But Florida stands out for how DeSantis is deploying multiple levers of power within his administration to discredit the amendment and even block political speech about it. While courts have pushed back on some of those efforts, they amount to the most sweeping and brazen government-funded campaigns opposing an abortion ballot measure this election cycle. … Read more
There is one law in particular, known as the Comstock Act, that has resurfaced and has many abortion rights advocates worried. The 1873 federal law prohibits mailing or transporting items across state lines that could be used in producing an abortion. Some have interpreted that could mean anything used in an abortion, from the equipment … Read more
“When women are facing situations where they can’t get the care they need, where in places like Texas, for example, the attorney general is talking about suing, is suing, to get access to women’s medical records … that’s not sustainable for us as a country and it has to change.” Read more at Axios
Infant mortality was trending downward until 2022, when it increased for the first time in 20 years by 3%. Negative trends in maternal and infant health have coincided with legislation that restricts abortion access, and research has shown that infants die at higher rates in states with stricter abortion bans. A similar study also published … Read more
But even if the measure passes, abortion will likely remain limited in the immediate and near future, thanks to that complex maze of anti-abortion restrictions that chipped away at abortion availability for so many years. ….. The fear she felt — the one that left her unable to tell her doctor or trust a hospital … Read more
Recent legal fights in Ohio provide a glimpse of how even sweeping abortion protections don’t automatically undo the effects of restrictions, and could lead to new ones. Last year, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to an abortion. But pro-abortion-rights advocates in the state are still fighting to throw out the state’s … Read more
Some anti-abortion activists believe the Comstock Act can do even more: if enacted to its fullest extent, it could not only ban pills but the very equipment that clinics need to do their jobs. Without ever involving Congress, Trump could use the Comstock Act to implement a nationwide de facto abortion ban. And if he … Read more
A former Florida Department of Health attorney said in a sworn affidavit that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) office’s top deputies drafted the letters threatening TV stations with criminal prosecution for airing ads that advocated for the passage of an abortion rights ballot measure, and directed him to send them to the stations. The letters from … Read more
Bishops and Catholics shift their anti-abortion messaging In an election season where a majority of Americans say they support abortion rights, the bishops aren’t primarily campaigning on their fundamental opposition to all abortions. Instead, they’re arguing these amendments — such as Florida’s Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution and end … Read more
The CDC and health experts attribute those gaps to chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension as well as structural racism, implicit bias from healthcare providers and lack of access to quality healthcare. Leah Wright Rigueur, a history professor at Johns Hopkins University, said abortion restrictions have made it even more difficult for Black women … Read more
