Temporary pause on lower court rulings gives court additional time to consider a longer stay
Danco Laboratories has said that they will continue to distribute the abortion pill, according to an email from the company.
Reuters reported that the company emailed a statement confirming that they will still continue to dispense Mifeprex to its customers.
Continue reading...Mifepristone will lose its FDA approval this week unless an appeals court intervenes in a case likely to reach the supreme court
FDA authorization for a key abortion drug could be nullified after Friday, unless an appeals court acts on a Biden administration request to block last week’s ruling suspending approval of the drug.
The drug, mifepristone, is used in more than half of all the abortions in the US. The ruling, issued by a federal judge in Texas, applies across the country.
Continue reading...Underfunded services resulting in more women choosing cheaper at-home abortion pill, study finds
Overstretched and underfunded abortion services in England and Wales are leaving women feeling pressured into opting for the cheaper at-home pill rather than a surgical procedure, according to research.
The proportion of medical abortions – using pills – rose from 47% in 2011 to 87% in 2021, while very few abortions are now administered surgically, finds research from the London School of Economics.
Continue reading...Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a ruling on Friday aiming to suspend the FDA’s approval of abortion drug mifepristone
Texas-based federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Friday issued a ruling aiming to suspend the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a common abortion drug approved for use 23 years ago that has been consistently found to be safe and effective.
It is widely believed that the anti-abortion groups who brought the case challenging the FDA’s authorization of the drug did so in Amarillo, Texas, so that it would be certain to land on the desk of this particular judge. Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by Donald Trump, is known for disregarding precedent and for weighing in on the far-right side of culture war issues.
Continue reading...Human rights court hears seriously ill woman denied procedure as advocates call for change in region with world’s most restrictive abortion laws
Human rights activists in Latin America hope that a historic court hearing over the case of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion despite her high-risk pregnancy could open the way for El Salvador to decriminalize abortions – and set an important precedent across the region.
The inter-American court of human rights (IACHR) this week considered the historic case of the woman, known as Beatriz, who was prohibited from having an abortion in 2013, even though she was seriously ill and the foetus she was carrying would not have survived outside the uterus.
Continue reading...Although the case was decided on a technicality, a dissenting judge on panel said the court should have rejected the claim on its merits
A Florida appeals court denied an attorney’s attempt to have a woman released from jail ahead of trial by arguing that her fetus was being illegally detained without charge – but the attorney says he plans to continue the legal battle.
Florida’s third district court of appeal dismissed without prejudice a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by attorney William M Norris on behalf of the “unborn child” of Natalia Harrell.
Continue reading...Coalition of lawyers, doctors and activists hope to put the question of abortion directly to state voters after toppling of Roe v Wade
Today, reproductive health advocates in Ohio are handing in language to the state’s attorney general, looking to bring a ballot initiative on abortion to voters in November 2023.
Following the US supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade last summer – which had secured a federal right to abortion – an Ohio ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy immediately came into effect. That ban was then put on hold by an Ohio judge in October 2022, restoring abortion rights in the state up to 22 weeks of pregnancy until further notice.
Continue reading...Reports that fighters have threatened those issuing birth control medicines come as Afghan midwives and activists warn of impact on women’s health and rights
Taliban fighters have stopped the sale of contraceptives in two of Afghanistan’s main cities, claiming their use by women is a western conspiracy to control the Muslim population.
The Guardian has learned that the Taliban has been going door to door, threatening midwives and ordering pharmacies to clear their shelves of all birth control medicines and devices.
Continue reading...Students led effort over concern for reproductive rights after supreme court struck down constitutional right to abortion
A vending machine that provides emergency contraception has been installed at a Washington DC university, as colleges contend with how to protect reproductive rights on campus.
Students at George Washington University successfully obtained the vending machine dispensing morning-after pills following concerns in the wake of the supreme court’s ruling last summer to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision that had ushered in the constitutional right to an abortion.
Continue reading...While the decisions cannot undo abortion bans in the 13 states they exist, it could make a huge difference where the right is protected
This week, the federal government announced two decisions designed to improve abortion access in the US. The first, a rule change made by the Food and Drug Administration, allows pharmacies to dispense mifepristone, one of the two drugs needed for a medication abortion. The second, an opinion drafted by the justice department, gives the US Postal Service the all clear to continue mailing abortion pills, even to states where abortion is severely restricted.
