Abortions have increased significantly in states that border those with bans, new analysis finds

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN
Thu September 7, 2023

Abortions have increased substantially in most states where they remain legal post-Dobbs, according to a new analysis. The increases have been particularly significant in states bordering others with bans, suggesting widespread travel for care.

The Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual and reproductive health that supports abortion rights, launched a new dashboard Thursday that estimates the number of abortions provided in the United States each month. The estimates are based on a regular survey of a core set of providers and broadened to the state level using a model that also factors in historical trends. The latest findings compare the number of abortions provided in the first half of 2023 to a comparable period in 2020.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/health/abortion-state-borders-guttmacher/index.html

07.09.2023

Physicians for Reproductive Health

Society of Family Planning

traveling for abortion

United States

Human Rights

Law

USA – Why an ulcer drug could be the last option for many abortion patients

February 24, 2023
Sarah McCammon
3-Minute Listen with Transcript

A federal judge in Texas could rule as soon as today on whether to cut off access to a key medication abortion protocol, giving lawyers until day's end to submit additional arguments. Fearing another major blow to abortion access, some providers are already considering alternatives.

At the Trust Women clinic in Wichita, Kansas, it's already been crisis mode for months. And now clinic Director Ashley Brink says the staff is bracing for another — maybe even bigger — wave of uncertainty.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/24/1159075709/abortion-drug-mifepristone-misoprotol-texas-case

Americans are divided on abortion. The Supreme Court may not wait for minds to change

January 21, 2022

JULIE ROVNER

When he was running for president in 1999, George W. Bush, then governor of
Texas, famously fended off the strong anti-abortion wing of his party by
suggesting the country ought not consider banning abortion until public opinion
shifted further in that direction. "Laws are changed as minds are
persuaded," he said.

Bush was no moderate on the abortion issue. As
president he signed several pieces of anti-abortion legislation, including the
first federal ban on a specific abortion procedure, and used his authority to
severely limit federally funded research on embryonic stem cells.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/01/21/1074605184/abortion-roe-v-wade-supreme-court

The link between America’s rising maternal mortality rates and abortion

It's not a coincidence that maternal mortality rates began rising as abortion became harder to get

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
APRIL 19, 2021

Last week was Black Maternal Health Week, which reproductive justice activists started in 2018 to raise awareness of the grim fact that maternal mortality rates for Black women are up to three times higher than they are for white women. For the first time ever, the White House also joined in, with President Joe Biden issuing a proclamation noting that "America's maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the developed world" and calling on "all Americans to recognize the importance of addressing the crisis of Black maternal mortality and morbidity in this country."

The reasons for this crisis are multifaceted. As Vice President Kamala Harris explained in an interview with STAT, "systemic disparities and implicit bias" in health care are major contributors.

Continued: https://www.salon.com/2021/04/19/the-link-between-americas-rising-maternal-mortality-rates-and-abortion/

USA – Why Abortion Pills Are the Next Frontier in the Battle Over Reproductive Rights

BY ABIGAIL ABRAMS
APRIL 13, 2021

The Biden Administration is removing restrictions on mailing abortion pills during the COVID-19 pandemic, a reversal from the Trump Administration’s policy that marks a new phase in the national debate over abortion rights.

The move temporarily changes longstanding Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules governing mifepristone—one of two drugs used to terminate early pregnancies—that required patients to pick up the pills in-person from a medical provider. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock sent a letter to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine on Monday saying that her agency reviewed recent evidence and found that using telemedicine to provide abortion pills would not increase risks and would help patients avoid potential exposure to COVID-19.

Continued: https://time.com/5954429/fda-biden-abortion-pills/

USA – Unacceptable care: why patients manage their own abortion

As states make it more difficult to get abortion pills from providers, they may just be increasing the demand for medication abortion

eb 8, 2021

Susan Rinkunas

Almost 40 percent of abortions in the United
States each year are done with pills—but those are just the ones provided in
clinics and other medical facilities. An unknown number of people end their
pregnancies on their own with pills they bought online or from a pharmacy in
another country. This is known as self-managed abortion, or sourcing and using
the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, or misoprostol alone, to end an early
pregnancy outside of a medical setting.

