1 week, 2 days ago

Kentucky lawmakers add specific medical exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Republican lawmakers inserted several medical exceptions into Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban on Thursday, seeking to offer clarity to doctors fearful of breaking the law for terminating pregnancies while treating expectant mothers with grave complications. “It ensures women facing life-threatening situations receive timely, appropriate medical care, and gives providers the legal certainty they need to act decisively,” said Republican state Rep. Jason Nemes. Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, was among the bill’s advocates, telling the Senate panel: “This is medical care that needs to take place in the commonwealth.” The abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates said lawmakers had “snuck narrow and confusing ‘exceptions’” into something that should be regarded as basic health care, all the while keeping Kentucky’s existing abortion ban firmly in place. “Rather than offering meaningful medical care to patients with fatal fetal diagnoses or life-threatening pregnancy complications, this language forces doctors to wait until patients are near death before intervening,” said Tamarra Wieder, the group’s Kentucky state director, in a statement Thursday.

Law Medical Abortion Kentucky Senate Republican State Ban Bill Exceptions add care abortion medical senate specific kentucky states exceptions ban lawmakers law doctors bill neartotal state

History of this topic

1 week, 1 day ago

Texas lawmaker introduces bill to clarify medical exceptions in state’s abortion ban

Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas lawmaker who helped pioneer the state’s restrictive abortion laws introduced a bill on Friday to clarify medical exceptions allowed under the law, representing a pivot from Republican legislators who have defended the state’s abortion ban in the face of lawsuits and medical scrutiny. “So one of the most important things we want to do is …

1 month ago

Abortions resume in Missouri as GOP lawmakers strategize possible repeal

CNN

AP — Abortions resumed in Missouri over the weekend following a ruling blocking regulations that clinics said made it impossible to provide abortions despite a new constitutional amendment for reproductive rights, officials confirmed Tuesday. Emily Wales, the president and CEO of a Kansas City Planned Parenthood clinic, said on Saturday they “provided the first abortion in Missouri since Dobbs, a …

1 month, 1 week ago

Abortions to resume in Missouri after judge temporarily blocks regulations

India TV News

In the United States Missouri, abortions are set to resume after a judge blocked regulations that had restricted providers even after voters approved enshrining abortion rights into the state’s constitution. Planned Parenthood argued that the licensing law required providers to give “medically unnecessary and invasive” pelvic exams to anyone receiving an abortion, including medication abortions, according to court documents. Licensing …

1 month, 1 week ago

Infant mortality rises in states with abortion bans, study finds

The Independent

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. After the bans took effect, infant mortality rates …

2 months ago

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Legislature should clarify Texas abortion law to protect mothers at risk

Associated Press

Dan Patrick on Sunday said the Legislature should amend the language of the state’s near-total abortion ban to address confusion over when doctors may terminate pregnancies. “I do think we need to clarify any language so that doctors are not in fear of being penalized if they think the life of the mother is at risk,” Patrick said on the …

2 months ago

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Legislature should clarify Texas abortion law to protect mothers

Raw Story

Dan Patrick says Legislature should clarify Texas abortion law to protect mothers at risk" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Dan Patrick on Sunday said the Legislature should amend the language of the state’s near-total abortion ban …

2 months ago

What to know about abortion developments in the states and courts as Trump takes office

Associated Press

An incoming new president and state legislative sessions ramping up are likely to bring more changes to abortion policy across the U.S., which is still settling after the seismic shift in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to state bans. The states argue that efforts to provide access to the pills “undermine …

2 months ago

Texas judge says states can revive challenge to abortion pill access nationwide

Associated Press

The Texas judge who previously halted approval of the nation’s most common method of abortion ruled Thursday that three states can move ahead with another attempt to roll back federal rules and make it harder for people across the U.S. to access the abortion drug mifepristone. Idaho, Kansas and Missouri requested late last year to pursue the case in federal …

2 months, 3 weeks ago

Abortions are up in the US. The data paints a complicated picture

Associated Press

Abortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Overturning Roe and enforcing abortion bans has changed how woman obtain abortions in the U.S. “Abortion bans don’t actually …

2 months, 3 weeks ago

Takeaways from AP’s report on social safety nets in states that ban abortion

Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — States with restrictive abortion laws generally have more porous safety nets for mothers and young children, according to recent research and an analysis by The Associated Press. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled TennCare — the state’s Medicaid program — unlawfully terminated coverage for thousands of families and had a “lethargic” response to nearly 250,000 children …

3 months ago

A Judge Says Missouri's Abortion Ban Isn’t Enforceable, But There's No Start Date For Abortions

