Polish authorities rule rights of pregnant woman who died were violated amid abortion law debate

Polish health authorities say that there was a violation of patient rights in the case of a woman who died of sepsis in the fifth month of pregnancy last month, a case that has gained scrutiny after a tightening of Poland’s already restrictive abortion...

By The Associated Press
June 12, 2023

WARSAW, Poland -- Polish health authorities said Monday that there was a violation of patient rights in the case of a woman who died of sepsis in the fifth month of pregnancy last month, a case that has gained scrutiny after a tightening of Poland’s already restrictive abortion law.

Poland's health minister, Adam Niedzielski, also stressed that every woman whose life or health is threatened by her pregnancy has the right to an abortion.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/polish-authorities-rule-rights-pregnant-woman-died-violated-100008003

12.06.2023

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Anti-abortion bills fail in GOP-controlled Nebraska and South Carolina

By Chandelis Duster, CNN
Fri April 28, 2023

Measures that would have severely restricted abortion failed Thursday in Nebraska and South Carolina, which both have Republican-controlled legislatures, a reflection of the growing unease among Republicans over the political popularity of strict bans.

In Nebraska, a “Heartbeat Act” would have banned most abortions after six weeks except in cases of rape or incest or to preserve the life of the mother once a “fetal heartbeat” was detected, but it stalled in the legislature. … On Thursday afternoon, the South Carolina state Senate failed to pass the “Human Life Protection Act,” which would have banned abortions in the state, in a 22-21 vote with five women voting against it.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/28/politics/abortion-bills-fail-nebraska-south-carolina/index.html

28.04.2023

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic

If Roe v. Wade Is Overturned, the Future Will Be Worse Than the Past

When abortion was illegal, there was no organized, aggressive antiabortion movement with a wing of violent fanatics.

By Katha Pollitt, The Nation
AUGUST 5, 2021

If they are shrewd, the six antichoice justices on the Supreme Court will resist the urge to overturn Roe v. Wade when they decide next term on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. At issue is a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of gestation in explicit defiance of Roe, which protects abortion rights until around 24 weeks. Why hand the Democrats an issue that has worked well for them in purple states like Virginia? An attempt in 2012 to force women seeking abortions to have transvaginal ultrasounds backfired against Republicans so powerfully the state is now entirely under Democratic control.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/post-roe/

Texas Abortion Ban Is Both Devious and Doomed

Creative lawyering won’t be enough to override constitutionally protected rights.

By Noah Feldman, Bloomberg
May 25, 2021

When a state adopts a flatly unconstitutional anti-abortion law, as Texas did last week, it ordinarily never takes effect. Activists immediately ask a federal court to order state officials not to enforce it, and the court does. What’s unusual — and scary — is that this time, Texas is trying to get around this hurdle through legal trickery. Its efforts are likely to fail, but seeing how and why requires going through a bit of detail.

Start with Texas’s goal. The law just enacted makes abortion unlawful after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Because that can happen as early as six weeks of pregnancy, the law effectively outlaws abortion — a direct violation of the constitutional right to choose established in Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case out of Mississippi in which it might overturn part of Roe. But until that happens, Roe is the law, and the Texas statute is certainly unconstitutional.

Continued: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-25/texas-abortion-ban-is-both-devious-and-doomed

‘Fetal heartbeat’ in abortion laws taps emotion, not science

Ohio maternal fetal medicine specialist Dr. Michael Cackovic says Republican-backed laws banning abortions at what they term the “first detectable fetal heartbeat" defy science

By JULIE CARR SMYTH and KIMBERLEE KRUESI, Associated Press
14 May 2021

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Dr. Michael Cackovic has treated his share of pregnant women. So when Republican lawmakers across the U.S. began passing bans on abortion at what they term “the first detectable fetal heartbeat,” he was exasperated.

That's because at the point where advanced technology can detect that first flutter, as early as six weeks, the embryo isn’t yet a fetus and it doesn’t have a heart. An embryo is termed a fetus beginning in the 11th week of pregnancy, medical experts say.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/fetal-heartbeat-abortion-laws-taps-emotion-science-77698556

‘Fetal heartbeat’ in U.S. abortion laws taps emotion, not science

Julie Carr Smyth and Kimberlee Kruesi, The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, April 28, 2021

NASHVILLE -- Dr. Michael Cackovic has treated his share of pregnant women. So when Republican lawmakers across the U.S. began passing bans on abortion at what they term "the first detectable fetal heartbeat," he was exasperated.

