United States

Indiana Appeals Court Upholds Injunction of Abortion Law for Religious Objectors

An Indiana appeals court upheld April 4 a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s enforcement of its near-total abortion ban against plaintiffs who say the law violates their rights under Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The appeals court concluded that the abortion ban likely amounted to a substantial burden on the plaintiffs’—five anonymous women and Hoosier Jews for Choice—exercise of religion. In addition, the state failed to show a compelling interest in prohibiting religiously motivated health care decision or that it employed the least restrictive alternative given other existing exemptions from the law in the case of rape or incest, when the…
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Why anti-abortion advocates are reviving a 19th century sexual purity law

"After months of questions about what abortion policies he supports, Donald Trump finally addressed the issue this week, first in a video Monday on social media, saying it's up to states to decide their abortion laws. That statement left many of the biggest questions on his stance unanswered. On Wednesday Trump provided a bit more clarity, telling reporters he would not sign a federal abortion ban if one came to his desk, despite supporting one at 20 weeks during his first term. But he has yet to address the potential for the FDA to restrict abortion pills, which social conservatives argued for at the Supreme Court in March. And he…
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Arizona Supreme Court rules a near-total abortion ban from 1864 is enforceable

"The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 160-year-old near-total abortion ban still on the books in the state is enforceable, a bombshell decision that adds the state to the growing lists of places where abortion care is effectively banned. The ruling allows an 1864 law in Arizona to stand that made abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs one or helps a woman obtain one.  The law — which was codified in 1901, and again in 1913 — outlaws abortion from the moment of conception but includes an exception to save the woman’s…
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Majority of women in states with abortion bans believe access should be legal

"Nearly two years after the Supreme Court ended the federal right to abortion, more than a fifth of reproductive-age adult women in states with abortion bans have struggled to access abortion care themselves or know someone who has, according to first-of-its-kind polling released Friday by the nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research group KFF. A majority of these women — 67 percent — believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the survey taken February 20-28, 2024...."
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One in Five Women of Reproductive Age in States with Abortion Bans Say They or Someone They Know Has Had Difficulty Accessing an Abortion Since Dobbs

According to new KFF polling, in states with abortion bans, one in five (21%) women of reproductive age (18 to 49) and one in seven (14%) of all women say either they or someone they know has had difficulty accessing an abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
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Arizona organizers say they have more than enough signatures for an abortion ballot measure

"A group hoping to put an amendment enshrining the right to abortion in Arizona's constitution said Tuesday that they had gathered enough signatures for the measure to qualify for the ballot in November. There is a requirement for the collection of 383,923 signatures of support for constitutional amendments in Arizona, and Dawn Penich, communications manager for Arizona for Abortion Access, said they have amassed more than 500,000 signatures already..."
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Supreme Court Skeptical of Push to Curb Access to Abortion Pill

"In the 2022 case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and held that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, returning the legality of abortion to the states. The court must now decide if access to mifepristone, the drug used in medication abortions, should be restricted. During oral arguments last week, most of the justices seemed reluctant to roll back access to the drug. Instead, they focused on whether the plaintiffs had a legal right, or standing, to sue and questioned whether the doctors in the case, Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for…
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No One Could Say: Accessing Emergency Obstetrics Information as a Prospective Prenatal Patient in Post-Roe Oklahoma

In the wake of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Oklahoma residents are currently living under three overlapping and inconsistent state abortion bans that, if violated, impose severe civil and criminal penalties on health care providers.
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Texas woman charged with murder for self-induced abortion sues Starr County district attorney

LOCAL NEWS  Texas woman charged with murder for self-induced abortion sues Starr County district attorney When a Texas woman was arrested and jailed for self-inducing an abortion in 2022, her name and mugshot were quickly broadcast around the world. Three days later, the Starr County prosecutor dropped the charges and was later disciplined for bringing them at all.
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Variability in Payment Rates for Abortion Services Under Medicaid

"Medicaid is a joint federal and state program and Medicaid payment rates, which are set by the states, have been the focus of policy attention since its early days. Generally speaking, Medicaid reimbursement rates have historically been lower than those paid by Medicare and are even lower relative to private insurance rates. These lower rates have been cited as a disincentive to Medicaid provider participation, which limits the pool of providers willing to serve Medicaid enrollees and constrains their access to care..."
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Supreme Court hears mifepristone arguments as protests gather outside: Highlights

"Abortion providers responded to today's oral arguments by emphasizing the safety and effectiveness of mifepristone, stressing that reduced access to the drug could threaten public health. “The very existence of this case puts every other FDA-approved medication at risk of being taken off the market or restricted for political reasons,” Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement...."
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A ‘dangerous precedent’: Doctors and patient advocates fear restricted access to abortion pill

"About two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the court on Tuesday will revisit the issue of reproductive rights, this time contemplating whether to limit access to mifepristone, the first of two pills used in medication abortion. Ahead of oral arguments and eventual ruling, doctors and patient advocates are expressing alarm about what might happen if the high court decides to tighten access to the drug...."
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