Healthcare

After court rulings, Oklahoma doctors are still confused about when abortion is legal to save a patient’s life

"...But an Oklahoma law from 1910 that outlaws most abortions is still in effect. That law says abortions are allowed only when necessary to preserve a mother’s life. Otherwise, medical professionals can be charged with a felony and face up to five years in prison. But doctors still aren’t certain when they can perform the procedure. Other states that have banned most abortions including Utah, Georgia and Louisiana have laws with more specific language, permitting terminating a pregnancy to prevent serious, irreversible damage to a life-sustaining organ, but Oklahoma’s law contains no specifics or clear definitions....."
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Missouri banned abortion. Why is it spending millions to promote alternatives to procedure?

"...Under the state budget that took effect this month, Missouri allocated roughly $8.3 million to the Department of Social Services to fund its “Alternatives to Abortion” program. The program directs people to services that help them carry a pregnancy to term instead of getting an abortion. On top of that funding, DSS is spending $266,000 on a contract with a Christian anti-abortion marketing firm to promote the program. The contract with Columbia-based Choose Life Marketing was originally awarded in May and renewed by the state through June 2024 late last month...."
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New York’s novel equal rights amendment could make the state a haven for abortion access

"...New York lawmakers have, in two consecutive sessions, passed the New York Equal Protection of Law Amendment, which would ban a wide range of discrimination based on sex, expressly including sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. It would also ban discrimination based on age, disability, ethnicity and national origin and establish a constitutional right to abortion and other reproductive health care...."
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‘A long time coming’: New medication abortion program launches on Cape and Islands

"Starting today, people in rural parts of Massachusetts have more options when seeking abortions. Although Massachusetts is among the states with the least restrictive abortion policies, advocates say there are still some regions of the state, especially the Cape and Islands, where it can be hard for people to access services, in some cases having to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest clinic, often at a high financial cost. But through a new medication abortion program, Health Imperatives, which operates clinics in Brockton, Plymouth, Wareham, New Bedford, Hyannis, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, is making abortion care available in areas of…
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After fall of Roe, emboldened religious conservatives lobby to restrict abortion in Africa

"Efforts to legalize and make abortions safer in Africa were shaken when the U.S. Supreme Court ended the national right to an abortion a year ago. Within days, Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio declared that his government would decriminalize abortion “at a time when sexual and reproductive health rights for women are being either overturned or threatened.”..."
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NC’s new abortion restrictions take effect tomorrow. Here’s what to expect.

"Beverly Gray, an OB-GYN at Duke Health who provides abortion care, expects that turning away people seeking abortions in North Carolina will be a daily occurrence beginning tomorrow, when the state’s new restrictions passed by Republican lawmakers take effect. Overnight, abortion access will significantly diminish as the time frame for seeking most abortions in the state drops from 20 weeks of pregnancy to 12 weeks..."
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New Mexico sets up abortion hotline after a surge of women arrive from Texas, other states

"New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says her administration has set up a new telephone hotline for women seeking access to abortion clinics plus transportation and other assistance. The hotline is already live but is still being built out, according to Lujan Grisham. The number is 833-767-3776. It will be staffed by registered nurses with the state Department of Health and paid for using existing resources...."
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Maltese lawmakers vote to legalize abortion, but only where there is a grave risk to the mother

"Maltese lawmakers on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to ease the strictest abortion laws in the European Union, but pro-choice campaigners had withdrawn their support, saying last-minute changes make the legislation “vague, unworkable and even dangerous.” The original bill allowing women access to abortion if a pregnant woman's life or health is in danger was hailed as a step in the right direction for Malta, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation. It was introduced last fall after an American tourist who miscarried had to be airlifted off the Mediterranean island nation to be treated...."
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Judge ends key lawsuit against Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban

"A judge has officially dismissed a major lawsuit that aimed to overturn Kentucky’s trigger law — which outlaws practically all abortions — as well as the state’s ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Mitch Perry issued the order Tuesday. His decision came after the plaintiffs, including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Kentucky, formally asked to drop the case last week. Their reason for bowing out stemmed from a February decision by the Kentucky Supreme Court. The court’s justices ruled abortion providers — specifically, Planned Parenthood and EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville — lack the…
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Arizona governor signs executive order to protect abortion rights

"Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs announced an executive order on Friday that protects abortion rights within the state one year after the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization decision. Abortion is generally legal before 15 weeks in Arizona under a law passed by former Governor Doug Ducey. According to the announcement, the order “centralizes” all abortion-related prosecutions under the attorney general. Additionally, the order directs state agencies not to assist in investigations relating to reproductive health care that would be legal in Arizona. The order also states that Arizona will decline extradition requests from other states seeking to prosecute abortion services. Lastly, the order establishes the Governor’s…
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In Guam, a US territory, the last doctor who performed abortions left in 2018. The closest option is an 8-hour flight to Hawaii.

As patients in the continental US travel across state lines for abortion care, pregnant people living on Guam have to travel across the ocean. Abortion remains legal in Guam — the US territory in the Western Pacific that sits 1,600 miles south of Japan — up to 13 weeks of gestation, but that doesn't mean it's accessible, The New York Times reported.
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Biden and Harris joining key reproductive rights groups ahead of Dobbs anniversary

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to join a trio of key reproductive rights activist groups to mark the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision Friday, highlighting what’s expected to be a major Biden campaign plank for the 2024 presidential election.https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/politics/biden-harris-reproductive-rights-dobbs/index.html
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After Dobbs, abortion access is harder, comes later and with a higher risk

"“there’s a clinic in GA about 3 hours away. They said they will do it as long as no heartbeat is found on the ultrasound. If they find a heartbeat what do I do then??” Alabama, where abortion is a crime, is surrounded by states with abortion bans. But nearby Georgia currently allows a tiny window, which shuts once the embryo’s cardiac activity registers on an ultrasound. This happens generally by six weeks’ gestation, and the user was running out of time. In reality, she had to have been farther along, as pregnancy is counted from the first day of one’s…
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Google shows you ads for anti-abortion centers when you search for clinics near you

"When people are looking for abortion services, they often turn to Google, searching a phrase like "abortion clinic near me" or "planned parenthood." Yet the ads they'll see at the top of the Google search results are often not abortion providers at all, but instead misleading ads for anti-abortion "crisis pregnancy centers" — facilities that use various tactics to dissuade or delay pregnant people from getting an abortion...."
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