legislation – REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ALERTS

07 Sep

Poland eases abortion access with new guidelines for doctors under a restrictive law

MollyInternational, Latest NewsAbortion Access, Guidelines for doctors, legislation, New guidelines, Poland

"Seeking to ease access to abortion for women needing to end a pregnancy for health reasons, Poland's government is issuing guidelines to doctors Friday that reaffirm the legality of such procedures, based on medical recommendations. Under the current law, abortions for health reasons are permitted but the previous conservative government limited some other qualifying circumstances, leading to mass street protests and heightening the reluctance of doctors to expose themselves to a possible prosecution...."

06 Sep

Majority of Florida voters back abortion rights ballot measure: Poll

BarbraLatest NewsFlorida, legislation, Reproductive rights, United States

A majority of Florida voters say they back a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution, according to new polling released Friday by The Hill and Emerson College Polling.

05 Sep

Judge calls Ashcroft’s characterization of abortion amendment ‘unfair’ and ‘misleading’

BarbraLatest Newslegislation, Missouri, Reproductive rights, United States

For the second time, a Missouri judge has accused Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft of crafting ‘inaccurate’ language around the reproductive rights amendment

04 Sep

Addressing abortion and reproductive rights on the presidential campaign trail

BarbraLatest Newslegislation, Post-Dobbs, Reproductive rights, United States, Vote

Abortion remains a divisive issue in the 2024 presidential election and a top concern for many voters.

02 Sep

The 10 states where voters could decide on abortion directly

PatLatest Newslegislation, Reproductive rights, States, Vote

Coloradans could enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution and eliminate a ban on public funds being used for abortions

02 Sep

Abortion ballot organizer says Montanans should not take reproductive rights for granted

PatLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Healthcare, legislation, Montana, Reproductive rights, United States

The year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Montana’s Republican-majority legislature passed an array of bills restricting abortion. Though these laws were blocked by courts and abortion until fetal viability remains the law in Montana, reproductive rights activists say they no longer feel confident that their state constitution’s right to privacy will always protect their rights while pregnant. Now Montana joins nine other states who this November will vote on whether to explicitly protect the right to terminate a pregnancy in their state’s constitution. Last week the secretary of state’s office approved and certified Constitutional Initiative 128,…

22 Aug

Opinion: North Carolina judges, the fall election, and reproductive freedom

AlanLatest Newslegislation, North Carolina, Opinion, Reproductive rights, SCOTUS, United States

As we sprint towards Election Day 2024 with high-profile presidential and congressional elections on the horizon, many of us are talking about how these elections will impact abortion access in North Carolina and around the country. Even if we elect a pro-choice White House, however, the specter of nine unelected justices appointed for life to the highest court in the land where they play an outsized role in abortion access remains. For anti-abortion lawmakers, getting six anti-abortion justices to form a supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court was indeed the key to pushing their unpopular and regressive agenda.

08 Aug

Illinois further expands reproductive health care protections

PatLatest NewsIllinois, legislation, Reproductive rights

Gov. JB Pritzker signed multiple bills expanding reproductive rights in Illinois on Wednesday, including codifying a federal law that allows medical professionals to perform an abortion in response to a clinical emergency. Another bill bolsters Illinois’ interstate shield law that prohibits Illinois authorities from disclosing information, or using resources, to abet any interstate investigation into someone receiving abortion services within Illinois. The final bill signed prohibits discrimination against people for their reproductive health decisions, including abortion, in vitro fertilization and fertility treatment.

07 Aug

Senate Democrats brought up four more bills to protect reproductive rights. Republicans blocked them.

PatLatest NewsAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, Healthcare, legislation, Reproductive rights, United States

All but two Republicans voted against a nonbinding bill that would have affirmed protections for abortion.

24 Jul

Democrats Hope Harris’ Bluntness on Abortion Will Translate to 2024 Wins in Congress and White House

PatLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Healthcare, legislation, Reproductive rights, United States

President Joe Biden might not often use the word “abortion” when he talks about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but Vice President Kamala Harris sure does. She's also toured a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic where the procedure is performed and routinely links the fall of Roe to the larger issue of rising maternal mortality nationwide.

20 Jul

Abortion Gets the Silent Treatment at the RNC

PatLatest NewsAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, Healthcare, legislation, Post-Dobbs, United States

Sen. Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee didn’t talk about it. Neither did her colleagues Sens. Steve Daines from Montana or Tim Scott from South Carolina. Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, didn’t bring it up. A top adviser to the former president, Kellyanne Conway, certainly didn’t — she’s been warning Republican lawmakers for months to be careful about how they talk about it.

17 Jul

RNC approves platform that would give rights to fetuses, endangering abortion, IVF

AlanLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Healthcare, IVF, legislation, Reproductive rights, United States

Republicans have adopted a slate of policy positions that does not call for a federal legislative abortion ban, but opens the door to establishing fetal personhood.

15 Jul

Top American election concerns include environment, reproductive right, and more

BarbraLatest NewsHealthcare, legislation, Reproductive rights, United States, Vote, Voters

Over the last several months, people from across the country have been sharing with their public media stations the issues they most care about in the months before the general election. Stations asked in on-line and on-air call-outs: “What Issues would you like candidates to discuss as they compete for your vote this election season?”

14 Jul

What states are voting on abortion ballot measures in 2024?

PatLatest NewsAbortion Rights, legislation, travel, United States, Vote

The following table provides a list of abortion-related measures that are on the ballot in 2024: StateDateMeasureDescriptionColoradoNov. 5, 2024Right to Abortion Initiative• Provide a constitutional right to abortion in the state constitution and allow the use of public funds for abortionFloridaNov. 5, 2024Florida Amendment 4• Provide a constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability, which is estimated to be around 24 weeks, or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's healthcare providerMarylandNov. 5, 2024Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment• Amend the Maryland Constitution to establish a right to reproductive freedom, defined to include "decisions to prevent, continue, or end…

12 Jul

Polish Parliament Rejects Bill Seeking to Ease Strict Abortion Law

BarbraLatest NewsAbortion Care, Abortion Rights, International Abortion News, legislation, Poland

Poland's lower house rejected a bill on Friday that sought to scrap penalties for people who help someone to get an abortion, highlighting deep divisions in the ruling coalition over easing one of Europe's most restrictive abortion laws. Under the draft law, people helping to arrange an abortion, for example by providing abortion pills, and doctors performing terminations in the early weeks of pregnancy or due to foetal anomalies would no longer have faced charges.