Some people prefer going it alone, while others buy their own pills because
getting care in a clinic is too difficult, expensive, or risky. Interestingly,
some patients who get pills from an abortion provider and take them at home
also call that process self-managed abortion, since they are in fact, ending
their pregnancy themselves. This confusion highlights the hypocrisy of
restrictions on abortion pills, said Dr. Jamila Perritt, an abortion provider
and president and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health.

https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2021/02/08/unacceptable-care-why-patients-manage-their-own-abortion/

Abortion Providers Watching Capitol Violence Say They’ve ‘Seen This Rage Before’

From fire bombings, shootings, and ceaseless harassment, anti-abortion violence has wreaked havoc on clinics for decades.

Jan 8, 2021
Caroline Reilly

Trump supporters laid siege to our nation’s capital on Wednesday, storming past
a flaccid and enabling law enforcement presence in an attempt to stage a coup.
As they were filling the halls of Congress—stealing lecterns and paintings, and
taking selfies at Nancy’s Pelosi’s desk—pundits lamented: This is not America;
this is not who we are. Some even marveled at the cooperation from law
enforcement, wondering how security could have been so lax.

Unfortunately, abortion providers are all too familiar with the sort of
violence that played out at the Capitol.

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2021/01/08/abortion-providers-watching-capitol-violence-say-theyve-seen-this-rage-before/

How the Hyde Amendment Hearing Can Affect the Future of Abortion Rights

Reproductive rights and justice organizations weigh in on the historic House hearing.

BY CHELSEY SANCHEZ
DEC 9 2020

Over the course of more than four decades, Congress has annually renewed the Hyde Amendment, a highly controversial measure that reproductive rights activists say keeps abortion inaccessible to marginalized communities. That could all change, however, as the House Appropriations Committee held a historic, virtual hearing yesterday on the disproportionately negative impacts of the amendment.

Simply put, the Hyde Amendment broadly bars federal funding for abortion costs, meaning Medicaid recipients—who overwhelmingly come from communities of color or low-income communities—lack abortion coverage.

Continued: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a34906333/hyde-amendment-facts/

USA – No-Test Medication Abortion Increases Safety and Access During COVID-19

No-Test Medication Abortion Increases Safety and Access During COVID-19
A new study proposes an innovative, no-test medication abortion protocol that would enable clinicians to safely administer medication abortion to patients without any preliminary tests or in-person encounters

5/13/2020
by Carrie N. Baker

Imagine a world where women could access safe and supported abortion health care without ever leaving their homes. In this world, after a phone call or video conference with a health care professional, women could receive the abortion pill in the mail, which they could take safely in the privacy of their own homes under the supervision of a clinician.

No invasive, time-consuming pelvic exams or blood tests. No state-mandated ultrasounds or waiting periods requiring multiple visits. No walking past lines of screaming anti-abortion protesters. No driving long distances, having to find and pay for child care, or taking time off from work. No exposure to COVID-19.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/05/13/no-test-medication-abortion-increases-safety-and-access-during-covid-19/

USA – Doctors call for restrictions to be lifted on abortion pills so patients don’t have to travel for care during the coronavirus pandemic

Doctors call for restrictions to be lifted on abortion pills so patients don't have to travel for care during the coronavirus pandemic

Shira Feder
Apr 6, 2020

On March 26, Dr. Jamila Perritt performed an abortion. It was a few weeks into America's coronavirus outbreak, and one-in-three Americans were under orders to stay home and shelter in place. Over 80,000 Americans had been infected with the new coronavirus, Congress was debating a trillion dollar stimulus bill to boost an economy that had come to a screeching halt, and only workers deemed essential were going to work.

That included Perritt, a doctor who provides abortion care in the Washington, DC, area. Her patient had an ultrasound weeks prior, revealing that the fetus had a genetic abnormality. The woman was trying to schedule an appointment at a DC hospital to have it handled, but hadn't been able to get in.

Continued: https://www.insider.com/abortion-providers-pivot-to-telemedicine-during-coronavirus-2020-3