While men and women experience different symptoms of heart disease, the risks of sudden cardiac arrest are different, too. Nancy Dagefoerde, an advanced practice nurse with the OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute, says sudden cardiac arrest can happen to any adult, mostly those 30 and older.

26 Mar

Supreme Court hears mifepristone arguments as protests gather outside: Highlights

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Pills, FDA, Healthcare, medication, mifepristone, Planned Parenthood, Supreme Court, United States

"Abortion providers responded to today's oral arguments by emphasizing the safety and effectiveness of mifepristone, stressing that reduced access to the drug could threaten public health. “The very existence of this case puts every other FDA-approved medication at risk of being taken off the market or restricted for political reasons,” Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement...."

25 Mar

A ‘dangerous precedent’: Doctors and patient advocates fear restricted access to abortion pill

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Pills, Healthcare, mifepristone, Oral arguments, Supreme Court, United States

"About two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the court on Tuesday will revisit the issue of reproductive rights, this time contemplating whether to limit access to mifepristone, the first of two pills used in medication abortion. Ahead of oral arguments and eventual ruling, doctors and patient advocates are expressing alarm about what might happen if the high court decides to tighten access to the drug...."

25 Mar

Self-managed abortions increased by about 26,000 after Dobbs decision, study shows

BarbraLatest News, United StatesAbortion Pills, Abortion Rights, Arkansas, Healthcare, JAMA

Self-managed abortions rose by more than 26,000 in the six months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago, according to a peer-reviewed study published Monday in JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal.

24 Mar

Dozens of Police Agencies in California Are Still Sharing Driver Locations with Anti-Abortion States. We’re Fighting Back.

AnnetteLatest News, United StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, Abortion Pills, Abortion Rights, ALPR, Anti-Abortion States, Automatic License Plate Readers, California, California Police, Healthcare, legislation, Tracking medical visits, travel, United States

Automatic license plate readers collect and store highly sensitive information that can reveal where we work, live, worship, or seek reproductive health services. Sharing any ALPR information with out-of-state or federal law enforcement agencies has been forbidden in California since 2016.

23 Mar

U.S. Supreme Court to hear oral arguments Tuesday on abortion pill limits

AnnetteLatest News, United States50 States, Abortion Access, Abortion Ban, Abortion Care, Abortion Pills, Abortion Rights, Dobbs, F.D.A., Healthcare, legislation, Medication abortion, mifepristone, Miscarriage, Reproductive care, Reproductive rights, travel, U.S. Supreme Court, United States, Washington

WASHINGTON — The same U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion will hear oral arguments Tuesday over access to mifepristone, a pharmaceutical used in both medication abortion and miscarriage care. The nine justices will then decide whether to leave access to the drug intact or require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revert prescribing instructions to what were in place before 2016. The court decision will affect the entire country, including states that have sought to shore up access to reproductive rights following the Dobbs ruling less than two years ago.

22 Mar

As SCOTUS Returns to Abortion Issues, New Report Card Shows U.S. Reproductive Health and Rights Sharply Declining

BarbraLatest News, United StatesAbortion Rights, Healthcare, Sexual Health, United States

Today, rePROs Fight Back, an initiative of the nonprofit Population Institute, released its 50 State Report Card on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, covering 2023. Nationally and in each state, it tracks multiple indicators of sexual and reproductive health and rights, including access to family planning, sex education, abortion services, contraception, gender-affirming care, and Medicaid coverage for reproductive services.

21 Mar

Women will not yield in the free state of Nevada

BarbraLatest News, OpinionAbortion Rights, Nevada, Opinion

Generations of Nevada women have ardently championed reproductive freedom with authentic Battle-Born spirit, strategic persistence and a steadfast commitment to personal freedom and family values. Despite facing national forces seeking to exert control over women and intrude into the most intimate and significant decisions of our lives — such as determining if, when, and how often to have children — Nevadans have consistently stayed one-step ahead in defending our autonomy.

20 Mar

Anti-abortion advocates oppose CT constitutional amendment

MollyLatest News, United StatesAnti-abortion, Connecticut, General Assembly, Reproductive rights, State constitution, United States

"More than 1,500 anti-abortion activists marched on the Connecticut Capitol grounds Wednesday, calling on lawmakers to halt a proposal before the General Assembly that would enshrine reproductive rights in the state’s Constitution. The third annual March for Life drew religious leaders, Catholic school students and other advocates, including state lawmakers from both parties. This year’s gathering comes as abortion rights around the country are being rolled back in some states and expanded in others. Connecticut has extended access to HUSKY for undocumented people seeking abortions and enacted a legal shield to protect doctors who provide abortions, among other protections...."

20 Mar

Nevada judge blocks state from limiting Medicaid coverage for abortions

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Rights, coverage, Department of Health and Human Services, equal rights protections, Judge, legislation, Medicaid, Nevada, United States, Written order

"A Nevada judge has struck down the state’s limits on Medicaid coverage for abortion services, saying the restrictions violate equal rights protections. Clark County District Judge Erika Ballou said Tuesday from the bench that she planned to issue a written order at a later date directing the state Department of Health and Human Services to grant Medicaid coverage for all abortions. Currently, Nevada’s Medicaid program only covers abortions for pregnancies that are life-threatening or result from rape or incest...."

19 Mar

A Democratic senator needs an abortion. She told her colleagues about Arizona’s ‘cruel’ laws.

MollyLatest News, United StatesAnti-abortion, Arizona, Healthcare, legislation, Miscarriage, Nonviable Pregnancy, Senator, Senator Eva Burch

"Arizona’s anti-abortion laws impact women across the Grand Canyon State, and one Democratic state senator spoke out about how those laws have hurt her as she seeks to end an unviable pregnancy, urging GOP lawmakers to consider the harm caused by the restrictive laws they support. An emotional Sen. Eva Burch described, in a speech Monday on the Senate floor, the hoops she has had to jump through to secure an abortion, after finding out her pregnancy is not viable. Despite knowing for weeks that her pregnancy is likely to result in a miscarriage, the Democrat from Mesa has not yet received…