Health Reproductive Rights

Lack of Access to “Non-Essential” Healthcare Severely Impacts Marginalized Communities

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 […]

Courts Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Abortion Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Courts Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Abortion Courts Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Health Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Abortion Courts Reproductive Rights

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. […]

Abortion Courts Health Politics

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, […]

Abortion Courts Health

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 […]

Abortion Health Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Abortion Courts Health

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 Health Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Abortion Health Reproductive Rights

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 […]