Analysis of U.S. Census Survey Data Reveals Uptick in Anxiety and Depression Among Women in States with Trigger Laws Post-Dobbs Abortion Decision

January 23, 2024

An analysis of national survey data conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found a small but statistically significant increase in self-reported anxiety and depression symptoms among respondents in states that banned abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 compared to respondents in states that did not enact bans.

The Dobbs decision, handed down on June 24, 2022, overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion a constitutionally protected right and returned the question of abortion regulation to individual states. The Dobbs decision triggered laws banning abortion that had been passed earlier in 13 states in anticipation of Roe being overturned.

Continued: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/analysis-of-us-census-survey-data-reveals-uptick-in-anxiety-and-depression-among-women-in-states-with-trigger-laws-post-dobbs-abortion-decision


Abortion Pills Are Being Widely Used In Nigeria: Women And Suppliers Talk About Their Experiences

1/18/2024
Akanni Ibukun Akinyemi

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Unintended pregnancy is common among women of reproductive age in Nigeria and a substantial number end in abortion. Annually between 2015 and 2019 , almost three million pregnancies were unintended. Forty eight per cent ended in abortion.

Many of these abortions are unsafe and some result in serious maternal morbidity or death . The main reason for this is that termination is only allowed legally in Nigeria if a woman's life is in danger. This drives women to obtain abortions clandestinely through unqualified providers using inappropriate methods.

Continued: https://menafn.com/1107740822/Abortion-Pills-Are-Being-Widely-Used-In-Nigeria-Women-And-Suppliers-Talk-About-Their-Experiences


USA: The impact of abortion bans on physician and patient health

A recent study revealed negative impacts of practicing in a state with abortion care restrictions.A recent study revealed negative impacts of practicing in a state with abortion care restrictions, leading to delayed care, worry over legal repercussions, and adverse mental health outcomes

January 17, 2024
Celeste Krewson, Assistant Editor

Physicians have observed significant impacts on workforce sustainability, physician health, and patient outcomes from state laws banning abortion, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.

The US Supreme Court overturned the federal right for abortion in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs v Jackson) in June 2022. Between this time and December 2023, functional bans on abortions have been placed in 16 states, with similar legislation pending in 5 states.

Continued: https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/view/the-impact-of-abortion-bans-on-physician-and-patient-health


Number of Abortions in the United States Likely to Be Higher in 2023 than in 2020

Latest Monthly Abortion Provision Study findings also include first data for Wisconsin following the resumption of some abortion services in the state

Jan 17, 2024

The Guttmacher Institute has released new data from the Monthly Abortion Provision Study, an initiative launched in 2023 to provide monthly estimates of the number of abortions within the formal US health care system. The latest estimates cover the period January–October 2023, and reflect the number of facility-based procedural and medications abortions, as well as medication abortions provided via telehealth and virtual providers.

National Increase in Abortion
In the first 10 months of 2023, there were an estimated 878,000 abortions in the formal US health care system, 94% as many abortions as were provided in 2020 (930,000).

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2024/number-abortions-united-states-likely-be-higher-2023-2020


The Long Quest for Reproductive Justice in Mexico: Feminist Legal Strategies and Challenges to Changing Abortion Precedent in a Federal System

Alma Beltrán y Puga
January 15, 2024

As the Green Wave echoes throughout the Latin American feminist movement, the Mexican legal system has progressed accordingly. Feminist legal groups have adopted innovative legal strategies to solidify the right to abortion at the federal level, but state-level protections are still needed to satisfy the “my body, my choice” chants taking place in the streets. Similar to how feminist advocacy groups have gradually influenced legal theory, legal changes attempt to counter the conservative, religious perspective on bodily autonomy in Mexico.

