“There is no ‘vagueness’ or ‘middle ground of sorts’ about Donald Trump’s position on abortion. Take his word for it: he was ‘proud’ to overturn Roe v. Wade; he’s advocated for ‘some form of punishment’ for women who have an abortion; and has promised to ‘lead the charge’ in getting a national abortion ban passed. … Read more
In its first legal action to protect abortion access after Roe’s demise, the justice department in August 2022 sued Idaho over its law, claiming that it violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or Emtala. After Roe fell, the Biden administration issued guidance clarifying that Emtala, which requires hospitals that receive federal funding … Read more
Supreme Court justices are slated to delve into disputes surrounding abortion during their final session this year, revealing the legal battlefronts forming in the wake of the high court’s stunning decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Read more on The Hill
The case, national advocates said, highlighted growing concerns about the criminalization of women across the US, who have increasingly faced surveillance, arrest and prosecutions for abortions, as well as miscarriages, stillbirths and other actions that law enforcement have claimed “endangered” their fetuses. It was also an example of how punitive responses to drug addiction can … Read more
The bill, which is unlikely to pass, amounts to an outright abortion ban. Gestational age is calculated from the first day of the woman’s period; at 15 days gestational age, a fertilized egg — if it exists yet — has most likely not implanted in the uterine wall. Implantation is the point when pregnancy begins, … Read more
The group found that 23 independently owned clinics closed this year, on top of the 42 that shuttered in 2022, leaving over a dozen states, mainly in the American south and midwest, without a single brick-and-mortar clinic that provides abortion. Read more at The Guardian
The suit brought by the Center for Reproductive Freedom charges that many of the 22 women were denied care because, despite the severity of the damage that the nonviable pregnancy was doing their body, doctors told them they weren’t quite sick enough for it to be clearly life threatening. Read more at The Hill
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has not responded to multiple requests from NPR for comment on the new plaintiffs, but in filings, lawyers for the state argue that these women were not harmed by the state’s abortion laws. They say the law is clear, the exception is sufficient as is, and suggest that doctors … Read more
Now, though, Mathisen has gone public with her story. She is one of 20 Texas women who have sued their home state, arguing that they were denied medically necessary abortions. While Texas bans almost all abortions, the procedure, according to state law, should be allowed in medical emergencies. But abortion rights advocates and doctors in … Read more
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra published a memo shortly after the Dobbs decision reminding hospitals that EMTALA requires them to perform abortions as part of emergency stabilizing care. Idaho’s ban prohibits abortions except when necessary to prevent the pregnant woman’s death. Read more at Talking Points Memo
