A federal judge has ruled that Alabama cannot ban abortions during the coronavirus pandemic. District Judge Myron Thompson decided that the state must allow abortion providers to exercise “reasonable medical judgment” in deciding whether a procedure can wait until after the COVID-19 crisis. Alabama, like many other states, ordered a halt on non-essential medical procedures […]
Virginia Governor Signs Abortion Protections and Gun Reform Into Law
On Friday, Governor Ralph Northam signed bills into law that roll back state abortion restrictions, specifically the state’s TRAP (Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers) laws. The removal of abortion restrictions comes at a time when reproductive rights are being restricted under the current administration and during the COVID-19 crisis. Northam’s spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky stated that […]
Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Texas Coronavirus Abortion Ban
A federal appeals court upheld Texas’s ban on abortion services during the coronavirus crisis less than 24 hours after a district judge struck down parts of the ban. This latest decision blocks medication abortions but allows abortions for those who would be past Texas’s legal gestational limit at the end of the ban. In late […]
Abortion Providers in Texas Turn to District Courts for Abortion Ban Exemptions
Texas abortion providers asked a district judge for limited relief from an executive order restricting abortion during the pandemic, rather than taking the case to the Supreme Court. The move by the providers to seek help from a district judge was made in response to an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]
Judge Blocks Oklahoma Abortion Restrictions During COVID-19 Outbreak
Oklahoma US District Judge Charles Goodwin has just blocked a state executive order that limits abortion access during the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Goodwin believes that Oklahoma’s ban would cause “irreparable harm” to individuals unable to receive abortion care. In response to Oklahoma’s state executive order, Goodwin also remarked, “that while the current public health emergency […]
Study Reports Texas Women Will Have to Travel 20 Times Farther to Obtain Abortion Care
Due to Texas’ new abortion ban, women in the state must now travel 20 times farther to obtain an abortion as reported in an analysis of anti-abortion measures implemented in some states due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the average distance a woman will have to travel one-way […]
Wisconsin Republicans Push Health Officials to Close Abortion Clinics
Wisconsin Republicans argued in a letter that state health officials should temporarily close abortion clinics for safety, and to ensure that they are not utilizing medical resources that are needed elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order given last week did not specifically mention abortion clinics as essential business; however, […]
Reproductive Rights Groups Sue to Stop Oklahoma’s COVID-19 Abortion Ban
The Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) have filed an emergency lawsuit to nullify Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s ban on abortion procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, Stitt issued an executive order temporarily halting elective surgeries, which he later specified includes all abortions not deemed “necessary to prevent serious […]
U.S. Appeals Court Rules in Favor of COVID-19 Texas Abortion Ban
On Tuesday, March 31, a United States appeals court ruled to allow Texas to continue enforcing limits on people’s ability to obtain safe and legal abortions due to the state’s policy to postpone “non-essential” procedures in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a New York Times release by Reuters, “Texas and other states that […]
Attorneys General Urge the FDA to Allow Use of Mifepristone by Mail During COVID-19 Pandemic
In response to abortion-related concerns taking place during the COVID-19 outbreak, a group of 21 attorneys general are urging the federal government to allow pregnant individuals to use mifepristone if they would like to terminate their pregnancy without unnecessary travel. According to Huffington Post senior reporter Melissa Jeltsen, the current system in place requires that […]
Texas Abortion Providers Sue Governor Over Attack on Abortion Access
In one of the most high-profile challenges to a government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of Texas abortion providers have sued Governor Greg Abbott and other state officials in protest of his administration’s exploitation of the pandemic to stop most abortions. The abortion providers, represented by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Center […]
TX, OH, LA Attempt to Ban Abortion in Midst of Global Pandemic
Abortion has been included as a nonessential surgery in Texas and Ohio in yet another attempt by lawmakers to ban abortion in the midst of a global pandemic. While the states pointed to a desire to save personal protective equipment for healthcare workers fighting COVID-19, abortion rights activists claim that abortion is, in fact, essential […]
Patients Seek Out-of-State Care as Missouri’s Only Abortion Clinic Threatened with Closure
Missouri’s strict abortion laws have begun pushing patients out of the state to seek reproductive healthcare, reports Planned Parenthood. The state’s only remaining abortion clinic has seen a severe drop in patients as it fights a legal battle against the state government to stay open. The clinic, Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the […]
Supreme Court Set to Hear Louisiana Abortion Case Today
Today the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments for June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, which looks into the constitutionality of a Louisiana state law (Act 620) regarding abortion practices and has the potential to reshape the legal status of abortion nationwide. According to SCOTUSblog’s official issue report, the case is […]
Virginia Lawmakers Pass Reproductive Health Protection Act
On Thursday, Virginia lawmakers passed the Reproductive Health Protection Act (RHPA), a “commonsense bill intended to roll back politically-motivated restrictions on access to abortion that have no basis in patient health and safety and only serve to eliminate access to safe, legal abortion care and shut down health centers in Virginia.” Pro-choice lawmakers hope the […]
ACLU Sues Seven Texas Cities for Passing Extreme Anti-Abortion Ordinances
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against seven small Texas cities with local laws banning abortion. The cities call themselves “sanctuary cities for the unborn” and have passed laws that define abortion as murder, allow family members of abortion patients to sue providers for emotional distress, ban emergency contraception and birth […]
Two Anti-Abortion Bills Fail to Advance in Senate
A pair of anti-abortion bills failed to advance in the U.S. Senate this Tuesday. The two bills were largely seen as a rallying cry for social conservatives and a method of pressuring vulnerable Democrats. The two bills, S. 311 and S. 3275, sought to ban abortion after 20 weeks and require doctors to provide care […]
Oklahoma State Bill Aiming to Revoke Abortion Providers’ Licenses Under Fire
Both abortion rights and anti-choice activists have slammed a recent Oklahoma bill that would take away licenses of physicians who perform abortions. Last week, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed Rep. Jim Olsen’s bill, H.B. 1182, which would mandate the State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision to revoke a doctor’s license for a year […]
New Report by Doctors for Choice Asserts That Abortion Access is Healthcare
Tomorrow there will be a report released by Doctors for Choice, a worldwide pro-choice group of medical providers, regarding their stance on abortion being a healthcare issue and that bans on abortion would risk the lives of women. Doctors for Choice previewed its paper by describing their position with “the complete ban on abortion is […]
Planned Parenthood to Resume Care at Louisville Clinic, Expanding Abortion Access in Kentucky
A Planned Parenthood clinic in Louisville will resume providing abortions in March after former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin ordered a stop on abortions at the clinic in 2016. The clinic received a provisional license from the state in January permitting it to provide a full range of reproductive healthcare, including abortions. This will make the […]