Mexico has entered the international spotlight due to a recent federal Supreme Court ruling protecting abortion rights. This groundbreaking decision has resulted from the feminist movement’s continuous litigation and the Court’s 2021 case law both of which have promoted reproductive justice in Latin America. While innovative legal strategies in the feminist movement have characterized the fight for reproductive justice, Mexico’s federalist system presents ongoing challenges to abortion litigation in Mexico. The Supreme Court of Mexico’s major rulings regarding reproductive rights and the challenges of implementing this comprehensive constitutional jurisprudence in a federal system will be discussed.

Continued:  https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2024/01/15/the-long-quest-for-reproductive-justice-in-mexico-feminist-legal-strategies-and-challenges-to-changing-abortion-precedent-in-a-federal-system/


Canadians’ Attitudes Toward Abortion

A review and synthesis of evidence based literature

Jessica Pratezina and Jessica Ball
January 12, 2024

In 1988,  Canada became one of the few countries in the world without legal restrictions on abortion. There are no federal or provincial laws controlling abortion; it's considered a medical matter between a person and their healthcare provider. Abortion is seen as an essential medical service covered by the Canadian healthcare system.

… What do Canadians Think and Feel about Abortion?
Most Canadians (56%)   want abortion to be safe and legal. At the same time, Canadians' attitudes towards abortion are more complicated than can be captured in opinion polls. These complex attitudes impact not only whether people are able to choose abortion, but also what their experience will be like if and when they do.

Continued: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/28ca3bb9e0ad45f28a68d677eda6baee


State Policy Trends 2023: In the First Full Year Since Roe Fell, a Tumultuous Year for Abortion and Other Reproductive Health Care

Kimya Forouzan and Isabel Guarnieri, Guttmacher Institute
December 19, 2023

In 2023, the first full year since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, state legislatures took key action on sexual and reproductive health. While many states increased access and piloted new policy solutions to expand and protect abortion and other sexual and reproductive health care, others sought to further curtail access.

The landscape of abortion access in the United States is fractured: Fourteen states enforce total bans, and seven more restrict access under limits that also would have been unconstitutional under Roe. As of December 13, 2023, another 22 states and the District of Columbia had enacted 129 measures to protect abortion access this year—the highest number of protections ever enacted in a single year.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/2023/12/state-policy-trends-2023-first-full-year-roe-fell-tumultuous-year-abortion-and-other


New Data Show that Interstate Travel for Abortion Care in the United States Has Doubled Since 2020

Guttmacher Institute
DECEMBER 7, 2023

Post-Dobbs abortion bans and restrictions led to dramatic increase in patients forced to cross state lines for care

Today, the Guttmacher Institute released findings from the latest round of its Monthly Abortion Provision Study. In addition to monthly estimates of the number of facility-based abortions as well as medication abortions provided via telehealth and virtual providers in each state from January through September 2023, the release includes the first comprehensive data measuring the magnitude of interstate travel for abortion after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision in June 2022.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2023/new-data-show-interstate-travel-abortion-care-united-states-has-doubled-2020


Dozens of independent abortion clinics closed in 2023 post-Roe, study finds

Twenty-three ‘indie’ clinics closed this year, leaving over a dozen states without a brick-and-mortar clinic that provides abortions

Ava Sasani
Tue 5 Dec 2023

Dozens of independently owned reproductive health clinics shuttered in 2023, the year after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, according to a new report from the Abortion Care Network.

The group found that 23 independently owned clinics closed this year, on top of the 42 that shuttered in 2022, leaving over a dozen states, mainly in the American south and midwest, without a single brick-and-mortar clinic that provides abortion.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/05/us-abortion-clinics-close-after-roe-overturned


State abortion access key factor in future US doctors’ training (residency) choices, finds study

by British Medical Journal
Dec 5, 2023

State access to abortion is a key factor in choosing where to apply for residency (training) programs for around three out of four future US doctors, indicate the results of a survey published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

These medical students care about the quality of care they will be able to provide patients when qualified as well as the options for their own health, the responses indicate.

Continued: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-12-state-abortion-access-key-factor.html