Watered-down law passed which says three specialists must agree that a termination is necessary
Maltese lawmakers have unanimously approved legislation to ease the strictest abortion laws in the EU, voting to allow terminations – but only in cases where a woman’s life is at risk.
Ahead of the vote on Wednesday, pro-choice campaigners withdrew their support, saying last-minute changes make the legislation “vague, unworkable and even dangerous”.
Continue reading...Republican presidential candidates attacked trans people and the LGBTQ+ community at a gathering of the religious right last week
Americans are “frustrated and anxious”, lamented former vice-president Mike Pence. The country is “in a precarious position” assessed North Carolina’s lieutenant governor Mark Robinson. And Glenn Jacobs, a former professional wrestling star and current mayor of Knox county, Tennessee, declared that “these are hard times”.
What could be the cause of such hardship? To the Republican presidential candidates who spoke in Washington DC on Friday at a major gathering of the religious right, the culprit was American society’s acceptance of transgender people and the broader LGBTQ+ community.
Continue reading...Former vice-president hails Dobbs decision as ‘historic victory’ but says it didn’t go far enough and urges a nationwide abortion ban
Despite their unpopularity with the American public, former Republican vice-president and 2024 White House hopeful Mike Pence doubled down Sunday on his hard-line support of staunch abortion restrictions, saying: “We just can’t rest or relent until we restore the sanctity of life.”
Pence – in an interview on Fox News Sunday – made clear that he viewed bringing the elimination of abortion “to the center of American law” as both essential and “a winning issue” for the Republican party trying to wrest back control of the Oval Office.
Continue reading...Campaigners set to hold events across the country on first anniversary of supreme court overturning constitutional right to abortion
Several reproductive rights organizations have announced their endorsement of the Biden-Harris administration in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
The organizations include Planned Parenthood, NARAL (National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws) Pro-Choice America , and EMILYs List, a political action committee dedicated to electing Democratic pro-choice women into office.
“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been committed to fighting back against the onslaught of attacks against our reproductive freedom. And we need them to continue this critical work.
Abortion is health care… We need leaders who are committed to protecting our freedoms, not taking them away. That is why we must re-elect President Biden and Vice President Harris: people we can trust to keep rebuilding a path forward, because we know the journey to rebuilding our rights will be met with challenges,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are the strongest advocates for reproductive freedom ever to occupy the White House, and NARAL Pro-Choice America proudly endorses their reelection. It’s as simple as this: Abortion matters to Americans. In elections since the Supreme Court took away our right to abortion, voters have mobilized in massive numbers to elect Democrats who will fight to restore it...”
EMILYs List president Laphonza Butler released the following statement:
“When the Dobbs decision ended a constitutional right for the first time in this country’s history, we were grateful to have leaders in the White House like President Biden and Vice President Harris, who have been vocal advocates for abortion rights across the government and across the country… For her work as a groundbreaker, tireless advocate for reproductive freedom, and inspiring change-maker, EMILYs List is thrilled to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for reelection.”
Continue reading...A look back on the year since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade with the Dobbs decision, and the advocates who aren’t giving up
While the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade sent shockwaves around the country, many activists, physicians and advocacy groups closely engaged in the fight over abortion in the US were not surprised.
Since Roe’s establishment of the federal right to abortion in 1973, anti-abortion advocates and conservative lawmakers have been chipping away at it. Restrictions on abortion increased over the last decade, and by the mid-2010s, seven states had just one abortion clinic left. In Mississippi, where the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that ultimately ended Roe originated, the state’s one clinic did not provide abortions beyond 16 weeks of pregnancy, meaning many people already had to travel to find care.
Continue reading...Supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade sparked a slew of state-level restrictions but anti-abortion stance has proved a vote-loser
In the months since the supreme court voted to overturn Roe v Wade last year, the effects of the court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization have become clear. Over a dozen states across the country have passed legislation limiting or outright banning access to abortions, severely restricting reproductive rights for millions of people and threatening to imprison abortion providers.
But as Republicans have pushed through these bills, voters have also taken every opportunity to rebuke them in elections – leading to defeats in midterms and emerging as one of the GOP’s largest vulnerabilities.
Continue reading...President announces executive order to boost access to contraception as Republicans call for national restrictions
Joe Biden on Friday put reproductive rights squarely in the middle of his 2024 re-election campaign as the US president hosted a rally based around defending abortion rights, notched three high-profile endorsements from groups dedicated to the issue, and announced an executive order aimed at boosting access to contraception.
The moves came in stark contrast to the Republican field of candidates, many of whom were attending the Faith & Freedom Coalition annual conference in Washington DC.
Continue reading...Former vice-president calls for federal 15-week ‘minimum’ ban in contrast to Trump who suggested issue cost party votes
Speaking one year since the US supreme court removed the federal right to abortion, Mike Pence said candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination should stand firm on the electorally unpopular issue and take a hard line on bringing in national limits.
“For me, for our campaign, we’re going to stand where we’ve always stood, and that is without apology for the right to life,” the former congressman, Indiana governor and vice-president to Donald Trump told Politico.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: On the anniversary of Roe v Wade’s overturning, one woman tells her story of being forced to carry a baby to term
Good morning. A year ago tomorrow, the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, and reproductive rights in America were thrown into turmoil. The landmark 1973 ruling had guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for almost 50 years. With its removal, the ability of tens of millions of women to make decisions about their own bodies was abruptly stripped away.
Twelve months on, the picture for many is grim.
Titanic sub | The US Navy has said it detected an “anomaly” that was likely the Titan’s fatal implosion, soon after the submersible went missing on its voyage to the wreck of the Titanic. Film director James Cameron has also claimed his sources in the deep-sea exploration industry detected a “loud bang”.
