USA – Effects of Dobbs on maternal health care overwhelmingly negative, survey shows

By Kim Bellware and Emily Guskin
June 21, 2023

Sweeping restrictions and even outright abortion bans adopted by states in the year since the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling have had an overwhelmingly negative effect on maternal health care, according to a survey of OBGYNs released Wednesday that provides one of the clearest views yet of how the U.S. Supreme Court decision has affected women’s health care in the United States.

The poll by the health research nonprofit KFF reveals that the Dobbs ruling — which ended federal protection on the right to abortion — affected maternal mortality and how pregnancy-related medical emergencies are managed, precipitated a rise in requests for sterilization and has done much more than restrict abortion access. Many OBGYNs said it has also made their jobs more difficult and legally perilous than before, while leading to worse outcomes for patients.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/21/obgyn-abortion-poll/

21.06.2023

News

Association of American Medical Colleges

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

Kaiser Family Foundation

In a liberal US state, my life-saving abortion cost $55,000

I was flabbergasted by the cost of medical care I could have died without – but surprise fees are standard in a system motivated first and foremost by profit

Robin Buller
Sun 16 Apr 2023

On 27 January, I was just under six weeks pregnant. My fertility app – one of several pinned on my phone’s home screen, I am reluctant to admit – told me that the embryo growing inside me was the size of a green pea.

That morning, I felt both elated and nervous. Between Zoom calls and spurts of distracted writing, I thought about spilling the beans to my sister, but resisted. After two miscarriages, I was wary of sharing the news too early.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/16/cost-of-abortion-us-expense

Texas abortion pill ruling could undermine U.S. FDA, experts say

By Ahmed Aboulenein, Reuters
Posted April 10, 2023

A federal judge’s decision last week to suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of abortion pill mifepristone could severely weaken the agency if allowed to stand, health policy and legal experts said.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling on Friday, which followed a March 15 hearing, was a preliminary injunction that would essentially ban sales of mifepristone while the case by anti-abortion groups before him continues in the Northern District of Texas.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/9612569/texas-abortion-pill-us-fda/

10.04.2023

News

Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

FDA

Food and Drug Administration

Kaiser Family Foundation

USA – The Future of Abortion Pills Is on the Line

FEB. 3, 2023
By Andrea González-Ramírez

Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, abortion pills have been a powerful tool for people to safely end a pregnancy on their own at home in the 14 states that have banned abortion. Abortion opponents and supporters are deeply invested in either cutting off or expanding access to the pills, and that tension has triggered a wave of legal challenges that could determine the future of medication abortion in the U.S.

“Back in the pre-Roe era, abortion was all done via procedure, which meant that if you could control the gatekeepers — the providers — then you could stop abortion in your state or stop a lot of it,” says Greer Donley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. “But now pills travel across borders all the time. It makes abortion really hard to control.”

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2023/02/whats-happening-with-abortion-pills-in-the-courts.html

The Public, Including Women of Childbearing Age, Are Largely Confused About the Legality of Medication Abortion and Emergency Contraceptives in Their States

Feb 1, 2023
Even in States Where Abortion is Legal, Many are Uncertain about Legality of Medication Abortion

More than six months since the Supreme Court issued their Dobbs decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, there is widespread public confusion about the medication abortion pill and whether it is legal at the state level, according to the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll. The poll also finds many are unsure about the legality of emergency contraceptive pills, sometimes called morning after pills or “Plan B,” and whether the pills can end a pregnancy.

Across the country at least four in ten U.S. adults say they are “not sure” whether mifepristone, the medication abortion drug, is legal where they live. Half of women (49%) are “unsure” about whether medication abortion is legal in the state they live in, including 41% of women ages 18-49.

Continued: https://connect.kff.org/the-public-including-women-of-childbearing-age-are-largely-confused-about-the-legality-of-medication-abortion-and-emergency-contraceptives-in-their-states

01.02.2023

Featured

Research

abortion polls

emergency contraception

Kaiser Family Foundation

Will the world abort women’s rights after death of Roe v. Wade?

BY ELLEN WULFHORST, THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION
Nov 24, 2022

PATTAYA CITY, THAILAND – Women and girls around the world will suffer a knock-on effect from the U.S. decision to roll back abortion rights, experts say, predicting a global clampdown on hard-won female freedoms.

From access to abortion to voting rights, equal pay to equal status, women from Africa to Asia to Europe are expected to feel the fallout of the U.S. decision to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Continued: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/11/24/world/women-rights-abortion/

BY ELLEN WULFHORST, THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION
Nov 24, 2022

From access to abortion to voting rights, equal pay to equal status, women from Africa to Asia to Europe are expected to feel the fallout of the U.S. decision to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Continued: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/11/24/world/women-rights-abortion/

Abortion ruling means more and riskier births in Mississippi

Oct. 24, 2022
By MICHAEL GOLDBERG, The Associated Press

GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) — In Mississippi, where health officials expect 5,000 more births each year as a result of the Supreme Court ruling upending abortion rights, children are more likely to die before their first birthday than in any other state.

Mississippi has the nation’s highest fetal mortality rate, highest infant mortality rate, highest pre-term birth rate and is among the worst states for maternal mortality. Black women are nearly three times more likely to die due to childbirth than white women in Mississippi.

Continued: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/abortion-ruling-means-more-and-riskier-births-in-mississippi/

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 – Abortion Fight Could Upend Women’s Health Care. Many Are Worried It Could Limit Their Access to Birth Control

Survey shows most women get contraception at doctor’s office, don’t have copays

BY GABY GALVIN
April 28, 2022

If the Supreme Court weakens federal abortion protections this summer, nearly half of women under age 45 say they would be worried about their ability to access another form of reproductive health care: birth control.

Some states are already taking steps to restrict abortion, and clinicians and advocates have warned the high court’s decision will cause ripple effects across the women’s health landscape. Clinics serving low-income patients, for example, may struggle to continue offering other services such as testing and birth control. Meanwhile, legal protections for abortion and contraception are connected through court precedent establishing privacy rights.

https://morningconsult.com/2022/04/28/birth-control-survey-data-roe-v-wade/

Africa: Donor Funding Cuts in Family Planning Hit Poor Nations

17 FEBRUARY 2022
By Royal Uche

Lagos — Donor funding for family planning in 59 low-and-middle-income countries declined by more than US$100 million in 2020, putting women there at risk of unsafe abortions and death, a report finds.

The report by FP2030 and the Kaiser Family Foundation, said UK overseas aid cuts were the main driver of the decline, and warned that additional funding reductions in the future could jeopardise progress made in the last decade.

Continued: https://www.allafrica.com/stories/202203050106.html

17.02.2022