Category Archives: Abortion

Abortion is still under threat by dark money groups that helped overturn Roe

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An Ohio election ballot, if passed, would safeguard abortion access – but groups tied to anti-abortion figures like Leonard Leo are trying to influence the outcome

The fight for abortion access in the US continues to be threatened by the same dark-money, anti-abortion operatives that helped overturn Roe v Wade. Chief among them is the Leonard Leo-affiliated group Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA-PLA) and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

One of the fiercest fights is currently focused on an amendment at the center of a November Ohio election ballot, that, if passed, would safeguard abortion access by enshrining reproductive rights in the state’s constitution.

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Fury at year-long Home Office delay over protest buffer zones at UK abortion clinics

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Suella Braverman accused by MP Stella Creasy of denying will of parliament in passing safe access law

Pro-choice MPs and activists have expressed their frustration at the government’s failure to implement a law on buffer zones around abortion clinics one year after 297 MPs voted in favour of the zones and as women face a new wave of protests when accessing reproductive care.

A Home Office spokesperson told the Observer that timelines would be confirmed “in due course” but refused to explain why the law was not yet in force and failed to confirm if a consultation on safe-access zones legislation had been launched.

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Anti-abortion groups sue San Antonio over reproductive justice fund

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Plan includes $500,000 to organizations offering Texans care but it unclear if it will go to groups that help people get abortions

Several anti-abortion groups on Tuesday sued the city of San Antonio over the city’s plan to create a reproductive justice fund and provide $500,000 to organizations that offer Texans reproductive care.

The lawsuit seeks to put a halt to the reproductive justice fund, which, it alleges, would give taxpayers’ dollars to “criminal organizations that violate the state’s abortion laws” by helping people get abortions out of state. Because Texas law bans anybody from helping “procure” an abortion, the lawsuit argues, “if any part of the ‘procurement’ activity occurs within Texas, then the act is criminal even if the abortion that has been ‘procured’ takes place outside the state.”

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Abortions in North Carolina drop by 30% in wake of new restrictions, data shows

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Nearby states didn’t see similar increases, suggesting those denied abortions in the state are self-managing, or going without

Abortions in North Carolina fell by more than 30% after the state enacted new abortion restrictions on 1 July, including a 12-week abortion ban, new data released on Wednesday by the Guttmacher Institute shows.

North Carolina abortion clinics performed more than 4,200 abortions in June, but just 2,920 abortions in July. Nearby states did not see a comparable surge in abortions, suggesting that patients denied abortions in North Carolina had to self-manage their own – or simply went without.

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Record number of Poles abroad register to vote in election

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Total expected to surpass 600,000 as polls suggest close-run race with PiS seeking third term in power

More than half a million people have registered abroad to vote in Poland’s election on Sunday, as the ruling Law & Justice party hopes for an unprecedented third consecutive term in power.

The Polish foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, said on Tuesday he expected the number of overseas voters to surpass 600,000 before a midnight deadline, a record number in the country’s history.

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‘My trust is limited’: feminist takes aim at Polish opposition

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Jana Shostak was dropped by Donald Tusk’s opposition alliance over support for wider abortion rights

A feminist activist and electoral candidate who was dropped by Donald Tusk’s opposition alliance in Poland after she expressed support for abortion access after 12 weeks of pregnancy has said her trust in the veteran liberal conservative to fight for women’s rights is “limited”.

Jana Shostak, a 30-year-old performance artist, has a strong record of advocacy on behalf of Belarusian democracy, refugees and women’s rights. When she announced she was running for parliament in next month’s election – joining the coalition of the leading opposition party, Civic Platform (PO) – Poland’s progressives were excited.

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Group uses billboards and banners to expose Nebraska’s anti-abortion laws

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Free & Just uses signs referring to Jessica and Celeste Burgess, who received prison sentences after procuring and using abortion pills

Over the last week, if Nebraskans on their commute looked up, they might have glimpsed a striking banner flying through the sky – a red, black and white flag that read: “Extremist groups don’t want you to know women are going to jail under Nebraska’s abortion ban.”

The banner is the work of Free & Just, an abortion rights organization that, over the past few months, has launched a campaign that publicizes the case of Jessica Burgess and her teenage daughter Celeste Burgess, who were jailed last year after police accused Jessica of giving abortion pills to Celeste. Celeste Burgess was sentenced to 90 days in jail, while Jessica Burgess has been sentenced to two years in prison.

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New York City public hospitals to offer abortion care via telehealth

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Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday that abortion pill prescriptions would now be available by telephone or online

New York City public hospitals will now offer abortion care via telehealth, placing them among the first public health systems in the US to do so.

The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, announced on Monday that abortion pill prescriptions would now be available by telephone or online, adding that such access can happen from “the comfort of your home”.

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Ohio abortion rights activists suffer blow in suit over referendum language

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A fetus will now be referred to as an ‘unborn child’ on a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution

In this year’s only opportunity for US voters to directly weigh in on the right to abortion, an upcoming ballot referendum in Ohio will include language that describes a fetus as an “unborn child”, in a disappointing loss for abortion rights activists in the state who had sued to stop voters from seeing language they say is misleading.

Ohioans are set to vote on 7 November on a referendum to enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution. The outcome of the vote could not only determine the future of Ohio’s six-week abortion ban, which is currently frozen pending litigation, but also for the midwest writ large. The state has become one of the few in the region to still permit abortions since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade last year.

