How Republicans pass abortion bans most Americans don’t want

Legalized abortion in some form is widely supported, but gerrymandered districts allow politicians to push extreme measures through

Sam Levine in New York
Wed 8 Jun 2022

On 10 April 2019, the Ohio legislature easily passed SB 23, a bill that banned abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

It was a move that should have carried considerable political risk in Ohio, a state closely divided between Democrats and Republicans. There wasn’t widespread support for the bill – polling showed public opinion was nearly evenly split over the bill (a poll after the bill was passed showed a majority opposed it), John Kasich, a previous Republican governor, had twice vetoed the bill, saying it was unconstitutional, and it had stalled in the legislature for years.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/07/gerrymandering-abortion-roe-v-wade-ohio

Why so many abortion restrictions are working their way through state legislatures now

Anti-abortion lawmakers are trying a variety of approaches to limit access to the procedure — so that they are prepared to restrict access, no matter how the Supreme Court rules.

Shefali Luthra, Health Reporter
March 7, 2022

Florida’s legislature passed a bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Idaho’s Senate approved a bill to block the procedure after six weeks, modeled after Texas’ law. Georgia’s Senate advanced legislation that prohibits using telemedicine for abortion medication. And in Kentucky, the state House voted to pass new restrictions on abortion providers that, if enacted, could effectively shut down clinics in the state.

Legislatures around the country are voting on a variety of abortion restrictions, many of them not in line with the protections that have existed since Roe v. Wade was decided 49 years ago. They’re doing so with an eye on the Supreme Court, set to rule in a case that is widely expected to give more power to states to add limits to the availability of abortion.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2022/03/why-abortion-restrictions-pushed-state-legislatures-dobbs/

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/

Federal judges in 3 U.S. states block orders limiting abortion access over COVID-19

Federal judges in 3 U.S. states block orders limiting abortion access over COVID-19

Caroline Kelly, CNN
Published Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Federal judges in Alabama, Ohio and Texas have blocked orders banning nonessential medical procedures from limiting abortion access during the coronavirus outbreak, a win for abortion rights activists as the fight over abortion rights intersects with the worsening pandemic.

"Because Alabama law imposes time limits on when women can obtain abortions, the March 27 order is likely to fully prevent some women from exercising their right to obtain an abortion," federal Judge Myron Thompson, from the Middle District of Alabama, wrote Monday. He temporarily halted the order, issued by the state's Health Department earlier this month, until April 13.

Continued: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/federal-judges-in-3-u-s-states-block-orders-limiting-abortion-access-over-covid-19-1.4875382

Texas and Ohio Include Abortion as Medical Procedures That Must Be Delayed

Texas and Ohio Include Abortion as Medical Procedures That Must Be Delayed
The moves by the states set off a new front in the political fight over abortion during the coronavirus pandemic.

by Sabrina Tavernise
Published March 23, 2020

Texas and Ohio have included abortions among the nonessential surgeries and medical procedures that they are requiring to be delayed, setting off a new front in the fight over abortion rights in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

Both states said they were trying to preserve extremely precious protective equipment for health care workers and to make space for a potential flood of coronavirus patients.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/coronavirus-texas-ohio-abortion.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share