Doctors worry that online misinformation will push abortion-seekers toward ineffective, dangerous methods

By Naomi Thomas, CNN
Wed July 13, 2022

After a US Supreme Court draft decision on Roe v. Wade was leaked in May, Dr. Joshua Trebach noticed a disturbing turn in the online conversation around abortion.

"I started seeing things on social media, things like TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, people saying 'oh, if Roe v. Wade does get overturned, here are some secret, sneaky ways that you can drink some tea and have an abortion,' " Trebach said.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/13/health/abortion-misinformation-social-media/index.html

State Democrats, abortion-rights activists ‘incredibly frustrated’ with federal inaction

Democratic inaction at the federal level could complicate the party’s efforts to run this fall as champions of reproductive rights.

By MEGAN MESSERLY and ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
05/23/2022

State-level Democratic officials and abortion-rights advocates are discouraged by how little their allies in Congress and the White House have done since a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade became public.

Instead of executive actions that could increase access to abortion pills or help protect people’s medical information, national Democrats have largely highlighted what they can’t do in the Senate and focused on fueling midterm-election turnout, angering state and local leaders who feel the burden to protect and expand access is falling almost entirely on their shoulders.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/23/state-democrats-abortion-rights-activists-federal-inaction-00034191

USA – Abortion advocates’ strategy depends on pills. An information gap threatens their efforts.

With SCOTUS decision looming, confusion and fear hinder post-Roe plans.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and MEGAN MESSERLY
04/24/2022

Mail-order abortion pills could help millions of people discretely terminate their pregnancies should the Supreme Court strike down Roe v. Wade in the coming months, providing a way to circumvent mounting state-imposed restrictions.

But the majority of patients and many doctors remain in the dark or misinformed about the pills, how to obtain them, where to seek follow-up care and how to avoid landing in legal jeopardy, according to medical groups, abortion-rights advocates and national polls.

Continued; https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/24/abortion-advocates-strategy-depends-on-pills-an-information-gap-threatens-their-efforts-00027309

24.04.2022

Commentary

Featured

abortion pills by mail

aiding and abetting abortion

Andrea Miller

April Lockley

Bhavik Kumar

Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health

Consortium of Abortion Providers

Danika Wynn Severino

Innovating Education in Reproductive Health

Kelsey Rhodes

lack of information

Lizelle Herrera

mail-order abortion pills

Marjorie Dannenfelser

medication abortion

mifepristone

Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline

misoprostol

National Institute for Reproductive Health

Physicians for Reproductive Health

Roe v. Wade

self-managed abortions

Susan B Anthony List

telehealth abortion

telemedicine abortion

‘Two Americas’: Aid groups prepare for more women needing to cross state lines for abortions

Organizations are strategizing for the possibility of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and a future where even more women seek financial and logistical help.

June 26, 2021 By Adam Edelman

Last summer, Crystal Zaragoza drove a 15-year-old patient from her home in rural Georgia to Virginia, the nearest location where the teen could receive the abortion care she needed.

Zaragoza remained with the patient every step of the way, making the 650-mile trip in one, long 12-hour haul and staying with her at a hotel during and after the procedure before driving back.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/two-americas-aid-groups-prepare-more-women-needing-cross-state-n1272133

Will the Supreme Court Strike a Devastating Blow to Abortion Rights?

Will the Supreme Court Strike a Devastating Blow to Abortion Rights?

By Caitlin Moscatello
June 17, 2020

In its first major test on abortion since President Trump appointed conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court is expected to render a decision soon that will signal to state lawmakers how far they can go in restricting abortion access. How the Court comes down on the case could also serve as an indicator of its willingness to dial back reproductive rights going forward.

The case, June Medical Services v. Russo, comes out of Louisiana, but is strikingly similar to a Texas law the Court struck down four years ago in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Both are considered to be the targeted regulation of abortion providers: Known as TRAP laws, they are medically unnecessary abortion restrictions that lawmakers pass under the guise of protecting women’s health.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/supreme-court-case-june-medical-v-russo-may-change-abortion.html

17.06.2020

Featured

News

admitting privileges

Alexis McGill Johnson

Andrea Miller

anti-choice restrictions

Bobby Jindal

Brett Kavanaugh

Center for Reproductive Rights

Elizabeth Murrill

Hope Medical Group for Women

hospital admitting privileges

Jeffrey Wall

Julie Rikelman

June Medical Services v. Russo

National Institute for Reproductive Health

Neil Gorsuch

Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

standing for providers

Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers

TRAP laws

undue burden standard

Whole Woman’s Health vs. Hellerstedt

USA – There’s a New Playbook for Securing Abortion Access

There’s a New Playbook for Securing Abortion Access
Recent wins suggest that we are more effective when we proudly proclaim our support for abortion access for all—and defend that position when the attacks come.

