USA – Red States Just Asked the Supreme Court to Kill Abortion Shield Laws

The long-expected constitutional showdown over states’ rights and abortion rights is here.

Nina Martin, Mother Jones
Oct 1, 2026

In what promises to be the most consequential showdown over reproductive rights since the end of Roe v. Wade, three states with near-total abortion bans asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to strike down blue-state laws that have enabled tens of thousands of abortions every year across state lines since 2022.

The action by Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas was a dramatic escalation in the long-running battle over so-called shield laws, which provide legal immunity to doctors, organizations, and advocates in liberal states who deliver abortion care, mostly in the form of pills, to people in states with draconian abortion laws.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/10/red-states-just-asked-the-supreme-court-to-kill-abortion-shield-laws/

Activists launch world’s first abortion pill delivery locker in Poland

Oct 1, 2026
Notes from Poland

Activists in Poland have launched what they say is the world’s first delivery locker that provides women with abortion pills, access to which is normally tightly restricted. They have placed the device opposite parliament in Warsaw, a location intended to send a message to the politicians who have made Poland’s abortion laws among the strictest in the world.

The locker (called an “abortomat” in Polish, combining the words aborcja, meaning abortion, and automat, meaning an automatic machine) has been launched by Women Help Women (WHW), a global organisation that provides “self-managed abortion”, and Abortion Dream Team (ADT), a Polish activist group.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2026/10/01/activists-launch-worlds-first-abortion-pill-delivery-locker-in-poland/

01.10.2026

Law and Justice party

self-managed abortion

IRELAND – Robust committee exchanges over three-day abortion wait period

Wednesday, 30 Sep 2026
By Juliette Gash

There have been robust exchanges at the Health Committee with disagreements between members and witnesses over the mandatory three-day waiting period under current abortion legislation.

Two pro-life GPs, who do not themselves provide abortion services, were called as witnesses today. Dr Andrew O'Regan told the committee that the three day wait "has given women time to reflect and draw on available supports."

Continued: https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0930/1593490-robust-exchanges-abortion-wait/

30.09.2026

News

3-day waiting requirement

three-day waiting period

Women protest in defence of abortion rights in Colombia

Agence France-Presse . Bogota, Colombia

30 September, 2026

Hundreds of women wearing green bandanas demonstrated in favor of abortion rights in Colombia on Monday, as President Abelardo de la Espriella’s right-wing government calls for stricter laws.

Abortion was legalised up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in 2022, following a landmark ruling by Colombia’s Constitutional Court.

Continued: https://www.newagebd.net/post/latin-america/315922/women-protest-in-defence-of-abortion-rights-in-colombia

30.09.2026

News

Abelardo de la Espriella

Camila Tovar

Colombia Constitutional Court

green bandanas

International Safe Abortion Day

Malta – Don’t use disability to slam abortion, activist tells pro-lifers

‘Not in my name’: Lara Calleja challenges use of disability in arguments against abortion

30 September 2026
by Juliana Zammit

Author and activist Lara Calleja has called for disabled people to be included more in the abortion debate, saying disability is often used in arguments against abortion.

“Not in my name”, Calleja told MaltaToday, objecting to the use of disabled people as an argument against abortion.

She said people sought abortions for many different reasons and emphasised that disabled people needed to be part of that discussion themselves.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/144696/dont_use_disability_to_slam_abortion_activist_tells_prolifers

30.09.2026

News

disability and abortion

Joanna Delia

Lara Calleja

Voice for Choice Malta

Women deserve better – The Power of EU citizens to shape Women’s Rights Debate

Wednesday, September 30, 2026
National Women’s Council

NWC today (30th September) highlighted the power of EU citizens and civil society to shape EU policies on reproductive rights. Exploring the historic success of the European Citizens’ Initiative, My Voice, My Choice, NWC called on the Irish Government to use the EU Presidency as an opportunity to champion women’s health at EU level and address ongoing barriers to abortion care in Ireland.

