REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ALERTS – Page 36 – Updated daily. A service of Toby's Fund for Reproductive Health Equity

14 Sep

Abortion Bans Fuel a Rise in High-Risk Patients Heading to Illinois Hospitals

MollyUnited StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, Abortion Rights, Healthcare, Illinois, Missouri, Nonviable Pregnancy, United States

"When she was around 22 weeks pregnant, the patient found out that the son she was carrying didn’t have kidneys and his lungs wouldn’t develop. If he survived the birth, he would struggle to breathe and die within hours. The patient had a crushing decision to make: continue the pregnancy — which could be a risk to her health and her ability to have children in the future — or have an abortion. “I don’t think I stopped crying for an entire two weeks,” she said. “The whole world felt heavy. … It’s not something anybody should have to go…

13 Sep

Women, doctors announce legal action against abortion bans in 3 states

MollyUnited StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, Abortion Rights, Healthcare, Idaho, Lawsuit, Oklahoma, Tennessee, United States

"Women in Idaho, Oklahoma and Tennessee filed legal actions against their states over abortion bans, saying they were denied abortions despite having dangerous pregnancy complications. Four women in Idaho -- Jennifer Adkins, Jillaine St.Michel, Kayla Smith and Rebecca Vincen-Brown -- and abortion providers filed a suit against the state, Gov. Brad Little, attorney general and the state's board of medicine, claiming the state's ban has "sown confusion, fear and chaos among the medical community, resulting in grave harms to pregnant patients whose health and safety hang in the balance across the state," according to a copy of the lawsuit shared with…

12 Sep

Challengers seek rewrite of Missouri abortion-rights ballot measures, calling them misleading

MollyUnited StatesBallot, Judge, United States, Voting

" Abortion-rights advocates asked a judge on Monday to rewrite what they call misleading descriptions of several constitutional amendments on abortion that voters could see on Missouri’s 2024 ballot. Missouri is among several states, including Ohio, where abortion opponents are fighting efforts to ensure or restore access to the procedure following the fall of Roe v. Wade last year..."

11 Sep

Telehealth medication abortion services ease access to care for underserved US communities

MollyUnited StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Pills, Abortion Rights, Healthcare, United States

"Telehealth medication abortion services help make abortion care access more convenient and accessible for underserved communities in the U.S., according to a cross-sectional study published in JAMA Network Open. “Due to limited in-clinic access throughout the country, telehealth medication abortion services, including online consultations and medications delivered directly to patients, can make abortion care more convenient and accessible,” Anna E. Fiastro, MPH, MEM, PhD, research scientist in the department of family medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues wrote. “Other areas of health care have documented disparities in telehealth access, although less is known about telehealth medication abortion services.”..."

10 Sep

Justice Department asks Supreme Court to end abortion pill legal challenge that threatens widespread access

MollyUnited StatesAbortion Pills, Abortion Rights, mifepristone, Supreme Court, United States

"The Biden administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to maintain broad access to a commonly used medication abortion pill. The court filing from the Justice Department sets the stage for a possible final resolution to a contentious legal fight mounted by abortion rights opponents over federal approval of the drug mifepristone. The dispute lands at the Supreme Court in time for the justices to potentially take it up, hear oral arguments and issue a decision by next summer...."

10 Sep

Extreme heat exposure during pregnancy can raise risk of severe delivery complications, new study finds

BarbraUnited StatesClimate Change, Heat Exposure, Pregnancy, United States

Pregnant people exposed to extreme heat are at higher risk of developing life-threatening complications during labor and delivery, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Thursday. The research adds to a growing body of evidence showing the impact extreme heat has on a pregnancy, while also making a distinction between long-term exposure and events like heat waves.

10 Sep

The negative impacts of Idaho’s restrictive abortion ban are becoming clearer | Opinion

BarbraUnited StatesAbortion Ban, Healthcare, Idaho, United States

In a one-party state like Idaho, the Republican Party has absolutely no incentive to compromise or even consider the consequences of their awful legislation. | Opinion

09 Sep

Pregnant women living in polluted areas more likely to have smaller babies, study finds

BarbraInternationalInternational, Pollution, Pregnancy

Women exposed to air pollution give birth to smaller babies, according to research that will be presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy.

08 Sep

Florida Supreme Court hears arguments in challenge to 15-week abortion ban

MollyUnited StatesAbortion Ban, Florida, State constitution, state rights, State Supreme Court, United States

"The Florida state Supreme Court heard arguments Friday morning in a legal challenge seeking to throw out the state's 15-week abortion ban, claiming it violates the state's constitution. The hearing was part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and other abortion providers against the state of Florida. In July 2022, a lower state court ruled that the ban violated the state's constitution and it was temporarily suspended. The law went into effect again later that same day when the state appealed the judge's decision. The state Supreme Court…

08 Sep

Combo of Certain Birth Control Pills, Painkillers Could Raise Women’s Clot Risk

BarbraInternational, United StatesContraceptives, Healthcare

It's well known that certain forms of birth control carry a small risk of blood clots. Now a large new study suggests that some common painkillers can magnify that risk.

08 Sep

Florida abortion rights at stake as state Supreme Court takes up challenge to GOP-led restrictions

BarbraUnited StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Rights, Florida, legislation, United States

The fate of abortion rights in Florida will be at stake Friday morning when the state Supreme Court is expected to take up a challenge to a law banning the procedure in most cases after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which will determine whether an even stricter six-week ban signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis can take effect.

07 Sep

New state abortion numbers show increases in some surprising places

MollyUnited StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Rights, Illinois, Interactive map, travel, United States

"People seeking an abortion are "highly motivated" to travel if they can't get abortions where they live. That's one conclusion from a study from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy group that supports reproductive rights. Another striking finding: In Illinois, there were 18,300 more abortions in the first half of this year compared to 2020. "If you're interested in where people are going, then I think the numbers tell a big part of that story because it represents a lot of people traveling," says Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a data scientist at the Guttmacher Institute. Illinois already provided a lot of abortions in…

07 Sep

Mexico decriminalizes abortion, extending Latin American trend of widening access to procedure

MollyInternationalAbortion Care, Abortion Rights, Decriminalized Abortion, Latin America, legislation, Mexico, National Laws

"Mexico’s Supreme Court threw out all federal criminal penalties for abortion Wednesday, ruling that national laws prohibiting the procedure are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights in a sweeping decision that extended Latin American’s trend of widening abortion access. The high court ordered that abortion be removed from the federal penal code. The ruling will require the federal public health service and all federal health institutions to offer abortion to anyone who requests it...."

07 Sep

NSAIDs and contraceptives: critical thinking on a harmful drug interaction

BarbraInternational, United StatesContraceptives, Hormonal contraception, ibuprofen, Medical Research

As an early career doctor I prescribed diclofenac liberally. It was my go-to anti-inflammatory drug for patients in hospital. My prescribing habit wasn’t influenced by evidence but by learnt behaviour. It was the drug others prescribed. Ibuprofen was one of the other options, and during my stint in rheumatology a consultant had warned me of people taking ibuprofen “like smarties” but being unaware of the risk of renal failure. If not ibuprofen, then diclofenac, or another non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Perhaps the evidence wasn’t then clear about the effects of prescribing NSAIDs to women using hormonal contraception? Perhaps I should have…

07 Sep

Abortions have increased significantly in states that border those with bans, new analysis finds

BarbraUnited StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, travel, United States

Abortions have increased substantially in most states where they remain legal post-Dobbs, according to a new analysis. The increases have been particularly significant in states bordering others with bans, suggesting widespread travel for care.