There has never been an antiabortion law like the one just passed in Texas

The state is seen as a ‘testing ground’ for new kinds of antiabortion bills

Caroline Kitchener, The Lily
May 25, 2021

AUSTIN — As John Seago looked up at the Texas Capitol, he smiled. For 12 years, he has walked across the manicured lawns, schmoozing with legislators in the limestone halls. He has always urged lawmakers to “be bold." In a state as antiabortion as Texas, he’d tell them, “there is no excuse not to be aggressive.”

Finally, they listened.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/there-has-never-been-an-antiabortion-law-like-the-one-just-passed-in-texas/


‘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


Republicans Want a New Weapon in the War on Abortion: Murder Charges

“If you want to spout, ‘My body, my body choice,’ you need to spend some time in our Arizona penal system,” said one state lawmaker.

by Carter Sherman
29.1.21

The U.S. anti-abortion movement is built on the belief that getting an abortion is tantamount to killing a child. Now, some abortion opponents want to turn that idea into law.

Legislators in at least three states—Arizona, North Dakota and Mississippi—introduced bills for the 2021 legislative session that would allow prosecutors to charge abortion providers with murder, as part of a massive wave of anti-abortion legislation that’s flooding statehouses across the country. So far this session, at least 143 abortions restrictions have been introduced in 25 states, and there's likely more to come.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en/article/akdaa4/republicans-want-a-new-weapon-in-the-war-on-abortion-murder-charges


That Supreme Court ruling on the Louisiana abortion case wasn’t a big win for pro-choice advocates after all

The fate of Roe v. Wade is more uncertain than ever

Published: July 17, 2020
By Mary Ziegler

When the Supreme Court handed down its ruling striking down a Louisiana law that would have limited abortion access in that state, progressives celebrated. Their reasoning on June 29 was simple: By joining the court’s liberal justices, Chief Justice John Roberts had proven his commitment to the principle of precedent.

But the court had also sent several cases — all big wins for abortion rights — back to lower courts for reconsideration.

Continued: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/that-supreme-court-ruling-on-the-louisiana-abortion-case-wasnt-a-big-win-for-pro-choice-advocates-after-all-2020-07-17


USA – Gestational Age Bans: Harmful at Any Stage of Pregnancy

Gestational Age Bans: Harmful at Any Stage of Pregnancy

Megan K. Donovan, Guttmacher Institute
First published online: January 9, 2020

HIGHLIGHTS

Efforts to ban abortion by gestational age surged in 2019, helping to expose antiabortion lawmakers’ true agenda to eliminate abortion rights entirely.
Using gestational age as a legal cutoff for abortion care is harmful at any point in pregnancy.
States such as Oregon and Vermont are leading the way in enacting laws that prohibit government interference in abortion care throughout pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2020/01/gestational-age-bans-harmful-any-stage-pregnancy


USA – Here’s How Conservatives Are Using Civil Rights Law to Restrict Abortion

Here's How Conservatives Are Using Civil Rights Law to Restrict Abortion
Here Are the Details of the Abortion Legislation in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Elsewhere

By Abigail Abrams
January 1, 2020

Six states passed laws in 2019 banning abortions once a “fetal heartbeat” is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy. While most of these new laws were challenged in court and are temporarily blocked, the trend has continued: another 10 states introduced similar bills in 2019 and more are expected this year.

The sudden success of these measures is not an accident. They are the result of a concerted new strategy by abortion opponents, researchers have found.

Continued: https://time.com/5753300/heartbeat-bill-civil-rights-law/


USA – Inside the conservative organization undermining abortion access one state at a time

Inside the conservative organization undermining abortion access one state at a time

By Ray Levy-Uyeda
Dec 26, 2019

This year, a record number of six-week abortion bans, dubbed “heartbeat bills," were introduced at the state level. The goal of these restrictive measures was ostensibly to “protect the lives of the unborn” — as well as to issue a sneaky challenge to existing law set by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which says abortion is legal in all 50 states. The bans rely on the bogus claim that a vaginal ultrasound can detect a fetal “heartbeat” six weeks into pregnancy, giving pro-life advocates a foundational claim to fetal personhood.

In reality, these “heartbeats” are not any real sign of sentient life. But the movement is successfully restricting access to abortion in large part because of the activism of one woman: Ohioan Janet Folger Porter, who uses her organization, Faith2Action, to lobby for and proliferate such legislation.

Continued: https://www.mic.com/p/inside-the-conservative-organization-undermining-abortion-access-one-state-at-a-time-19407288


Why Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Have Become So Open About Attacking ‘Roe’

Why Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Have Become So Open About Attacking ‘Roe’

Nov 25, 2019
Casey Quinlan

Since Trump entered the presidential race in 2015, anti-abortion advocates and lawmakers "have been emboldened with horrific rhetoric that supports a climate of violence against abortion providers," said Erin Matson, co-founder and co-director of Reproaction. "They’re just going for the jugular."

In late October, Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Clinton County) and state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin County) introduced a bill banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. During the press conference, Borowicz said the bill could be the “dagger in Roe v. Wade.”

Continued: https://rewire.news/article/2019/11/25/why-anti-abortion-lawmakers-have-become-so-open-about-attacking-roe/


What’s Become of All the Extreme Abortion Bans From This Year?

What’s Become of All the Extreme Abortion Bans From This Year?
By Amanda Arnold
Oct 2, 2019

The first six months of the year saw relentless attacks on abortion rights on the state level. Five states passed bills banning the procedure after six weeks, before many women even realize they’re pregnant. And in May, Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed a near-full ban on the procedure. The same month, Missouri — a state with only one abortion clinic — passed an extreme eight-week ban that didn’t include any exceptions for instances of rape, incest, or human trafficking. In all, seven states have passed similarly stringent laws in 2019, and more are considering them.

But in recent months, judges in many of these states have started to issue preliminary injunctions, which allow patients to continue accessing important reproductive care while the court hears the case in full to determine whether or not the bill is constitutional. In short, these court orders — also known as temporary blocks — maintain the status quo, allowing abortion to remain legal. Most recently, on October 1, a federal judge temporarily blocked Georgia’s ban.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2019/10/states-with-early-abortion-bans-a-comprehensive-list.html


Abortion Bans Based on So-Called “Science” Are Fraudulent

Abortion Bans Based on So-Called “Science” Are Fraudulent
Our silence in the face of new anti-choice laws across the U.S. is deafening

By Nicole M. Baran, Gretchen Goldman, Jane Zelikova
on August 21, 2019

We are scientists, and we believe that evidence, not ideology, should inform health care decisions. The wave of anti-abortion laws across the U.S. is the latest in a long string of attempts to falsely use the language and authority of science to justify denying people their basic human rights and inflict lasting harm. Although abortion is still legal in every state, recent legislation in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio threatens the future of abortion rights in the country. Scientists should, first and foremost, value evidence, and the evidence is clear: abortion bans cause harm. They make abortions less safe and especially harm historically marginalized communities.

Continued: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/abortion-bans-based-on-so-called-science-are-fraudulent/