Texas Is the Future of Abortion in America

March 6, 2022
By Mary Tuma

For half a year, Roe v. Wade — the 1973 Supreme Court decision that guarantees abortion rights for all Americans — has been effectively moot in the second largest state in the country, home to about 10 percent of the nation’s reproductive-age women.

On Sept. 1, the Supreme Court allowed Texas Senate Bill 8 to go into effect — the most restrictive abortion law to do so in the United States since Roe. There’s a good chance that Texans will not see their reproductive rights restored any time soon — because Roe itself could be overturned or gutted before the fate of S.B. 8 is resolved in the courts.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/opinion/abortion-texas-sb-8-roe-v-wade.html

Australia – Abortion and reproductive health clinics struggling with stigma and rising costs

The Signal
By Ange Lavoipierre and Stephen Smiley
Mon 12 Jul 2021

There's an assumption that it's relatively easy to access an abortion in Australia, but the truth is that it really depends on where you live.

There is still a struggle to provide access in many parts of the country, according to Jamal Hakim, the managing director of an NGO that provides reproductive health services in both metropolitan and regional areas.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-13/abortion-in-regional-postcode-lottery/100288484

12.07.2021

News

clinic closures

conscientious objectors

Dr Andrew Crossman

Jamal Hakim

Marie Stopes Australia

Coalition of NGOs in Health want abortion laws

Thursday, 25 February 2021

The Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health want abortion laws of the country to be amended to ensure safe abortions for citizens.

National Vice Chairman of the Coalition, Ninsau Kwesi Darku-Alazar, in an interview with Nana Abena Serwaa on Morning Update on TV XYZ noted that most youth are likely to have bad experience with abortion because of the laws of the country.

Continued: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Coalition-of-NGOs-in-Health-want-abortion-laws-amended-1189576

25.02.2021

Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health

Health Facility Regulatory Agency

Nana Abena Serwaa

Ninsau Kwesi Darku-Alazar

Abortion Clinics Are Rapidly Closing. Many Won’t Come Back

BY ABIGAIL ABRAMS
DECEMBER 2, 2020

Dr. Yashica Robinson is an optimist—and that, she says, is fortuitous. As one of the last abortion providers in Alabama, a willingness to see the bright side is practically a job requirement.

For much of the past year, Robinson, who is the medical director at the Huntsville-based Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives, and her staff have fought to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19, while simultaneously battling a state effort to suspend all abortion services during the pandemic. “We will continue to be innovative and be creative and find ways that we will make this work,” she says, with characteristic resolve.

Continued: https://time.com/5916746/abortion-clinics-covid-19/

How Trump has sown global chaos for women and girls

Opinion by Terry McGovern
Posted Oct 27, 2020

I am haunted
by the memory of a very young, pregnant girl I met at a clinic in Kisumu,
Kenya. She had been raped. Her mother had brought her to the clinic saying she
had a stomachache. The girl stared at the floor and didn't speak. No one told
the girl that terminating the pregnancy was an option, even though there was an
abortion clinic literally across the road. Looking at her tiny frame, I
wondered if she would survive a pregnancy.

I was witnessing the Trump administration's handiwork. Kenya had liberalized
its abortion law in an effort to reduce maternal mortality, but the country's
decision and that girl's choice was effectively overridden by our government.
Time and again, President Donald Trump and his administration have taken the
political stance that it is they who should control the bodies of women and
girls.

Continued: https://www.kctv5.com/how-trump-has-sown-global-chaos-for-women-and-girls/article_b4b94b01-d89d-592f-8940-95cd01a738a5.html

27.10.2020

sexual and reproductive health

Africa

Kenya

United States

State Action to Limit Abortion Access During the COVID-19 Pandemic

State Action to Limit Abortion Access During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Laurie Sobel, Amrutha Ramaswamy, Brittni Frederiksen, and Alina Salganicoff
Published: Apr 24, 2020

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted several states to place restrictions that have effectively banned or blocked the availability of abortion services. While every state has taken action to declare a public health emergency to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, several states have made public health emergency declarations to specifically define abortion as non-essential or elective health procedures and banned abortions until the end of the emergency. States have justified these orders to conserve personal protective equipment (PPE). However, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and other leading medical professional organizations issued a statement defining abortion as a time sensitive and “essential component of comprehensive health care” and that delay, even days, “may increase the risks or potentially make it completely inaccessible.” The World Health Organization also classifies abortion “essential” to women’s rights and health.

