Some Republicans say the midterms were a mandate for further abortion restrictions

Many GOP lawmakers who sailed to victory in states with anti-abortion laws are planning to use their expanded power.

By MEGAN MESSERLY
12/03/2022

Republicans racked up big wins in more than a dozen state legislatures this fall — and now they’re planning to use their expanded power to crack down on abortions come January.

With sweeping abortion legislation having little chance in a divided Congress, conservative state legislators are stepping into the void, proposing to limit when the procedure can take place, enact new regulations on abortion pills and strengthen penalties for doctors who break the law. Taken together, the legislation could make it harder for tens of millions of people to obtain abortions — particularly in Southern states that still permit most abortions, like Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, which have become havens for access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/03/anti-abortion-republican-party-roe-00071988

USA – ‘Uterus surveillance’: The scramble to keep abortion data from prying eyes

Telemedicine groups are looking to bolster privacy protections ahead of Roe decision.

By BEN LEONARD
05/20/2022

Telemedicine abortion groups, fearful of digital surveillance from states curbing access in a potential post-Roe nation, are shoring up privacy defenses and urging people seeking abortions to take steps to protect their data.

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, telehealth would be crucial to people seeking abortion care, particularly those who live in states that would ban the procedure. Many people are expected to drive across state lines for virtual visits from their cars or have abortion pills mailed to a state where they are allowed, experts said — moves that could create legal risks.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/20/uterus-surveillance-the-scramble-to-keep-abortion-data-from-prying-eyes-00033775

As U.S. abortion access wanes, this doctor travels to fill a void

April 27, 2022
By Gabriella Borter

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 27 (Reuters) - Inside Planned Parenthood’s Birmingham, Alabama, clinic, a quiet space with few windows and stock photos of the city lining the walls, a woman tapped her hand against her stomach as Dr. Shelly Tien performed a surgical abortion.

Tien, 40, had flown to Birmingham the day before, and she would return home to Jacksonville, Florida, that night. A week earlier, she performed abortions at a clinic in Oklahoma. She's among an estimated 50 doctors who travel across state lines, according to the National Abortion Federation, to provide abortions in places with limited abortion access.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-abortion-access-wanes-this-doctor-travels-fill-void-2022-04-27/

FDA says abortion pills can be sent by mail

By Tierney Sneed, CNN
Thu December 16, 2021

(CNN)The US Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it is lifting a requirement that patients seeking medication abortion had to pick up the medication in-person, instead allowing pills to be sent by mail. The move comes as the Supreme Court is poised to undo its abortion rights precedent.

Relaxing the federal restrictions on medication abortion is one thing that the Biden administration could do mitigate the fallout from a Roe v. Wade reversal, but red states are already on the march to counteract what the federal government has opted to do.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/16/politics/medication-abortion-fda-supreme-court/index.html

USA – ‘Game on’: Republicans ramp up efforts to restrict abortion in 2020

'Game on': Republicans ramp up efforts to restrict abortion in 2020

By Caroline Kelly, CNN
Sat January 4, 2020

Abortion laws around the globe (2018) 01:33

(CNN)Abortion has resurfaced as a major issue in American politics with a flurry of measures making their way through state legislatures around the country -- just as the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the first reproductive rights case since Justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed.

In addition to passing bans on abortion earlier in pregnancy, Republican lawmakers and activists in states from Alabama to Utah have looked to further regulate the procedure, sometimes beyond what is medically possible, according to medical experts.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/04/politics/abortion-policy-changes-2020/index.html