Why many IVF patients worry about the antiabortion movement

Perspective by Julianna Goldman
July 29, 2023

Whenever anyone asks whether I’m done having children, my answer is: “Yes, but … .” That’s because, although my husband and I have two young children, we also have six potential babies. The latter are embryos created years ago through in vitro fertilization and now frozen in liquid nitrogen in a Maryland lab.

While I mostly feel like our family is complete, I haven’t been able to bring myself to decide what to do with those frozen bundles of our DNA. The decision has become even more fraught since last year when the Supreme Court stripped away the federal right to an abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. It’s unclear how Dobbs could affect autonomy over the estimated 1.5 million frozen embryos nationwide, but it’s a worry.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/07/29/dobbs-abortion-ivf-embryos-impact/

USA – Arguments on landmark abortion pill case to be heard Wednesday in appeals court

JENNIFER SHUTT
MAY 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — The lawsuit over access to the abortion pill goes before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Wednesday, the next step on a path that will likely end at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The three-judge panel will decide whether to keep, overturn, or alter a ruling from U.S. District Court from the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who sought to end the prescription medication’s approval in an early April ruling.

Continued: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/05/16/arguments-on-landmark-abortion-pill-case-to-be-heard-wednesday-in-appeals-court/

16.05.2023

News

5th Circuit Court of Appeals

Alliance Defending Freedom

Alliance Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

American Society for Reproductive Medicine

Food and Drug Administration

Matthew Kacsmaryk

mifepristone

Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine

United States

Human Rights

Law

Abortion Opponents Hear a ‘Heartbeat.’ Most Experts Hear Something Else.

Embedded in abortion laws in Texas are disputed assertions about embryonic development and the procedure’s risks. Chief among them: whether the early embryo has a heart.

By Roni Caryn Rabin
Feb. 14, 2022

The Texas law banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy is based on a singular premise disputed by many medical experts: that once an ultrasound detects electrical cardiac activity in an embryo, its heart is beating and a live birth is on the way.

At this very early stage of a pregnancy, however, the embryo is the size of a pomegranate seed and has only a primitive tube of cardiac cells that emit electric pulses and pump blood.

Continued:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/health/abortion-heartbeat-debate.html

14.02.2022

Commentary

Featured

abortion and infertility

American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists

American Cancer Society

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

American Society for Reproductive Medicine

anti-choice lies

anti-choice misinformation

anti-choice misogyny

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Charlotte Lozier Institute

Christine Mann

Dr. Christina Francis

Dr. Marcelle Cedars

Dr. Nisha Verma

Dr. Robin Pierucci

embryonic development

Informed Consent Project

M. Antonia Biggs

National Cancer Institute

Physicians for Reproductive Health

Roe v. Wade

Texas abortion ban

Texas Health and Human Services Commission

United States

Anti-choice

Human Rights

USA – How Anti-Abortion Activists Are Taking Advantage of the Coronavirus Crisis

How Anti-Abortion Activists Are Taking Advantage of the Coronavirus Crisis

By Robin Marty
March 24, 2020

In just two weeks the novel coronavirus managed exactly what anti-abortion activists struggled for nearly five decades to accomplish: it is the biggest threat to legal abortion in America ever imagined. The entire globe is facing completely uncharted territory in public health, and many are working to address the pandemic by implementing telemedicine and other online tools to care for everyday health needs while COVID-19 patients inundate hospitals. This could help people in need of abortions, too — if legalized, doctors could remotely prescribe medication to be taken at home that would terminate pregnancies up to 10 weeks. Yet despite having a safe and effective means of ending an early pregnancy without any need to physically see a medical professional, abortion opponents are instead using this moment to close as many abortion clinics as possible throughout the U.S. — an action that will lead to another health system crisis even if COVID-19 is contained.

Continued: https://time.com/5808471/coronavirus-abortion-access/

USA – Joint Statement on Abortion Access During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Joint Statement on Abortion Access During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Mar 18, 2020

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology, together with the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, the American Gynecological & Obstetrical Society, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the Society for Academic Specialists in General Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Society of Family Planning, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, released the following statement:

“As hospital systems, clinics, and communities prepare to meet anticipated increases in demand for the care of people with COVID-19, strategies to mitigate spread of the virus and to maximize health care resources are evolving. Some health systems, at the guidance of the CDC, are implementing plans to cancel elective and non-urgent procedures to expand hospitals’ capacity to provide critical care.

“While most abortion care is delivered in outpatient settings, in some cases care may be delivered in hospital-based settings or surgical facilities. To the extent that hospital systems or ambulatory surgical facilities are categorizing procedures that can be delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic, abortion should not be categorized as such a procedure. Abortion is an essential component of comprehensive health care. It is also a time-sensitive service for which a delay of several weeks, or in some cases days, may increase the risks or potentially make it completely inaccessible. The consequences of being unable to obtain an abortion profoundly impact a person’s life, health, and well-being.

Continued: https://www.acog.org/news/news-releases/2020/03/joint-statement-on-abortion-access-during-the-covid-19-outbreak

India: Abortion plea for raped 10-year-old

Abortion plea for raped 10-year-old
Our Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, July 22, 2017

A lawyer has petitioned the Supreme Court to allow a 10-year-old "rape survivor" in her 26th week of pregnancy to abort the foetus "in the interest of justice, equity and good conscience".

Indian law bans abortions beyond 20 weeks unless there's an immediate threat to the would-be mother's life.

Alakh Alok Srivastava's petition, which is yet to be listed for hearing, says the girl's uncle had repeatedly raped her and that her pregnancy "has left many medical experts dumbfounded" because of her age. It adds that the girl's doctors have said her pelvic bones are not fully developed because of her age and, therefore, "tolerating a full-term pregnancy at this tender age is very risky".

Continued at source: Telegraph India: https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170723/jsp/nation/story_163412.jsp

22.07.2017