The enormously successful European Citizens’ Initiative, My Voice, My Choice, which received over 1.2 million verified signatures, was one of the case studies discussed at the event Europe in Action: Citizen Participation & Women's Health in Trinity College Dublin to mark International Safe Abortion Day (28th September). My Voice, My choice served as a powerful campaigning tool to put issues around women’s health and access to abortion firmly on the agenda, not only at EU level but in the different member states.

Continued: https://www.nwci.ie/learn/press_release/women_deserve_better_the_power_of_eu_citizens_to_shape_womens_rights_debate

30.09.2026

Commentary

8th March Institute

Adriana Lamackova

Center for Reproductive Rights

International Safe Abortion Day

Maria Walsh

My Voice My Choice campaign

National Women’s Council

Nika Kovač

Paula Pinzón Hernández

Inside the Clandestine Network of Abortion-Pill Mules

“There may come a time where we are one of the only, if not the only, option for the nation.”

Rebecca Grant, Mother Jones
November+December 2026 Issue
(online Sep 30, 2026)

When Lena walks into the cafe near an airport somewhere outside the US, she looks like any other traveler grabbing a cup of coffee before a flight. She orders a drink and picks a table out of earshot of other patrons, keeping her suitcase close by her side.

In the clandestine world of underground abortion activists, Lena—not her real name—is a courier. The trips she takes abroad—we can’t say where—are supply runs to pick up generic versions of mifepristone and misoprostol, the two drugs that make up the standard medication abortion regimen. Soon, another traveler—her supplier—approaches her table, also dragging a suitcase.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/underground-abortion-activists-mifepristone-misoprostol-medical/

Hungary – Momentum calls for repeal of Orbán-era abortion law

30 September 2026
ALDE Party, Aoife Devereux

After this year’s general election ended Viktor Orbán’s long period of sole rule, ALDE Party’s Hungarian member Momentum is pushing to overturn one of the most controversial policies of the Orbán era: the so-called “heartbeat decree”.

Introduced in 2022, the decree requires women seeking an abortion to receive medical confirmation of the foetus' vital functions before undergoing the procedure. The measure is widely known as the “heartbeat decree” because, in practice, this has generally meant being shown the foetal heartbeat.

Continued: https://www.aldeparty.eu/blog/news-11/momentum-calls-for-repeal-of-orban-era-abortion-law-598

30.09.2026

Polish Activists Open First Abortion Pill Locker In Warsaw

By Katarzyna SKIBA
Sept 30, 2026

Polish activists have opened the country's first-ever abortion locker, allowing women to access pregnancy-terminating pills anonymously and immediately in the country with some of Europe's strictest abortion laws, an AFP photographer confirmed Wednesday.

The small, colourfully painted locker, which activists call an "abortomat", consists of 22 compartments containing envelopes with medications allowing them to carry out medical abortions.

"It's a feminist intervention meant to show just how upside‑down things are," Kinga Jelinska, director of the Women Help Women Foundation and co-founder of the Abortion Dream Team, told AFP.

Continued; https://www.barrons.com/news/polish-activists-opens-first-abortion-pill-locker-in-warsaw-bac65e4e

30.09.2026

Abortion Dream Team

abortion pills in vending machines

KENYA – Rights groups urge government to decriminalise safe abortion

By KNA
September 30, 2026

Reproductive Health Human Rights Lobby Groups in Nakuru have petitioned the government to decriminalise safe abortion in Kenya, citing rising numbers of unsafe procedures and maternal deaths.

The civil society organisations, including the Reproductive Health Champions Organisation (RHCO), the Nakuru Reproductive Health Network (NRHN), and the Hope in Life Society (HILS), made the call during this year’s International Safe Abortion Day on Monday.

Continued: https://www.kbc.co.ke/rights-groups-urge-government-to-decriminalise-safe-abortion/