Abortion Care

Office of the Attorney General Files Appeal to Texas Supreme Court, Blocking District Judge’s Ruling and Leaving Abortion Law in Place

"In response to a Texas judge ruling Friday that said the state’s abortion ban must allow exceptions without doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges, the Office of the Attorney General filed what is called a Notice of Accelerated Interlocutory Appeal directly to the Texas Supreme Court...."
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Idaho health care providers can refer patients for abortions out of state, judge rules

"A federal judge has ruled that it would violate Idaho medical providers’ free speech rights to sanction them for referring patients to out-of-state abortion services, rejecting the state attorney general’s interpretation of Idaho’s abortion ban. Idaho’s law makes it illegal to perform or attempt to perform an abortion, a crime punishable by two to five years in prison. It also makes it unlawful for health care professionals to assist in the provision or attempted provision of one, with the penalty being the suspension or loss of their medical license...."
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Idaho AG can’t prosecute providers for abortion referrals, federal judge orders in injunction

"A federal judge in Idaho has granted a preliminary injunction barring Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador from taking legal action against medical providers who refer patients across state lines for abortion care and denied Labrador’s request to dismiss the case. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill issued a 60-page opinion detailing his reasoning for the order on Monday evening. Winmill said the medical providers who sued Labrador established there was a genuine threat of prosecution that resulted in the chilling of their speech, which he called “a well-established concrete injury.” While the case proceeds, no charges can be brought by…
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Maternal Deaths Are Expected to Rise Under Abortion Bans, but the Increase May Be Hard to Measure

"Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, doctors have warned that limiting abortion care will make pregnancy more dangerous in a country that already has the highest maternal mortality rate among industrialized nations. The case of Mylissa Farmer, a Missouri woman, is one example. Last August, her water broke less than 18 weeks into her pregnancy, when her fetus was not viable. She was at risk for developing a life-threatening infection if she continued the pregnancy. Yet during three separate visits to emergency rooms, she was denied abortion care because her fetus still had a heartbeat. Doctors specifically cited the state’s…
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Emergency contraception could have a home on every campus in Illinois

"Public university students across the state could soon have expanded access to emergency contraception on campus, if a new bill passes through the General Assembly. State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, is the chief sponsor of a bill mandating that all Illinois public universities have a vending machine that dispenses emergency contraception on campus, in a place that is accessible after hours and on the weekends. HB4247 aims to ease the stress of students who need emergency contraception when the student health center or pharmacies may not be accessible. Kelly Cleland, executive director of the American Society for Emergency Contraception, testified in support…
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Planned Parenthood seeks injunction for two sections of NC abortion law

"Planned Parenthood and a Duke Health doctor have renewed their request for a preliminary injunction against portions of North Carolina’s new abortion law. Documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court target two pieces of the law that otherwise took effect July 1. Meanwhile, the judge in the case rejected defendants’ request to delay the next hearing in the case. The new law permits abortions through 12 weeks of pregnancy, but blocks the procedure with exceptions afterward. U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles issued a June 30 order temporarily blocking one portion of the law, labeled the “IUP Documentation Requirement” in court paperwork. That…
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Baltimore opens grant applications to abortion care services

"Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced Tuesday the city would direct a second round of grant funding to nonprofit organizations providing abortion and abortion care services.  This year, Baltimore-based organizations will be eligible for awards of up to $30,000 from the Abortion Protection Fund, facilitated by the city in partnership with the Baltimore Civic Fund. Applications for qualified nonprofits are open through August 18...."
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Abortion-Rights States Begin Shielding Digital Data Near Clinics

"States positioning themselves as abortion safe havens are beginning to shield location information that can be gleaned from mobile phones, and to protect the privacy of other data that can show who is visiting a health-care facility. Beginning this summer, Washington, Connecticut, and New York are establishing first-of-their-kind data privacy safeguards for health-related information, in part to prevent anti-abortion groups from targeting people who terminate their pregnancies. A similar Nevada law will take effect next March...."
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Ohio abortion clinics continue to help out-of-state patients as bans are put in place

"As groups await legal battles on abortion, as well as hope for a November ballot initiative to include reproduction rights in the Ohio Constitution, abortion clinics are also looking to help surrounding states where bans have taken hold. Indiana has been the most recent state surrounding Ohio to see an abortion ban approved — set to start on August 1 — and with it struggles for Planned Parenthoods in the state to care for patients, even those seeking other reproductive services. While Ohio awaits the state Supreme Court’s decision in a case regarding an indefinite pause to the six-week abortion ban in the state,…
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What it’s like for doctors in Wisconsin to follow an 1849 abortion law in 2023

"The three women sitting around a table at a busy lunch spot share a grim camaraderie. It’s been more than a year since an 1849 law came back into force to criminalize abortion in Wisconsin. Now these two OB-GYNs and a certified midwife find their medical training, skill, and acumen constrained by state politics. “We didn’t even know germs caused disease back then,” said Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an obstetrician-gynecologist who lives in Green Bay...."
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Tearful Texas doctor recalls being forced to travel out of state for abortion

"Emotional testimonies from women and doctors continued into the second day of court hearings on the confusion surrounding exceptions under Texas’s restrictive abortion ban. On Thursday, Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN doctor herself, delivered a tearful testimony as she recounted her experiences of being forced to travel out of state for an abortion due to a nonviable pregnancy. Eleven weeks into the pregnancy last year, Dennard, who is pregnant again, learned that her baby had anencephaly, a rare and fatal condition affecting the development of the brain and can also pose a serious health risk to the mother. Explaining the condition,…
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Blue-state doctors launch abortion pill pipeline into states with bans

"...Previously, Aid Access allowed only Europe-based doctors to prescribe abortion pills to women in states where abortion is restricted and then shipped those pills internationally, leaving patients to wait weeks. The telemedicine shield laws, enacted over the past year in New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Vermont and Colorado, explicitly protect abortion providers who mail pills to restricted states from inside their borders...."
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Woman suing Texas over abortion ban vomits on the stand in emotional reaction during dramatic hearing

"A hearing in a lawsuit challenging Texas' abortion ban opened Wednesday with dramatic testimony from three women who experienced serious pregnancy complications but were denied abortions. One of the plaintiffs in the suit, Samantha Casiano, vomited on the stand while discussing her baby's fatal birth defect, which she said also put her life at risk...."
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Biden’s HIPAA expansion for abortion draws criticism, lawsuit threats

"The Biden administration’s effort to wield the nation’s premier health-privacy law to protect abortion rights is under fire from Republicans who accuse the president of overreaching — and from Democrats who call it too weak. The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to release a final rule later this year that would expand the protections of the decades old Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, with the aim of shielding people who seek, obtain or provide abortions from red state probes — one of the most concrete steps the administration has taken to defend abortion rights since…
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Tennessee AG asserts right to out-of-state abortion, transgender care medical records

"Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined Republican counterparts in 18 states in an effort to prevent the federal government from shielding the medical records of those who cross state lines to obtain legal abortion or gender-affirming care from investigations in their home state. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a new privacy rule for certain medical records in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion rights last year...."
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