United States

Confusion, clinic closures may have caused big declines in contraception use, study shows

Clinic closures in the wake of the Dobbs decision and questions about the legality of emergency contraceptives, including disinformation that some are abortion drugs, may have contributed to a sharp drop in the rate of prescriptions for contraceptives in states with the most restrictive abortion bans, according to a University of California Los Angeles study.
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In wake of Supreme Court ruling, Biden administration tells doctors to provide emergency abortions

"The Biden administration told emergency room doctors they must perform emergency abortions when necessary to save a pregnant woman’s health, following last week’s Supreme Court ruling that failed to settle a legal dispute over whether state abortion bans override a federal law requiring hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment. In a letter being sent Tuesday to doctor and hospital associations, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Chiquita Brooks-LaSure reminded hospitals of their legal duty to offer stabilizing treatment, which could include abortions. A copy of the letter was obtained by The Associated Press...."
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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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CT sees 150% increase in people coming from out of state for abortion care, officials say

"Connecticut has seen an influx of people coming from out of state to get an abortion in the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving thousands of people without access to the necessary reproductive and abortion care, officials said. In 2023, there was about a 60 percent increase in people coming to Connecticut for an abortion, while this year saw a 150 percent increase, said Dr. Nancy Stanwood, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England...."
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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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Abortion surveillance isn’t new but monitoring has increased post Dobbs, activists say

Abortion surveillance is something former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has said is up to states. But for abortion providers and advocates, surveillance and monitoring by anti-abortion activists has long been the reality. And post-Dobbs many states are actively trying to expand government surveillance.
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Abortion bans still leave a ‘gray area’ for doctors after Idaho Supreme Court case

"The Supreme Court’s abortion ruling on Thursday is a narrow one that applies only to Idaho and sends a case back down to the appeals court. Confusion among doctors in states that have strict abortion bans remains widespread. The case concerns the kinds of situations in which emergency room doctors could end a pregnancy. Under Idaho law, it is a felony to provide nearly all abortions, unless the life of the mother is at risk. But what if a pregnancy threatens her health? For now, those abortions can happen in Idaho emergency rooms...."
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Iowa’s Supreme Court tells lower court to let strict abortion law go into effect

"The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling that put a temporary block on the state’s strict abortion law, and is telling the lower court to let the law take effect. In Friday’s ruling, the high court told the lower court to dissolve the temporary injunction and continue with further proceedings. The new law bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant...."
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The First National Data on Birth Control Post-Dobbs Is Here, and the News Is Not Good

"In the wake of the June 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs decision, as dozens of abortion clinics shut down in states with total or near-total abortion bans, reproductive justice advocates warned that the closures wouldn’t just affect patients seeking to terminate their pregnancies. Family planning clinics have historically provided more than abortion services, often offering basic gynecological health care for women. Indeed, more than 1 in 10 women get their birth control from these clinics, including those that also provide abortions. For low-income patients and people of color, the numbers are closer to one 1 in 5. Without access to affordable and reliable contraception, many more women were…
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Planned Parenthood plans to spend $40m to back Biden and Democrats in bet that voters are angry at Republican efforts to restrict abortion access

Planned Parenthood will spend $40 million ahead of November’s elections to bolster President Joe Biden and leading congressional Democrats, betting that voters angry at Republican-led efforts to further restrict access to abortion can be the difference in key races around the country.
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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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