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Trump says Republicans ‘speak very inarticulately’ about abortion

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Trump talks about democratic principles, ageing politicians and abortion rights in wide ranging NBC interview

Donald Trump grappled with a wide range of contentious issues in an interview with NBC that generated criticism against the network, including his thoughts on democratic principles, abortion rights and ageing politicians.

He also confirmed his interest in choosing Kristi Noem to be his vice-presidential running mate if he wins the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 as he seeks a second term in the White House.

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Women challenge abortion bans in three states after emergency care denied

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The Center for Reproductive Rights has taken legal action on behalf of women denied care in Idaho, Oklahoma and Tennessee

Women who say they were denied abortions in medical emergencies have taken legal action in Idaho, Oklahoma and Tennessee, in the latest attempt to challenge abortion bans that, abortion patients and doctors say, prevent people from getting care even when their health is in danger.

The lawsuits in Idaho and Tennessee, along with a federal complaint against a hospital in Oklahoma, were filed on Tuesday by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of women in Texas earlier this year. Tuesday’s filings were first reported by the Washington Post.

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Florida supreme court to hear abortion case that could drastically limit access

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If state’s highest court upholds the 15-week ban, a separate, stricter law would take effect prohibiting abortion after six weeks

The Florida supreme court on Friday will hear arguments in a case that could drastically limit abortion access in the south-eastern United States.

Abortion providers in Florida filed a lawsuit to block the state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

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Mexican activists hail abortion ruling but warn of lack of access to care

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Campaigners say many facilities and medical workers are likely to deny access since procedure is banned in many local jurisdictions

Human rights activists in Mexico have welcomed a historic ruling by the country’s supreme court that decriminalized abortion, but warned that the historic decision will not automatically make terminations accessible for all Mexican women.

Wednesday’s unanimous decision stripped away federal criminal penalties related to abortions – but not the many local laws banning the procedure, which remain on the books in 20 of Mexico’s 32 states.

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Mexico supreme court decriminalizes abortion across country

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Decision to remove abortion from federal penal code comes amid trend in Latin America of loosening restrictions on procedure

Mexico’s supreme court has unanimously ruled that state laws prohibiting abortion are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights, in the latest in a series of victories for reproductive rights activists across Latin America.

Wednesday’s ruling came two years after the court ordered the northern state of Coahuila to remove sanctions for abortion from its criminal code, a decision which prompted a tortuous state-by-state process of legal battles. So far 12 of Mexico’s 31 states have decriminalized the procedure.

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Texas law aims to punish prosecutors who refuse to pursue abortion cases

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New law says prosecutors who adopt policy of refusing to go after people for violating abortion bans constitutes ‘official misconduct’

After the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade last year, district attorneys from major counties in Texas vowed not to vigorously prosecute people under the state’s anti-abortion laws.

Now, Texas has a plan to punish them if they don’t fall in line.

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Ohio Republicans accused of trying to mislead voters with abortion ballot wording

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New lawsuit accuses ballot board of presenting voters with a confusing summary on November ballot about access to abortion

Abortion rights advocates in Ohio filed a lawsuit on Monday, claiming that state Republican leaders are trying to confuse voters on a ballot measure about access to reproductive healthcare.

Last week, the Ohio ballot board – led by the Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose – approved the wording of Issue 1, a November ballot measure that will ask voters if the state constitution should guarantee a right to abortion, contraception, fertility treatment and miscarriage care.

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Texas carves out narrow exception to abortion ban in new Republican strategy

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Law allows for termination if patient’s water breaks too early or in cases of ectopic pregnancy, but critics say it is not enough

A Texas law about to take effect on Friday carves out exceptions to the state’s abortion ban.

In June, the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, quietly signed HB 3058, allowing doctors to provide abortion care when a patient’s water breaks too early for the fetus to survive, or when a patient is suffering from an ectopic pregnancy.

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West Virginia can restrict abortion pill sales, federal judge rules

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Judge says near-total abortion ban signed by governor in September 2022 takes precedence over FDA approvals

West Virginia can restrict the sale of the abortion pill despite federal regulators’ approval of it as a safe and effective medication, a federal judge has ruled.

The US district court judge, Robert C Chambers, determined on Thursday that the near-total abortion ban signed by the Republican governor, Jim Justice, in September 2022 takes precedence over approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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‘Gigantic step backwards’: far-right gains in Chile threaten abortion rights

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Concerns mount as ultraconservative Republican party’s ‘right to life’ proposal could be enshrined in constitution

The hard-won right to an abortion in Chile is at risk of being overturned, activists have warned, as the country’s far right moves to enshrine protection for “the life of the unborn child and maternity” in a new constitution.

Concerns have grown over the ultraconservative Republican party’s plans to pare back reproductive rights in Chile as it now holds significant sway in the fate of the country’s constitutional saga.

“Clearly, there is great concern over the risks to women and children implied by the suggested amendments, which threaten the most basic rights of human beings,” said Lieta Vivaldi, the director of Alberto Hurtado University’s gender and social justice programme.

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Home test that checks if an abortion has worked reduces follow-up surgery, study finds

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A successful Australian trial of a urine test to detect whether an abortion has worked will be welcomed by rural and remote patients, say clinicians

A home test that checks whether a drug-induced abortion has worked is not only safe but reduces rates of unnecessary follow-up surgery, an Australian-first study has found.

People who attend clinics to access medication to terminate a pregnancy, known as a medical abortion, usually need to see a doctor 14 days later and may undergo a blood test to examine levels of a hormone known as hCG, along with an ultrasound to rule out complications.

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