Molly – Page 10 – REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ALERTS

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…

19 Mar

Texas Medical Board to discuss medical exceptions to strict anti-abortion law

MollyLatest News, United StatesAnti-abortion, legislation, Medical Board, Medical exceptions, Texas, United States

"At its March 22 meeting the Texas Medical Board, which regulates medicine in the state, will discuss exceptions to anti-abortion laws. After Roe vs. Wade was overturned, Texas's near-total ban on abortion took effect. Only rare cases are allowed. Doctors argue the exception wording has been too vague. Healthcare advocates, anti-abortion advocates, and even the law's author have asked the medical board to give doctors guidelines on what is an exception...."

19 Mar

Medication Abortion Accounted for 63% of All US Abortions in 2023—An Increase from 53% in 2020

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Guttmacher Institute, Healthcare, Medication abortion, Research, Statistics, Studies, United States

"New Guttmacher Institute research from the Monthly Abortion Provision Study shows that there were approximately 642,700 medication abortions in the United States in 2023, accounting for 63% of all abortions in the formal health care system. This is an increase from 2020, when medication abortions accounted for 53% of all abortions...."

16 Mar

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Has Blunt Message For ‘Old White Men’ On Abortion

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Rights, Governor, Minnesota, Planned Parenthood, Tim Walz, United States

"Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) called on “old white men” to listen to women on abortion Thursday after Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in his state, a stop believed to be a first to such a facility by a U.S. president or vice president. Walz, who signed bills that enshrined the right to abortion into state law last year, joined Harris on her historic visit as she declared a “very serious health crisis” facing the country in remarks that highlighted Democrats making reproductive rights a key issue ahead of the 2024 election....."

09 Mar

France enshrines abortion as a constitutional right as the world marks International Women’s Day

MollyInternational, Latest NewsAbortion, Abortion Rights, Constitutional Right, Enshrine, France, French Constitution, International Women's Day

"France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, in a world first and a powerful message of support to women around the globe on International Women’s Day. A woman from Argentina, a couple from Miami and a man from Czechia were among those gathered on the polished cobblestones of Place Vendome in Paris to watch the historic event unfurl in an outdoor ceremony open the public. Women in the crowd recalled their own abortions, or lifelong battles for reproductive rights...."

07 Mar

Most Americans support abortion for pregnancy-related emergencies

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Rights, Miscarriage, Non-viable pregnancy, Polling, Pregnancy-related emergencies, Support, United States

"In the almost two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the unintended consequences of abortion bans have become clearer. NPR has reported on women who were denied care for miscarriages and high-risk pregnancies, including Jaci Statton of Oklahoma, who was told she had to wait in a hospital parking lot until her non-viable pregnancy became life threatening...."

07 Mar

As France guarantees the right to abortion, other European countries look to expand access

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Rights, Constitution, Europe, France, Healthcare, International

"As France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution, other Europeans look at the U.S. rollback of abortion access and wonder: Could that happen here? Abortion is broadly legal across Europe, and governments have been gradually expanding abortion rights, with some exceptions. Women can access abortion in more than 40 European nations from Portugal to Russia, with varying rules on how late in a pregnancy it is allowed. Abortion is banned or tightly restricted in Poland and a handful of tiny countries...."

07 Mar

Maryland abortion clinics could get money for security under bill in state Senate

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Abortion clinics, Bill, Funding, Maryland, security, State Senate, United States

"Abortion clinics in Maryland could pay for enhanced security and greater access through a grant program being considered by state lawmakers, who want to tap into millions of dollars that have sat unused by insurance carries as part of the federal Affordable Care Act. Supporters testified Wednesday that Maryland is seeing a rising demand on its abortion clinics, including from women from out of state, since the U.S. Supreme Court stuck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Security concerns, long an issue at clinics, also have been increasing, supporters of the bill told the Maryland Senate Finance Committee at a…

06 Mar

How states giving rights to fetuses could set up a national case on abortion

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion, Abortion Rights, Fetus, Florida, National Case, Personhood, State Supreme Court, United States

"Last month, when the Florida Supreme Court heard arguments for a proposed state constitutional amendment that would explicitly protect access to abortion, the discussion took a surprising turn for attendees like state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell. "The chief justice seemed to really be trained on trying to understand what the effects of this ballot initiative would be on other areas of the law," Driskell said...."

29 Feb

Missouri AG accuses Planned Parenthood of trafficking minors for abortions

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Access, Abortion Care, accusation, Court, Lawsuit, Missouri, Planned Parenthood, Trafficking accusation, United States

"Planned Parenthood traffics minors across states lines to obtain secret abortions, Missouri’s attorney general claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday. Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, filed the suit in Boone County circuit court seeking an order stopping the actions. “This is the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood in the state of Missouri,” Bailey said in a statement. “What they conceal and conspire to do in the dark of night has now been uncovered. I am filing suit to ensure it never happens again.”..."

28 Feb

Missouri advocates gather signatures for abortion legalization, but GOP hurdle looms

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion legalization, Abortion Rights, Missouri, signatures, United States

"Missouri abortion rights supporters have faced a grueling road over the past couple of years. Minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, Missouri GOP officials triggered a near total ban on the procedure — with no exceptions for rape or incest, only some medical emergencies. Abortion rights activists mobilized across the country, launching efforts to take the issue of abortion directly to voters via ballot initiatives...."

27 Feb

What counts as an exception to South Dakota’s abortion ban? A video may soon explain

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Ban Exceptions, South Dakota, United States

"South Dakota lawmakers want state officials to create an educational video to help doctors understand when they can end a pregnancy without risking prison time under the state's near-total abortion ban. It's an example of how states are responding to the national controversy over what exceptions to abortion bans actually mean. Critics point to reports of women developing dangerous complications after hospitals in states with strict abortion laws refused to terminate their pregnancies..."

26 Feb

Inside the Internal Debates of a Hospital Abortion Committee

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Rights, Healthcare, Hospital Abortion Committee, Internal Debates, United States

"Sitting at her computer one day in late December, Dr. Sarah Osmundson mustered her best argument to approve an abortion for a suffering patient. The woman was 14 weeks pregnant when she learned her fetus was developing without a skull. This increased the likelihood of a severe buildup of amniotic fluid, which could cause her uterus to rupture and possibly kill her. Osmundson, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who helps patients navigate high-risk pregnancies, knew that outcome was uncommon, but she had seen it happen...."

23 Feb

Planned Parenthood asks Wisconsin Supreme Court to rule on constitutional right to abortion

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Rights, Planned Parenthood, State Supreme Court, United States, Wisconsin

"Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will ask the Wisconsin Supreme Court to consider whether the state’s constitution protects a person’s right to abortion. The organization announced it is filing a petition with the court during a press conference on Thursday...."