That's because at the point where advanced technology can detect that first flutter, as early as six weeks, the embryo isn't yet a fetus and it doesn't have a heart.

Continued: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/fetal-heartbeat-in-u-s-abortion-laws-taps-emotion-not-science-1.5405170

State legislatures got redder in 2020. It’s a ‘dire reality’ for abortion rights, advocates say.

29 state legislatures now have antiabortion majorities

Caroline Kitchener, The Lily
Feb. 2, 2021

When the South Carolina legislature convened on Jan. 12, one issue took priority over any other. Senate Bill 1, the first piece of legislation introduced on the Senate floor, bans most abortions, outlawing the procedure once a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat — around six weeks — except in cases of rape and incest, when there is a fatal fetal anomaly, and when a mother’s life is at risk.

SB 1 cleared the state Senate on Thursday. Now it will head to the South Carolina House, where it will almost certainly pass, before making its way to the desk of Gov. Henry McMaster (R).

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/state-legislatures-got-redder-in-2020-its-a-dire-reality-for-abortion-rights-advocates-say/

Slovakia rejects bill requiring ultrasound before abortion

Slovakia rejects bill requiring ultrasound before abortion
Lawmakers in Slovakia have rejected a proposed bill that would have made it obligatory for women seeking abortions to first have an ultrasound and obtain the consent of the father before having the procedure

By The Associated Press
5 December 2019

Lawmakers in Slovakia have rejected a proposed bill that would have made it obligatory for women seeking abortions to first have an ultrasound and obtain the consent of the father before having the procedure.

The bill was submitted by three members of the conservative Slovak National Party. In its initial draft, the bill made it mandatory for women to listen to the fetal heartbeat where possible. After being debated earlier this week, the bill was rejected on Thursday.

Last month, more than 30 organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, wrote to Slovak parliamentarians expressing their “deep concern” about the proposed law. They warned that if the legislation was adopted, Slovakia would be the only European Union country to impose such requirements on women in countries with legalized abortion.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/slovakia-rejects-bill-requiring-ultrasound-abortion-67515309

05.12.2019

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ITALY – Seven doctors on trial for manslaughter in the death in Sicily of Valentina Milluzzo in 2016

ITALY – Seven doctors on trial for manslaughter in the death in Sicily of Valentina Milluzzo in 2016

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Nov 19, 2019

Seven Italian doctors are on trial for manslaughter, accused of failing to carry out a life-saving abortion as emergency obstetric care in 2016 for Valentina Milluzzo, who began miscarrying when she was 19 weeks pregnant with twins. She died of sepsis, which with prompt and appropriate care, including emergency evacuation of the uterus, can be prevented/treated before it becomes fatal. This cause of death happened to Savita Halapannavar in Ireland four years earlier.

The court has sat twice so far, on 17 and 29 October 2019. The Financial Times reported on 29 October 2019 that the doctors said they could not do an abortion because there was still a fetal heartbeat. If this is true, then they were following Catholic health policy. The Financial Times report says the hospital and staff deny any wrongdoing.

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/italy-seven-doctors-on-trial-for-manslaughter-valentina-milluzzo/

GOP state lawmakers approve ‘heartbeat’ abortion bans

GOP state lawmakers approve 'heartbeat' abortion bans

Sanya Mansoor and Ben Nadler, The Associated Press
Published Thursday, March 7, 2019

ATLANTA -- Georgia and Tennessee joined a string of states moving to enact tough abortion restrictions when Republican House lawmakers passed bans on most abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

During a tense debate in Atlanta on Thursday, several Democratic lawmakers opposed to the bill turned their backs to its author, Republican Rep. Ed Setzler. Earlier in the day, some Democratic lawmakers brought in wire coat hangers in reference to unsafe home abortions.

Continued: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/gop-state-lawmakers-approve-heartbeat-abortion-bans-1.4325829