By Andrea Miller
Jan 22, 2020

Since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide 47 years ago today, anti-choice lawmakers have passed more than 1,200 legal restrictions on abortion at the state level, each more manipulative and deceptive than the last. Anti-abortion extremists have been hailed as master strategists for their focus on seating anti-abortion ideologues in state legislatures across the country. From 2010 to 2017, Republican control of state legislatures grew from 14 states to 32; during those years alone, anti-choice lawmakers passed more than 400 restrictions on abortion. Anti-abortion hysteria reached a fever pitch in 2019, as states across the South and Midwest passed abortion bans, including six-week bans in Georgia and Ohio and a total ban on abortion in Alabama and the far right—from Donald Trump down to state legislators—adopted a strategy of lies to buoy their extreme agenda.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/abortion-democrats-roe-anniversary/

22.01.2020

Featured

Opinion

All*Above All

NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia

National Institute for Reproductive Health

NIRH

pro-choice legislation

Reproductive Health Act

The Supreme Court Might Overturn Roe v. Wade—But Justices Won’t Have the Final Say on Abortion Laws, Expert Says

The Supreme Court Might Overturn Roe v. Wade—But Justices Won't Have the Final Say on Abortion Laws, Expert Says

By Chantal Da Silva
On 1/6/20

With more than 200 members of Congress calling on the Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion rights groups across the country are bracing for the possibility that 2020 could be the year the ruling that established the right to abortion in the U.S. is rescinded.

Last week, dozens of Republican lawmakers, joined by two Democratic representatives, signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to consider overturning the 1973 decision, which has protected the right to abortion in the U.S. in the decades since.

Continued: https://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-roe-v-wade-overturn-access-abortion-rights-1480552

USA – Almost 40 Percent of Abortions Are Now Done With Pills

Almost 40 Percent of Abortions Are Now Done With Pills
Experts say the number would be even higher if the FDA loosened its restrictions on medication abortion.

by Marie Solis
Sep 19 2019

While the overall abortion rate in the U.S. has hit a record low since the procedure was legalized in 1973 under Roe v. Wade, the rate of people choosing medication abortion to end pregnancies is on the rise, according to new findings from Guttmacher Institute.

Medication abortion is a method of abortion that involves taking the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol to induce what is effectively a miscarriage. The method became available in the United States in 2000, when the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone, and has dramatically increased in use since: Whereas in 2004, medication abortions made up just 14 percent of all abortions in the U.S., by 2015 that number rose to almost 25 percent. Now Guttmacher reports that the share of medication abortions in 2017 was 39 percent of the total, or almost two in five.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/gyzjgx/medication-abortion-rates-in-the-us-hit-record-high-of-40-percent

USA – The abortion underground: Groups quietly help women who have to travel to access care

The abortion underground: Groups quietly help women who have to travel to access care
“We're squirting a bottle of water at a building that is on fire. But it is something that people can do ... ," one volunteer said.

Sept. 1, 2019
By Adam Edelman

It was a warm June afternoon when Judith Plaskow got the email reminding her of a guest arriving soon.

The woman staying at Plaskow's Washington Heights apartment was a stranger who needed to be picked up at the Port Authority bus terminal on Manhattan's West Side. She was young — just 19 — and had never been to New York City before. Plaskow guessed she'd be scared.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/abortion-underground-groups-quietly-help-women-who-have-travel-access-n1048126

Trump abortion ‘gag rule’ leaves poor patients ‘with nowhere to go’ in US

Trump abortion ‘gag rule’ leaves poor patients ‘with nowhere to go’ in US
Impact will vary greatly from state to state after Planned Parenthood withdraws from federal funding program over abortion referral bans

Miranda Bryant
Thu 22 Aug 2019

Last year alone, 37,000 low-income patients in Utah received subsidized family planning under Title X, the federal program which distributes grants to clinics.

But as of Monday, when Planned Parenthood withdrew from the longstanding scheme over new Trump administration rule banning clinics from referring patients for abortions, the US non-profit’s Utah branch must now look elsewhere for the $2m annual grant it used to depend on to provide essential services like birth control, STD and breast and cervical cancer tests to poor women.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/22/planned-parenthood-trump-abortion-gag-rule-harms-patients