Domestic Violence Calls About ‘Reproductive Coercion’ Doubled After the Overturn of Roe

Those experiencing domestic violence are facing a reality where an inability to receive reproductive care is also further endangering their lives, new data shows.

10/20/2023
by JENNIFER GERSON, THE 19TH

Reports of abuse involving reproductive coercion—actions that prevent someone from making crucial decisions about their body and reproductive health—nearly doubled in the yearlong period after Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to new data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH).

“If you cannot make these decisions, it could mean unfortunately that you have to stay in an abusive situation longer than you want to,” Marium Durrani, the vice president of public policy at the NDVH, told The 19th. “It could impact your escape, it could mean that potentially you’re forced to have a child with someone you don’t want to have a child with.”
Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/20/domestic-violence-reproductive-coercion-doubled-roe-dobbs/


States with the toughest abortion laws have the weakest maternal supports, data shows

August 18, 2022
RACHEL TREISMAN

Nearly two dozen states have moved to restrict abortion or ban it altogether since the reversal of Roe v. Wade — meaning more people, especially those with low incomes and from marginalized communities, will be forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term.

So are states prepared to pay for the infrastructure needed to support these parents and children? The data paints a grim picture for many families: Mothers and children in states with the toughest abortion restrictions tend to have less access to health care and financial assistance, as well as worse health outcomes.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1111344810/abortion-ban-states-social-safety-net-health-outcomes


USA – Judges are split on how seriously to take John Roberts’ abortion opinion

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter
Wed April 14, 2021

(CNN) Almost a year after Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Supreme Court's liberals to cast the determinative vote to block a Louisiana abortion law, his opinion in the case is causing deep divisions among lower court judges and lawyers.

Last June, Roberts, who had never voted against an abortion restriction, spelled out his thinking in a concurring opinion, perhaps to bring clarity to lower courts dealing with the explosive issue.

Instead, that opinion has added to the tangle of cases and rulings throughout the country, some of which are now making their way up to the high court.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/14/politics/john-roberts-abortion/index.html


USA – Brett Kavanaugh’s disturbing abortion history: He ruled against women who were forced to abort

Brett Kavanaugh’s disturbing abortion history: He ruled against women who were forced to abort
In 2007, two disabled women complained about being forced to have abortions. Kavanaugh ruled against them

Amanda Marcotte
August 20, 2018

Much of the discourse around Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's second nominee for the Supreme Court, has been focused around his attitudes on abortion. Anti-choice groups have been crowing that Kavanaugh has a "strong record of protecting life" and will uphold laws written "to protect unborn children." Trump himself promised, during the 2016 campaign, to appoint "pro-life judges." And while some conservatives, in a likely effort to bamboozle both the Senate and the public, have been pretending that Kavanaugh is a moderate when it comes to the abortion issue, both pro- and anti-choice activists seem to agree that Kavanaugh is a threat to a woman's right to choose to terminate her pregnancy.

"Choose" being the operative word here. In 2007, as an appellate judge in Washington, D.C., Kavanaugh was presented with an unusual case involving two women who had wanted to continue their pregnancies but had been forced to have abortions instead. They sued and Kavanaugh ruled against them, denying their claims that they had a right to be consulted about the decision to terminate their pregnancies.

Continued: https://www.salon.com/2018/08/20/brett-kavanaughs-disturbing-abortion-history-he-ruled-against-women-who-endured-forced-abortions/


USA – Limiting Abortion Access Contributes to Poor Maternal Health Outcomes

Limiting Abortion Access Contributes to Poor Maternal Health Outcomes
By Anusha Ravi
Posted on June 13, 2018

Access to abortion is a key component of women’s comprehensive health care. The ability to choose if, when, and how to give birth is linked to women’s economic success, educational attainment, and general health and well-being.

Anti-choice advocates, unfortunately, often use women’s health and maternal mortality as justifications for abortion restrictions. Although abortion has been proven to be one of the safest medical procedures, anti-choice policymakers at state and federal levels continue to use the guise of protecting women’s health to promote restrictions on abortion providers and procedures such as medication abortion; add requirements for women to fulfill in order to receive an abortion; and limit the procedure after an arbitrary number of weeks into a pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2018/06/13/451891/limiting-abortion-access-contributes-poor-maternal-health-outcomes/