Mortgages | The government’s pledge to ease the cost of living crisis is in tatters after the unexpected leap in interest rates to 5%, a “shock and awe” move by the Bank of England which some fear will push the UK into recession.
London | Ministers have been accused of criminalising the flying of the European union flag on government buildings in England after London’s City Hall was told it could be prosecuted for displaying it on the anniversary of the Brexit referendum.
Covid | England’s chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, said the UK “did not give sufficient thought” to stopping Covid in its tracks as he listed multiple problems with preparedness in his first cross-examination at the pandemic public inquiry. He added that the government’s “big weakness” was a lack of “radicalism” in thinking before the crisis took hold.
Diabetes | The number of adults living with diabetes worldwide will more than double by 2050, according to research that blames rapidly rising obesity levels and widening health inequalities. New estimates predict the number will rise from 529 million in 2021 to more than 1.3 billion in 2050.
Continue reading...Authorities denied pregnant Indigenous girl her legal right to an abortion and ‘re-victimised’ her, UN child rights committee says
Peru violated the rights of a 13-year-old girl who had been repeatedly raped by her father by denying her an abortion after she became pregnant, the UN has ruled.
The United Nations child rights committee found this week that the Peruvian authorities had violated the rights to health and life of the girl, known by the pseudonym Camila, by failing to provide her with information and access to legal and safe abortion.
Continue reading...Study finds the search giant has profited since Roe was overturned from anti-abortion groups buying misleading search terms
Google has made millions of dollars in the last two years from advertisements misdirecting users who were seeking abortion services to “pregnancy crisis centers” that do not actually provide care, according to a new study.
The tech giant has taken in an estimated $10m in two years from anti-choice organizations that pay to advertise such centers alongside legitimate results on the Google search page, according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit group that conducts misinformation research. Its study, published on Thursday, estimates that the search results have reached and potentially misled hundreds of thousands of users.
Continue reading...Leading expert warns of ‘sustained attacks’ on reproductive rights after sentence imposed on Monday
Leading women’s health experts have warned of an attack on women’s reproductive rights and the potential for more prosecutions, following the jailing of a woman for terminating her pregnancy after the legal time limit.
The president of the UK’s leading body for sexual health professionals said that women should be “more worried than they are” following the sentencing, adding that it could lead to sustained attacks on established rights, and efforts to curtail reforms.
Continue reading...Tory MP speaks out amid anger over 44-year-old’s sentence for taking abortion pills beyond legal limit
Abortion legislation is “very much out of date” and should be overhauled, the chair of the Commons women and equalities committee has said, after a woman was jailed for procuring drugs to induce an abortion after the legal limit.
There was outrage on Monday after the woman, a mother of three, was sentenced to more than two years in prison.
Continue reading...Pro-choice groups condemn rare enforcement of country’s total ban on terminations
A woman in Malta has been charged in court for having an abortion, in a rare enforcement of the country’s total ban on terminations.
The Women’s Rights Foundation of Malta said: “What should have never happened [has] happened today: a Maltese woman was brought to court facing charges of having a medical abortion at home.”
Continue reading...Nearly half of respondents said they did not know where to access the medication if they needed it
Asian Americans do not have adequate access to information about how to obtain an abortion, according to a new report.
Cultural stigmas against conversations about sexual and reproductive health and a lack of in-language information on abortion has stifled knowledge of abortion care among Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians, researchers found.
Continue reading...The law, which the governor has promised to sign, will ban abortion before most people know they are pregnant
South Carolina’s state senate approved an anti-abortion bill on Tuesday that would ban most abortions at about six weeks, a period when most people are unaware they are pregnant.
During a special session to decide whether the bill advances to the governor, who has promised to sign it, the Republican-controlled senate launched into a heated debate over the ban.
Continue reading...Draft law, which governor has promised to sign, also puts restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors
The Nebraska state legislature on Friday approved a 12-week abortion ban and restrictions on gender-affirming care for children in a move so contentious that lawmakers on both sides have said they may be unable to work together in the future.
Conservative lawmakers wrangled just enough votes to end a filibuster and pass a bill with both measures. The Republican governor, Jim Pillen, who pushed for the bill and met with various lawmakers to shore up support, has promised to sign it into law.
Continue reading...Gabriella Gonzalez, 26, was shot in the head in a parking lot by Harold Thompson, 22, shortly after she ‘shrugs off’ his chokehold
A 26-year-old woman from Texas was shot and killed by her boyfriend after getting an abortion in another state, Dallas police said.
He was jailed on a murder charge as of Friday.
Continue reading...Walkout lasting more than a week has thrown statehouse into disarray and jeopardized Democrats’ legislative agenda
Oregon Republicans boycotted the statehouse for a ninth day on Thursday, denying lawmakers the quorum necessary to pass legislation, in a protest that could derail hundreds of bills, including proposals on gun control and abortion rights.
While Democrats control the capital in the Pacific north-west state, Republicans have leveraged rules requiring two-thirds of lawmakers be present to pass legislation, which means Democrats need a certain number of Republicans to be there too.
Continue reading...Advocates say people on student visas, who are initially ineligible for reproductive healthcare, risk dropping out if they fall pregnant
International students are being denied pregnancy care, leading to them dropping out of university, having “reluctant abortions”, and or undertaking sex work to pay for antenatal care, advocates say.
Those on student visas are not eligible for Medicare and instead must take out overseas student health cover (OSHC). The terms of that cover – agreed via a deed between the federal government and insurers – exclude any pregnancy care for the first year.
Continue reading...