Huff Post

FILE - Missouri residents and abortion-rights advocation react to a speaker during Missourians for Constitutionals Freedom kick-off petition drive, Feb. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo. — A judge ruled Friday that Missouri’s near-total abortion ban is unenforceable under a new constitutional amendment, though Planned Parenthood said the decision is still not sufficient for it to resume providing abortions in …

3 months ago

A Missouri judge says the state’s abortion ban isn’t enforceable, ensuring legal abortions

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A judge ruled Friday that …

3 months ago

A judge says Missouri’s abortion ban isn’t enforceable, but there’s no start date for abortions

Associated Press

— A judge ruled Friday that Missouri’s near-total abortion ban is unenforceable under a new constitutional amendment, though Planned Parenthood said the decision is still not sufficient for it to resume providing abortions in the state. Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang said the abortion ban “is directly at odds” with a constitutional amendment creating a right to abortion …

3 months, 1 week ago

Idaho’s strict abortion ban faces scrutiny in federal appeals court hearing

Associated Press

PASADENA, Calif. — A federal appeals court scrutinized the impact of Idaho’s strict abortion ban on emergency medical care on Tuesday, weighing whether the ban criminalizing abortions should be enforceable in life- and health-threatening situations. Circuit Court of Appeals panel of 11 judges to urgently lift the injunction preventing the state from enforcing its abortion ban in emergency room settings, …

3 months, 2 weeks ago

Judge considers first lawsuit to overturn Missouri’s near-total abortion ban

Associated Press

— Abortion-rights advocates on Wednesday asked a judge to overturn Missouri’s near-total ban on the procedure, less than a month after voters backed an abortion-rights constitutional amendment. Reproductive rights advocates in Arizona on Tuesday sued to undo a 15-week abortion ban that conflicts with that state’s new constitutional amendment expanding access up to fetal viability. Missouri’s constitutional amendment allows lawmakers …

3 months, 3 weeks ago

Texas won't review maternal deaths post-Dobbs: report

Salon

A Texas committee that is meant to review pregnancy-related deaths in the state won’t review cases from 2022 and 2023, the Washington Post reported. Related How abortion funds are preparing for another Trump presidency According to the report, Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee members said in September the change was made to “be more contemporary.” The move has …

3 months, 3 weeks ago

'Worried': Experts concerned as Texas board declines to investigate abortion ban deaths

Raw Story

The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee revealed this week that it will not be reviewing any cases that occurred over the last two years — which just happen to be the years when Texas's strict anti-abortion law went into effect. The Washington Post reports that the move by the committee is "leaving any potential deaths related to abortion …

3 months, 3 weeks ago

Third woman dies under Texas’ abortion ban as doctors use riskier miscarriage treatments

Raw Story

Wrapping his wife in a blanket as she mourned the loss of her pregnancy at 11 weeks, Hope Ngumezi wondered why no obstetrician was coming to see her. But when Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis, the obstetrician on duty, finally arrived, he said it was the hospital’s “routine” to give a drug called misoprostol to help the body pass the tissue, …

3 months, 3 weeks ago

Doctors reaching for riskier miscarriage treatment as a third woman dies under Texas’ abortion ban

Salon

Series: Life of the Mother: How Abortion Bans Lead to Preventable Deaths More in this series Wrapping his wife in a blanket as she mourned the loss of her pregnancy at 11 weeks, Hope Ngumezi wondered why no obstetrician was coming to see her. But when Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis, the obstetrician on duty, finally arrived, he said it was …

4 months, 1 week ago

Women suing over Idaho’s abortion ban describe dangerous pregnancies, becoming ‘medical refugees’

Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho — Four women suing over Idaho’s strict abortion bans told a judge Tuesday how excitement over their pregnancies turned to grief and fear after they learned their fetuses were not likely to survive to birth — and how they had to leave the state to get abortions amid fears that pregnancy complications would put their own health in …

4 months, 1 week ago

A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban

Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A pregnant woman filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to restore the right to an abortion in Kentucky in the latest challenge to the state’s near-total ban on the procedure. “I feel overwhelmed and frustrated that I cannot access abortion care here in my own state, and I have started the difficult process of arranging to get care …

4 months, 3 weeks ago

Commentary: A second Trump administration could make abortion restrictions even worse

LA Times

Mitzi Rivas, left, hugs her daughter Maya Iribarren during an abortion-rights protest at City Hall in San Francisco following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade in June 2022. Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling returning the decision on abortion to the states, nearly half enacted abortion bans, some of which have prevented women from getting emergency abortions …

5 months ago

Tennessee judges say doctors can't be disciplined for providing emergency abortions

