Take it from an Irish woman: if US abortion rights keep slipping, dark days are coming

In 2018, Ireland finally voted to legalize terminations. Before that condoms, divorce and abortion were illegal and shameful

Maeve Higgins
Tue 2 Nov 2021

I am a woman in America who can bear children, and this means that there are powerful people coming for me, with detailed and strategic plans to control my body. Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? It is dramatic, more so because it’s a straight-up fact. In 2021, state legislatures enacted more abortion restrictions than in any previous year, according to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy body dedicated to advancing reproductive rights. Last month’s decision by the supreme court to refuse to block a Texas law all but banning abortion signals that the court could well be on the way to overturn Roe v Wade, and soon.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/02/take-it-from-an-irish-woman-if-us-abortion-rights-keep-slipping-dark-days-are-coming

Biden administration again asks Supreme Court to block Texas abortion law

The Supreme Court declined in early September to block the law, which went into effect on Sept. 1.

Oct. 15, 2021
By Pete Williams

The Biden administration said Friday it will once again ask the Supreme Court to put a hold on the Texas law that bans abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy.

"The Justice Department intends to ask the Supreme Court to vacate the Fifth Circuit's stay of the preliminary injunction against Texas Senate Bill 8," said Anthony Coley, the department's chief spokesman.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/biden-administration-again-asks-supreme-court-block-texas-abortion-law-n1281671

USA – Women’s March focuses on reproductive rights in light of Texas abortion law

The march has taken place annually since 2017, after Donald Trump's election.

By Katie Kindelan, Ayushi Agarwal, and Lalee Ibssa, ABC News
2 October 2021

Women's rights advocates marched again in Washington, D.C., and other cities across the U.S. Saturday, with a focus on reproductive rights.

The fifth annual Women's March was held on a date specifically chosen for its proximity to the start of the U.S. Supreme Court's new term on Monday.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/womens-march-returning-cities-us-support-reproductive-rights/story?id=80326240

USA – Supporters of Abortion Rights, at Nationwide Marches, Try to Regain Momentum

A nationwide march for abortion rights on Saturday offered an early test of Democratic enthusiasm in the post-Trump era.

By Lisa Lerer and Campbell Robertson
Oct. 2, 2021

Last fall, Hannah Dasgupta spent her days focused on politics, channeling her fear and anger over President Donald J. Trump into activism. Worried about the future of abortion rights, among other issues, during the Trump administration, she joined a group of suburban Ohio women who were working to elect Democrats.

A year later, Ms. Dasgupta, 37, still cares just as deeply about those issues. But she did not attend a nationwide women’s march for abortion rights on Saturday. In fact, she hadn’t even heard about it.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/02/us/politics/abortion-rights-march.html

Florida becomes 1st state to try to mirror Texas fetal ‘heartbeat’ abortion law

Bill would ban abortion after 6 to 8 weeks and allow people to sue doctors who perform them

Thomson Reuters
Posted: Sep 22, 2021

A Florida Republican lawmaker has filed a bill that would ban abortions after six to eight weeks and allow members of the community to sue doctors for terminating pregnancies in what may be the first effort to mirror a similar new law in Texas.

The bill by state Rep. Webster Barnaby would ban abortions after regular cardiac contractions are detected in an embryo, known as a fetal heartbeat even though the heart has not yet developed, about six to eight weeks into pregnancy. That is before many women know they are pregnant.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/abortion-law-florida-texas-1.6186255

Texas judge issues injunction against anti-abortion group on enforcing new law

By Jessica Schneider and Ariane de Vogue, CNN
Mon September 13, 2021

(CNN) A Texas state judge issued an injunction against anti-abortion
group Texas Right to Life, blocking it from trying to enforce the new six-week
abortion ban against Planned Parenthood in Texas.

The injunction, issued by Judge Karin Crump of the Travis County court, applies
to anyone affiliated with the group and stops them from filing a lawsuit
against Planned Parenthood for any potential violation of SB8, the law that
effectively bans most abortions in Texas. The law gives private citizens the
power to enforce it.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/13/politics/texas-sb8-planned-parenthood-right-to-life/index.html

13.09.2021

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Even people who oppose abortion should fear Texas’s new ban

The law could give a roadmap to any state that wants to target a federal right, from gun ownership to free speech.

By Julia Kaye and Marc Hearron
July 19, 2021

This spring, the Texas legislature dropped the charade that its years-long campaign to shutter abortion clinics was ever about patient safety and simply banned abortion outright. Texas Senate Bill 8 (S.B. 8) prohibits abortions beginning at approximately six weeks of pregnancy — before many people even realize they are pregnant. Our organizations, along with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and other partners, have sued to block S.B. 8 on behalf of a coalition of Texas abortion clinics, doctors, health center staff, abortion funds, practical support networks and clergy, because the law will cause profound harm to Texans and is plainly unconstitutional.

But even those opposed to abortion should be alarmed by this law, which could draw a road map for states and localities looking to dismantle constitutional rights with impunity.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/07/19/texas-sb8-abortion-lawsuits/

Lawsuit Filed to Stop Texas’ Radical New Abortion Ban

For Immediate Release: July 13, 2021

Broad coalition of Texas abortion providers, doctors, clergy, abortion funds and practical support networks sues to block the state’s radical new abortion ban set to take effect Sept. 1

The ban encourages anyone – including anti-abortion activists – to essentially act as bounty hunters by awarding $10,000 or more to those who successfully sue another person for providing or assisting someone who gets an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy

WASHINGTON — Today, Texas abortion providers—led by Whole Woman’s Health—along with several abortion funds, practical support networks, doctors, health center staff, and clergy members filed a lawsuit to block a radical new Texas law (S.B. 8) set to take effect Sept. 1. The law bans abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy and includes an unprecedented provision that asks private individuals — including anti-abortion protestors with no connection to the patient — to file lawsuits seeking “enforcement” of the ban. The law creates monetary rewards for any member of the public who successfully sues an abortion provider or those who “aid and abet” someone getting an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/lawsuit-filed-to-stop-texas-radical-new-abortion-ban

Citizens, Not the State, Will Enforce New Abortion Law in Texas

The measure bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. And it effectively deputizes ordinary citizens to sue people involved in the process.

By Sabrina Tavernise
July 9, 2021

People across the country may soon be able to sue abortion clinics, doctors and anyone helping a woman get an abortion in Texas, under a new state law that contains a legal innovation with broad implications for the American court system.

The provision passed the State Legislature
this spring as part of a bill that bans abortion after a doctor detects a fetal
heartbeat, usually at about six weeks of pregnancy. Many states have passed
such bans, but the law in Texas is different.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/us/abortion-law-regulations-texas.html

2021 Is Already The Year Of Anti-Abortion Legislation

State legislatures with eyes on a Supreme Court showdown have introduced more than 500 bills restricting the procedure.

By Lydia O’Connor
03/26/2021

Fears that a conservative U.S. Supreme Court would inspire a wave of anti-abortion legislation across the country appear to have been warranted, a study of state-level bills introduced this year suggests.

According to a report the Planned Parenthood Federation of America released Friday, legislation limiting abortion in 2021 has skyrocketed in comparison to a similar time frame in 2019. Compared to bills introduced from January through mid-March 2019, medication abortion restrictions and bans have tripled to 33, anti-abortion constitutional amendments have more than tripled to 14, and states have enacted 12 abortion restrictions this year, compared to just one by this point in 2019.

Continued: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/2021-abortion-bills-report_n_605e17fac5b65d1c28154b24