With tears and a lullaby, a rural Alabama hospital stops delivering babies

Liz Kirby, Monroe County Hospital’s CEO, said a physician shortage was behind the closing. After the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, some hospitals in states with strict abortion bans have warned that it could become harder to recruit OB-GYNs, though Kirby said she wasn’t aware of that as a factor in this case. Residency … Read more

GOP frets as Senate Dems move to break Tuberville’s military holds

On Tuesday, not a single Republican sided with Democrats as the Senate Rules Committee advanced a resolution that would allow mass confirmations of those nominees for the rest of the Congress, an effort that would effectively end Tuberville’s holds. Instead, Republicans sought more time to end the quarrel internally — after eight months of failing … Read more

Pussy Riot founder protests Indiana’s ban on nearly all abortions

At the same time last week, the University of Indiana made headlines as the board of trustees said it could soon vote to sever ties with the Kinsey Institute, a longtime partner of the school. Storied for its study of human sexuality since 1947, the Kinsey Institute recently suffered a blow after Republican representative Lorissa … Read more

How abortion bans are undercutting efforts to prevent domestic violence

Research shows that OB-GYNs are often the first or only doctors to learn if a patient is facing intimate partner violence. While women of all ages experience intimate partner violence, it is most prevalent among women of reproductive age, the people most likely to see an OB-GYN. Meanwhile, abortion bans have contributed to reproductive health … Read more

They were prosecuted for using drugs while pregnant. But it may not have been a crime.

Some local investigators and prosecutors are pursuing similar cases in Alabama, Oklahoma and South Carolina. They are policing pregnant people under an expanded interpretation of child abuse and neglect laws — even if parents birthed healthy babies, according to an investigation by The Marshall Project, Mississippi Today, AL.com, The Frontier and The Post & Courier. … Read more