Indiana’s AG wants the doctor who spoke of 10-year-old’s abortion to be penalized

Indiana’s Republican attorney general on Wednesday asked the state medical licensing board to discipline an Indianapolis doctor who has spoken publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio after its more-restrictive abortion law took effect. * Bernard’s lawyers argue Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who is stridently anti-abortion, has … Read more

Some Republicans say the midterms were a mandate for further abortion restrictions

Republicans racked up big wins in more than a dozen state legislatures this fall — and now they’re planning to use their expanded power to crack down on abortions come January. With sweeping abortion legislation having little chance in a divided Congress, conservative state legislators are stepping into the void, proposing to limit when the … Read more

More than 4 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths are preventable in the US, and mental health is the leading cause

The staggering number of preventable maternal deaths – 84% – from the CDC’s most recent report represents a 27% increase from the agency’s previous report, from 2008 to 2017. Of these pregnancy-related deaths, 22% occur during pregnancy, 13% during childbirth and 65% during the year following childbirth. * While the information described above already paints … Read more

Anti-abortion groups launch lawsuit to end access to abortion pills

Advocates warily eye legal challenge to abortion pills The lawsuit asked for the court to immediately pause the FDA’s approval of the drug while the case proceeds, which would effectively make all medication abortions illegal. Susan Wood, former assistant commissioner for women’s health at the FDA and current director of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s … Read more

Patient mistrust and poor access hamper federal efforts to overhaul family planning

Trying to undo decades of such damage — and overhaul how providers deliver family planning care — became even more difficult after the Supreme Court decision and the closure of abortion clinics across the South. Suddenly, women in Mississippi, Alabama, and about a dozen other states could no longer get abortions. “A major service has … Read more

Arizona voters approve Republican measures to restrict ballot initiatives

Two Republican ballot measures that will restrict how citizens can get their own priorities on the ballot in the future were approved by voters in Arizona, while one measure to institute stricter voter ID requirements failed. * The new restrictions will be in place for the 2024 election, where abortion rights advocates are eyeing a … Read more

Sneaky ways cops could access data to widely prosecute abortions in the US

But just because Big Tech companies collect the most information on Americans, that doesn’t mean Facebook or Google will inevitably be the primary force driving abortion-related arrests. As abortion access becomes further restricted nationwide—and new legal gray areas emerge as other states pass laws attempting to protect access—the courts will have to decide which laws … Read more

The next abortion fight could be over wastewater regulation

Abortion opponents and their allies in elected office are seizing on an unusual strategy after suffering a wave of election defeats — using environmental laws to try to block the distribution of abortion pills. * Also referenced repeatedly in the petition are studies about the environmental impact of hormonal contraception, leading some experts to ask … Read more

She made headlines for providing abortion care to a 10-year-old. Now she’s fighting to protect patient privacy.

In a statement after testifying Monday, Bernard said, “As a physician, I never imagined that I would be in the position to engage in a legal fight to protect the rights of women and girls to not have their private medical records released for political purposes. But nonetheless, I feel strongly that this fight — … Read more

Deadly Polish Abortion Ban Treats Women ‘As Incubators,’ Critics Say at EU Hearing

Barbara Skrobol, the sister-in-law of the late Izabela Sajbor, who died of sepsis in September 2021 because doctors refused to terminate her nonviable pregnancy, described Sajbor’s harrowing last moments to European Union lawmakers. “We were not [allowed] to visit her but received text messages from her saying the doctors were waiting for her fetus’ heartbeat … Read more