Abortion Rights

Despite GOP headwinds, citizen-led abortion measures could be on the ballot in 9 states

For abortion rights supporters in Florida, it was a tumultuous day of highs and lows. On April 1, the Florida Supreme Court paved the way for the state to ban nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. But it also OK’d a ballot measure that would allow Florida voters to overturn the ban this November.
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Tennessee Abortion Allies Fight Trafficking Ban for Minors

A new Tennessee law that criminalizes a wide range of conduct intended to help pregnant minors get legal abortions in other states without their parents’ consent is unconstitutional, a group of abortion allies says. SisterReach Inc. and (Chicago based ) Midwest Access Coalition Inc. sued Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) and various district prosecuting attorneys on Thursday in the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, seeking to have the law declared invalid and to bar potential future prosecutions against them. .
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Abortion rights groups file suit to overturn ban on taxpayer-funded abortions 

"The ACLU Michigan announced Thursday it had filed a suit challenging Michigan’s ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion and related care, arguing the ban violates the state’s newly enacted constitutional protections for reproductive freedom.  The suit, filed alongside the law firm Goodwin Procter on behalf of YWCA Kalamazoo, which offers financial assistance to help people pay for abortion care and related costs. According to a statement from ACLU Michigan, 77% of those who YWCA Kalamazoo provides with this assistance have incomes that qualify them for Medicaid. The suit argues the ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion violates the right to reproductive freedom…
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Now an abortion rights advocate, woman raped by stepfather as a child will campaign with first lady

A 22-year-old woman who became an abortion rights advocate after she was raped by her stepfather as a child will campaign with first lady Jill Biden in Pennsylvania this weekend as part of a 2024 election push around the anniversary of the fall of Roe v. Wade.
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Parole and probation rules limit travel. That can be complicated for people seeking abortions.

"In the two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, the number of patients forced to seek out-of-state abortion services has doubled. Fourteen states have total abortion bans, three more restrict abortions after six weeks — before most people know they are pregnant — and two others limit them after the first trimester.  One population often overlooked in reproductive rights conversations are people under community supervision, also known as probation and parole, which often prohibits travel across state lines without government approval. A new briefing by the public policy think tank Prison Policy Initiative puts these challenges into context for a country without…
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Brazilian women protest bill that would equate late abortions with homicide

"Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of São Paulo on Saturday as protests sweep across Brazil in opposition to a bill that would further criminalize abortions. If passed, the law would equate the termination of a pregnancy after 22 weeks with homicide. The bill, proposed by conservative lawmakers and heading for a vote in the lower house, would also apply in cases of rape. Critics say those who seek an abortion so late are mostly child rape victims, as their pregnancies tend to be detected later...."
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Abortion rights: Tracking state lawsuits two years after Roe reversal

"Nearly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, litigation over abortion has exploded. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in 2022's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that the court's longstanding precedent had "enflamed debate and deepened division." He said it was time to take the abortion issue out of the hands of the court and return it "to the people's elected representatives."..."
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South Korea Still Blocking Abortion

"Years after a South Korean court ordered the government to respect the right to access abortion care, South Korean women and girls are still unable to get this necessary sexual and reproductive service. On May 17, a South Korean court rejected an appeal by Women on Web (WoW), a nongovernmental organization that provides information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and Open Net Korea, a digital rights civil society organization, to unblock the WoW website. The Korea Communications Standards Commission blocked the website in 2019, claiming it violated the country’s Pharmaceutical Affairs Act by connecting women in need of abortion pills, which have not been legalized in the country,…
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