Continued: https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/state-action-to-limit-abortion-access-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

Moscow Halts Abortions During Coronavirus Outbreak: Activists

Moscow Halts Abortions During Coronavirus Outbreak: Activists

April 23, 2020

More than 100,000 pregnant women will be unable to undergo medical abortions in Moscow because of restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak, the women’s rights organization Nasiliyu.net (“No to Violence”) Center has said.

Only three out of the Russian capital’s 44 clinics have said they would continue to provide abortions through the national compulsory medical insurance program, the group said on its website Monday. The other 41 clinics told Nasiliyu.net that the procedure is unavailable “unless you’re brought in an ambulance.”

Continued: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/23/moscow-halts-abortions-during-coronavirus-outbreak-activists-a70082

23.04.2020

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abortion access during pandemic

Anna Rivina

clinic closures

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USA – The Last Decade Was Disastrous For Abortion Rights. Advocates Are Trying To Figure Out What’s Next.

The Last Decade Was Disastrous For Abortion Rights. Advocates Are Trying To Figure Out What’s Next.
This year, the battle over abortion rights reached a fever pitch. That’s what this entire decade was building toward.

Ema O'Connor BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on December 17, 2019

As the decade draws to a close, the national right to abortion is in the most vulnerable place it’s been in decades.

Since 2010, hundreds of laws restricting abortion access have been enacted all over the country, making the procedure less attainable and forcing abortion clinics to close. The US has gone from having around 1,720 facilities that perform abortions in 2011 to 1,587 in 2017 (the last year reproductive rights group Guttmacher Institute surveyed). As of this year, there are six states with only one abortion clinic left. Twenty-five abortion bans were signed into law in 2019 alone, leading to nationwide protests. Though all, so far, have been blocked by the courts, a major fight over abortion rights at the Supreme Court is yet to come.

Continued: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoconnor/abortion-rights-decade-bans-trump-kavanaugh-planned

17.12.2019

Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health

Affordable Care Act

Alexis McGill Johnson

All Above All

Americans United for Life

anti-choice legislation

anti-choice restrictions

Brett Kavanaugh

Cecile Richards

Center for Reproductive Rights

Naral Pro-Choice America

National Right to Life Commission

PerryUndem

Planned Parenthood

pro-choice legislation

Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers

undue burden standard

vaginal ultrasound

Wendy Davis

Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt

USA – Dramatic drop in abortion providers as states target clinics with restrictive laws

Dramatic drop in abortion providers as states target clinics with restrictive laws

By Kate Smith, CBS News
December 11, 2019

Nearly a third of all independent abortion providers have either closed or stopped providing the procedure in the past five years, according to a report from the Abortion Care Network. New state regulations are one reason: Many providers say they can't keep up with the cost of complying with them.

"Anti-abortion politicians have long used onerous restrictions to try and shut down independent abortion providers," said Nikki Madsen, executive director of the Abortion Care Network, a professional organization for independent clinics, or providers not affiliated with Planned Parenthood. "Since 2010, anti-abortion politicians have passed more than 400 laws that attempt to make it too expensive or logistically impossible for abortion clinics to operate."

Continued: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/states-target-abortion-clinics-with-restrictive-laws-leading-to-dramatic-drop-in-providers-2019-12-10/

11.12.2019

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Abortion Care Network

ACN

clinic closures

Communities Need Clinics

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For Supporters Of Abortion Access, Troubling Trends In Texas

For Supporters Of Abortion Access, Troubling Trends In Texas

November 18, 2019
Ashley Lopez
(also 6-minute podcast)

Whole Woman's Health, which provides abortions in Texas, was forced to close its Beaumont clinic in 2014 as a result of House Bill 2 taking effect. Despite the Supreme Court's overturning the law, most of the shuttered clinics in the state never managed to reopen.
Pu Ying Huang

Over the past few years, abortion providers in Texas have struggled to reopen clinics that had closed because of restrictive state laws.

There were more than 40 clinics providing abortion in Texas on July 12, 2013 — the day lawmakers approved tough new restrictions and rules for clinics.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/11/18/741117422/for-supporters-of-abortion-access-troubling-trends-in-texas