As COVID-19 cases surge in the United States, many states have shifted healthcare policies to place a greater focus on those who have been infected. In order to do this, states must determine what is essential and non-essential healthcare, impacting marginalized people, such as poor people, communities of color, and women in severe ways. In […]
Three National Organizations Challenge Tennessee Heartbeat Bill
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed an emergency lawsuit Friday afternoon against Tennessee’s heartbeat bill. The lawsuit aims to block the legislation from being enacted and ultimately declared unconstitutional. If enforced, the bill would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. This can occur as […]
Tennessee Legislature Passes Bill Banning Abortion After Fetal Heartbeat Is Detected
On Friday, the Tennessee legislature passed a bill banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected – generally after 6 weeks of gestation. The bill was passed as part of larger budget negotiations held between Tennessee’s two legislative chambers. Its passage came as a shock to many pro-choice advocates, as the bill was not […]
Mississippi Could Ban Abortion Based on Race, Sex, or Genetic Anomalies of Fetus
The Mississippi Legislature is advancing a bill to ban abortions from being performed based on race, sex, or potential physical disabilities caused by genetic anomalies. The Republican-led Senate passed the bill Wednesday by a 33-11 margin. The House is expected to send the bill to Republican Governor Tate Reeves later this week. Senator Joey Fillingane […]
Anti-Choice Group Files Lawsuit Against Illinois Reproductive Health Act
On June 10, the Thomas More Society (TMS) filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Insurance claiming that the Illinois Reproductive Health Act is unconstitutional and violates the religious liberties of its clients. TMS argues that the law requiring employers to provide insurance that covers abortions violates the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act and […]
Federal Judge Dismisses a Challenge to the Trump Administration’s Title X Rules
On Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed a challenge to the reformed Title X rules, also known as the Trump administration’s “gag rule”, that puts limits on what federally funded health care providers can tell patients about accessing abortion services. Title X is a “federal grant program created in 1970 to provide comprehensive and confidential family […]
Colorado To Vote on Late-Term Abortion Ban in November
An initiative to ban abortions after 22 weeks has made it onto the November ballot in Colorado after collecting 153,204 signatures, according to the Colorado Secretary of State. The initiative, backed by the group Due Date Too Late, proposes to make it illegal to perform abortions at 22 weeks or later. This includes cases where […]
Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening to Bomb Jacksonville Abortion Clinic
Rodney Allen, 43, of Beaufort, South Carolina, pled guilty in federal court Friday, May 29, to threatening to bomb a Jacksonville, Florida abortion clinic. Allen pled guilty to one count of intimidating and interfering with the clinic’s employees with a fake bomb threat and one count of making false statements to a Special Agent Robert […]
Colorado Group Says It Has The Signatures for Late-Term Abortion Ban Ballot Initiative
A Colorado advocacy group seeking to ban abortion after 22 weeks said yesterday it has collected enough signatures for the issue to appear on the November ballot. The ballot measure Initiative 120, which is supported by the Due Date Too Late group, seeks to ban all abortions after 22 weeks, with an exception only if […]
Medical Groups Sue FDA Over Abortion Pill Restrictions During Pandemic
Medical experts and reproductive rights advocates sued federal agencies yesterday, asking it to allow people to obtain abortion pills remotely during the pandemic. The suit accuses the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of endangering public safety by disallowing doctors from distributing abortion pills through telemedicine […]
Rwanda Announces Release of 50 Women Jailed for Abortion
On May 20, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda announced the release of 50 women imprisoned for undergoing, seeking, or helping others locate an abortion. Their pardoning was part of Rwanda’s plan to reduce the number of people in prison to slow the spread of coronavirus. A total of 3,596 convicts were granted conditional release by […]
ACLU Challenges Arkansas’s Latest Attempt to Restrict Abortion Access
Arkansas’s only in-clinic abortion provider, Little Rock Family Planning Services, is suing the state to challenge a rule requiring patients to get a COVID-19 test within 48 hours of their abortion procedure. This is the second time Arkansas abortion providers have had to fight a legal battle to protect abortion access during the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
Texas Governor’s Executive Order Banning Abortion Expires
Tuesday night, Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s March 21 executive order expired. The order had been the object of weeks of legal debate over the classification of medication and procedural abortion as a ‘non-essential’ medical procedure during the COVID-19 crisis. On Wednesday, Gov. Abbott announced a new executive order, allowing certain medical procedures to resume, […]
Federal Judge Allows Abortions in Oklahoma to Resume Despite COVID-19 Ban
U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin has just issued a preliminary injunction against Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s attempted abortion ban, and is allowing all abortion services to resume on Friday, April 24. According to a release by the Associated Press, “the injunction ensures that abortions can be performed in Oklahoma while the case continues in federal […]
Judge Blocks Tennessee’s Coronavirus Abortion Ban
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s halt on procedural abortions during the coronavirus pandemic. This decision is another victory for reproductive rights advocates fighting abortion bans across the United States, including in Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled Friday that Tennessee cannot […]
Polish Parliament Postpones Vote on Restrictive Abortion Bill
The Polish parliament has indefinitely delayed a final vote on a controversial bill that would almost completely ban abortion in the country. Poland’s current abortion laws, some of the strictest in Europe, only allow abortions in cases of rape or incest, danger to the pregnant person’s life, or severe fetal impairment. The proposed bill would […]
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Arkansas Coronavirus Abortion Ban
In a victory for reproductive rights advocates, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker has issued a temporary restraining order to prevent enforcement of Arkansas’ ban on abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like several other states, Arkansas attempted to stop all but emergency abortions during the pandemic, supposedly to preserve resources for COVID-19 care and reduce the […]
Abortion Services Allowed to Continue in Oklahoma After Appeals Court Ruling
The decision by a lower court to overturn the Oklahoma governor’s ban on abortion has been upheld by a federal appeals court. Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made a unanimous ruling to allow abortions to continue in Oklahoma, overturning Gov. Kevin Stitt’s (R) ban on abortion as part […]
Judge Affirms Abortion Access in Alabama During Coronavirus Pandemic
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 […]