How big an impact the moves will have, however, remains to be seen.
Continue reading...FDA regulators to change packaging labels to make clear pill will not work if person is already pregnant
The US Food and Drug Administration has announced it will change packaging labels for the emergency contraceptive Plan B, to specify that it is not an abortion pill.
According to many anti-abortion activists, any form of disruption to an egg is considered an abortion.
Continue reading...Pavone had been investigated for placing an aborted foetus on an altar and posting a video of it online
The Vatican has defrocked the anti-abortion US priest Frank Pavone for what it said were “blasphemous communications on social media” as well as “persistent disobedience” of his bishop.
A letter to US bishops from the Vatican ambassador to the US, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, said the decision against Pavone, who heads the anti-abortion group Priests for Life, had been taken and that there was no chance for an appeal.
Continue reading...Unanimous judgment in UK’s highest court means Stormont assembly can proceed with abortion services bill
The Northern Ireland assembly can legislate to create buffer zones around abortion clinics to protect users and staff, the UK’s highest court has ruled.
The supreme court’s unanimous judgment means the assembly can proceed with the abortion services (safe access zones) (Northern Ireland) bill, which criminalises people who enter the specified areas and influence people attending clinics.
Continue reading...Xiomara Castro unable to make good on promises in country with highly restrictive abortion and contraception laws
At her inauguration earlier this year, Xiomara Castro, the first female president of Honduras, ended her speech with a message to women.
“Honduran women, I will not fail you, I will defend your rights, all your rights, count on me,” said Castro, whose resounding election victory ended a dozen years of conservative rule and generated high hopes for change in a country with one of the highest rates of femicide and most restrictive laws against reproductive rights in Latin America.
Continue reading...As abortion rights are rolled back, more citizens seeking access to reproductive healthcare may face similar treatment
Three women who peacefully protested against restrictions on abortion rights in the US supreme court were mistreated and detained in “inhumane” conditions after their arrest, they say.
Their experience shows unsettling treatment in a landscape where pregnant people, medical providers and others increasingly face criminalization after the Dobbs decision on reproductive care.
Continue reading...The midterms include key elections to the state’s highest court as the judicial system becomes increasingly politicized
In Ohio, a highly partisan fight over three state supreme court seats could determine the political direction of the court on a slew of important issues – particularly abortion.
With the US supreme court increasingly handing issues such as voting rights, abortion, gun rights and gerrymandering back to the states, state supreme court races are becoming more important than ever.
Continue reading...UNFPA head urges countries to focus on helping women, children and marginalised people most vulnerable to demographic change
The world must not engage in “population alarmism” as the number of people living on Earth nears 8 billion, a senior UN official has said.
The global population is projected to reach that milestone on 15 November, with some commentators expressing worries about the impact of the growing number on a world already struggling with huge inequality, the climate crisis, and conflict-fuelled displacement and migration.
Continue reading...The strategies that worked in Kansas – countering misinformation, building a broad coalition – offers lessons for other ballot measures
In February, long before organizers in Kansas had made the hundreds of thousands of calls, knocked on the tens of thousands of doors; or did the thousands of media interviews needed to win a monumental race against an anti-abortion amendment, they started having parties.
Sometimes they were small parties: parties where tea and cookies were handed out, and people sat in living rooms getting to know one another. Other times, they sat around a dinner table, drinking wine with strangers.
Continue reading...Rights groups express concern after Minnesota judge rules Andrea Anderson’s rights were not violated by pharmacy’s denial
A Minnesota jury has ruled that a pharmacy did not discriminate against a woman when it denied to give her the morning-after pill.
The pharmacist gave “belief” as the reason for refusing to fill the prescription for emergency contraception. Although the jury decided that the woman’s rights had not been violated, it did say that the emotional damage caused by the decision amounted to $25,000.
Continue reading...The ballot measure is the first of many across the country that will decide where and how women can preserve reproductive rights
In the first of a wave of referendums across the country on abortion rights, Kansas voters will decide on Tuesday whether the state’s constitution protects the right to terminate a pregnancy.
Should Kansans pass the ballot measure, it would give state lawmakers leeway to ban the procedure, which they appear likely to do.
Continue reading...