Women’s health being neglected worldwide, says Melinda French Gates

“With Roe overturned, women have been denied emergency care, maternal mortality rates have continued to rise, and maternity care deserts are becoming more common,” she said. “Of course, these challenges aren’t limited to the US – women in low- and middle-income countries have long struggled to access quality care.” Read more at The Guardian  

More abortion ballot measures are set to pass. Then state courts will have their say.

In Arizona, progressive groups are holding events and knocking on doors to make GOP-appointed state Supreme Court Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King the first in state history to lose a retention vote by reminding voters the pair ruled this year to uphold an 1864 law criminalizing nearly all abortions. Read more at Politico

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

Of the doctors surveyed, 76% reported that they believe they cannot practice evidence-based medicine in the state, with 60% reporting that a fear of legal repercussions is part of the reason why. Twenty-nine percent of respondents also said they don’t feel like they have a clear understanding of the abortion laws in Texas, and only … Read more

The Supreme Court just signaled how next president could impact abortion access — no legislation needed

Cohen predicted that if Trump wins in November, his Department of Health and Human Services would “immediately” rescind the Biden administration’s interpretation of EMTALA as it relates to abortion bans. That, in turn, would make the Idaho case “disappear” and the Texas case would be dismissed, he said. The practical impact would be that EMTALA … Read more

‘One death is too many’: abortion bans usher in US maternal mortality crisis

In Louisiana, doctors will no longer be able to carry a lifesaving medication with them during pregnancy emergencies. In Texas, the infant mortality rate is soaring. In Idaho, pregnant people drive hours just to give birth. And in Oklahoma and Georgia, women are bleeding out in hospital parking lots and facing dangerous infections before they … Read more

More than 200 pregnancy-related prosecutions in first year post-Roe

More than 200 of the 210 recorded prosecutions involve allegations of substance use during pregnancy. In almost 200 of the cases, prosecutors charged people using statutes that criminalize child abuse, neglect, or endangerment – charges that treat an embryo or fetus as a person, complete with rights and protections that may compete with that of … Read more

These Moms Smoked Weed Legally. Then Their Kids Were Taken Away

In a post-Dobbs world — and in an era of so-called fetal personhood, the conservative ideology that grants legal rights to infants not yet born — that risk becomes more real every day. States like Mississippi and South Carolina are already using “chemical endangerment” laws to prosecute women criminally for prenatal drug use. In Oklahoma … Read more