The Independent

5 months, 1 week ago

Abortion laws are straining the OB-GYN workforce in Texas: report

Salon

In yet another indicator that the rollback of reproductive rights has ripple effects across health care, a new survey found that one in five OB-GYNs in the state of Texas are considering leaving in due to strict and confusing abortion laws. “A significant majority of practicing OB-GYN physicians surveyed believe that the Texas abortion laws have inhibited their ability to …

5 months, 2 weeks ago

Supreme Court declines Biden administration appeal in Texas emergency abortion case

LA Times

The Supreme Court let stand a lower court order that said hospitals cannot be required to provide pregnancy terminations if they would break Texas law. The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas, which has one of the country’s strictest abortion bans. The justices did not detail their reasoning for …

5 months, 2 weeks ago

Your guide to the presidential candidates’ views on abortion

LA Times

Abortion rights, always a polarizing issue in American politics, became an electoral tinderbox in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision to create a federal right to abortion access. The prospect of women not having access to abortion was theoretical in many voters’ minds until the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health …

5 months, 3 weeks ago

‘Massive win': Advocates cheer overturning of ‘extreme’ abortion law blamed for 2 deaths

Raw Story

Abortion rights advocates nationwide hailed a state judge’s decision Monday to overturn Georgia’s strict six-week abortion ban that they say “caused suffering in the state for the last two years” as a “massive win." “Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller should still be alive — and they would be if it weren’t for Donald Trump and Brian Kemp’s abortion ban,” …

6 months, 1 week ago

In 'win for reproductive freedom,' North Dakota judge strikes down abortion ban

Raw Story

Two days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed that "every Democrat, every Republican, liberal, conservative" wanted the federal right to abortion care to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, a North Dakota judge became the latest on Thursday to strike down a state-level abortion ban, saying it violated residents' constitutional rights. Meetra Mehdizadeh, a staff attorney at CRR, …

6 months, 1 week ago

Congressional Democrats push resolution that says hospitals must provide emergency abortions

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A resolution introduced by Congressional Democrats would make clear that U.S. emergency rooms need to provide emergency abortions when a woman’s health or life is at risk, despite strict state abortion bans. But since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the national right to an abortion and states enacted strict abortion bans, confusion and conflict have emerged when pregnant …

6 months, 1 week ago

"Dangerously warped": Care for pregnant people since Dobbs is "compromised," doctors say

Salon

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision, doctors on the frontlines have shared horror stories about how medical care for pregnant people has changed. "Our findings suggest that, rather than increasing clarity and identifying workarounds over time to provide evidence- based care, abortion bans have fundamentally altered how pregnancy-related care — and even other medical …

6 months, 2 weeks ago

Abortion bans are pushing people to terminate later in pregnancy

Salon

Dr. Diane Horvath is an OB-GYN who has worked in abortion care over the last 15 years. But since the Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing states to deny access to abortion, she’s noticed a trend at her clinic in Maryland: abortion bans and gestational restrictions are forcing people who try to get abortions earlier in pregnancy …

6 months, 2 weeks ago

Alaska law saying only doctors can provide abortions is unconstitutional, judge rules

Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska — An Alaska judge struck down Wednesday a decades-old state law that restricted who could perform abortions in the state. Alaska Superior Court Judge Josie Garton in 2021 granted the group’s request to allow advanced practice clinicians to provide medication abortion pending her decision in the underlying case. Planned Parenthood in its lawsuit argued there was no medical …

7 months, 1 week ago

Texas women say delayed care due to abortion laws endangered their fertility

Raw Story

Two women have filed federal complaints against Texas hospitals they say refused to treat their ectopic pregnancies, leading both women to lose their fallopian tubes and endanger their future fertility. “CMS should not rely solely on a state agency’s assessment of the facts in reaching its determination because of Texas state officials’ hostility toward interpreting EMTALA as requiring hospitals to …

7 months, 2 weeks ago

Rise in pregnancy terminations in US after verdict favouring abortion overturned

India Today

The number of women getting abortions in the US actually went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a report released Wednesday found, reflecting the lengths that Democratic-controlled states went to expand access. In March, doctors in states with laws to protect medical providers used telemedicine to prescribe abortion …

7 months, 3 weeks ago

Iowa Now Bans Most Abortions After About 6 Weeks, Before Many Women Know They're Pregnant

Huff Post

LOADING ERROR LOADING DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa’s strict abortion law went into effect Monday, immediately prohibiting most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. “I’m glad that the Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the will of the people of Iowa.” Now, across the country, four states ban abortions after about six weeks …

8 months ago

Iowa law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to take effect Monday

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa judge has ruled the state’s strict abortion law will take effect Monday, preventing most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. There are limited circumstances under the Iowa law that would allow for abortion after six weeks of pregnancy: rape, if reported to law enforcement or a …

8 months ago

Iowa law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to take effect Monday

LA Times

Iowa’s strict abortion law is expected to take effect Monday, banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. There are limited circumstances under the Iowa law that would allow for abortion after six weeks of pregnancy: rape, if reported to law enforcement or a health provider within 45 days; incest, if reported …

8 months ago

Kansas won't force providers to ask patients why they want abortions while a lawsuit proceeds

The Independent

8 months ago

Kansas won’t force providers to ask patients why they want abortions while a lawsuit proceeds

Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas isn’t enforcing a new law requiring abortion providers to ask patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies, as a legal challenge against that rule and other older requirements makes its way through the courts. The new law was supposed to take effect July 1 and would require providers to ask patients questions from a state …

8 months, 1 week ago

National abortion ban "hidden in plain sight" in revised RNC agenda, legal experts say

Salon

Earlier this week, the Republican Party released its 16-page “Make America Great Again” policy platform ahead of its national convention. “The key to their true agenda here is the suggestion that the 14th Amendment of the federal constitution somehow empowers states to ban abortion,” Kolbi-Molinas said. The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United …

8 months, 2 weeks ago

Kansas’ top court bolsters a state right to abortion and strikes down 2 anti-abortion laws

Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas’ highest court strongly reaffirmed Friday that the state constitution protects abortion access, striking down a ban on a common second-trimester procedure and laws regulating abortion providers more strictly than other health care providers. The court’s dissenting justice, widely seen as its most conservative, warned that Kansas is headed toward “a legal regime of unrestricted access to …

8 months, 3 weeks ago

Amy Coney Barrett Signaled Something Very Scary About Where Abortion Bans Will Go Next

Slate

This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court this June. And on rare occasions that means providing an abortion.” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson voiced the concerns of a growing number of Americans who support abortion access in cases of threats to life or health, expressing alarm for the “pregnant people experiencing emergency medical …

8 months, 3 weeks ago

Opinion: If you were relieved by the Supreme Court’s abortion rulings this term, think again

LA Times

Demonstrators gather outside the Supreme Court on Friday after the justices kicked the can down the road on whether federal law guaranteeing emergency medical care trumps state abortion bans. Emergency access to abortion has been a flashpoint in the chaotic aftermath of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the right to terminate a pregnancy in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization …

8 months, 3 weeks ago

Iowa’s Supreme Court tells lower court to let strict abortion law go into effect

Deccan Chronicle

DES MOINES, Iowa: The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday the state’s strict abortion law is legal, telling a lower court to dissolve a temporary block on the law and allowing Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant. The 4-3 ruling is a win for Republican lawmakers, and Iowa …

8 months, 3 weeks ago

Iowa’s Supreme Court tells lower court to let strict abortion law go into effect

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday the state’s strict abortion law is legal, telling a lower court to dissolve a temporary block on the law and allowing Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant. The 4-3 ruling is a win for Republican lawmakers, and …

8 months, 3 weeks ago

Editorial: Supreme Court squandered a chance to protect medically necessary abortions

LA Times

A group of doctors join abortion rights supporters at a rally outside the Supreme Court on April 24. The Supreme Court on Thursday put back in place an injunction from a lower court that blocks a draconian portion of Idaho’s abortion ban which only allows emergency abortions to prevent a pregnant person’s death. Ideally, the court would have ruled that …

8 months, 3 weeks ago

Iowa Supreme Court upholds state’s 6-week abortion ban

CNN

CNN — The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday to uphold the state’s abortion ban, which prohibits most abortions in the state as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Kim Reynolds celebrated the ruling Friday, saying she is glad the state’s high court “upheld the will of the people.” “As the heartbeat bill finally becomes law, we are deeply committed to …

8 months, 3 weeks ago

Despite Supreme Court ruling, the future of emergency abortions is still unclear for US women

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court did not settle the debate over whether federal law requires hospitals to stabilize pregnant patients with emergency abortions on Wednesday, despite saying Idaho hospitals can provide abortions in medical emergencies even with the state’s restrictions. Health and legal experts say Thursday’s order that divided the Supreme Court’s conservatives does nothing to protect pregnant women …

8 months, 3 weeks ago

Emergency abortions in Idaho can continue for the time being, US Supreme Court says

Hindustan Times

The US Supreme Court on Thursday, June 27, affirmed a lower court injunction that allows abortion to continue in Idaho in cases of medical emergencies. Emergency abortions in Idaho can continue for the time being, US Supreme Court says Idaho is a state known to have very strict restrictions in place. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that the "shape …

Discover Related

4 days, 20 hours ago