Under Idaho’s abortion ban, a family confronts life-or-death reality — and a crisis of faith

As judges weigh the limits of medical exceptions, Idaho’s abortion ban is being tested — in courts, hospitals and patients’ lives

By Kelsey Turner
Apr 18, 2025

Desi Ballis didn’t understand why her doctor needed her to go to Utah.

She lay on an exam table in Boise, her pregnant belly wet with ultrasound gel. At 38, she’d done various genetic tests that confirmed her baby was developing normally. Its small features looked perfect on the screen.

But her baby wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Her 20-week ultrasound in February 2024 showed findings of hydrops fetalis, an often lethal condition where fluid builds up in the fetus’ body, according to Desi’s medical records. Her baby would almost certainly die before delivery. If she remained pregnant, Desi risked dying, too.

Continued: https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/under-idahos-abortion-ban-a-family-confronts-life-or-death-reality-and-a-crisis-of-faith-17865090

Andorra – This tiny country is home to Europe’s toughest abortion ban

The micronation of Andorra, located in the mountains between Spain and France, takes a hard-line stance against abortion because its head-of-state is a Catholic bishop. But some Andorrans say it’s time for change.

The World
November 6, 2023

The principality of Andorra, located in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France, is one of the smallest, least-populated countries in Europe.

It’s also the only one with a total ban on abortions. Not only are abortions in Andorra illegal, but also a taboo, said Sandra, an Andorran who asked for anonymity due to fear of public exposure.

Continued: https://theworld.org/stories/2023-11-06/tiny-country-home-europe-s-toughest-abortion-ban

Serbian women face femicide, abortion ban

By Aleksandra Vrbica | EURACTIV.rs
May 14, 2023

Serbian women face a range of issues, including the narrative of an abortion ban which is gaining momentum and 18 femicides so far in 2023, the latest occurring after the victim acquired a restraining order against the perpetrator.

During 2022, the number of femicides (26) increased compared to 2021 (21) and the latest incident in Novi Sad shows that measures designed to protect women, such as protection orders, are not effective.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/serbian-women-face-femicide-abortion-ban/

Near-total abortion ban takes effect in Indiana: “My patients are being stripped of human rights”

BY ADRIANA DIAZ
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

A sweeping new abortion ban went into effect in Indiana Thursday, outlawing the procedure with limited exceptions. The state was the first in the nation to pass legislation after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

Most of the lights are now off at Women's Med, an Indianapolis abortion provider. The clinic is among two Indiana providers slated to close, while the state's five remaining clinics will offer limited health care.

Continued: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-ban-indiana-roe-v-wade/

15.09.2022

Could an Abortion Ban Put Your Life in Danger?

What you should know about your medical rights—and what still needs to change to keep you safe.

BY GARNET HENDERSON
PUBLISHED: AUG 16, 2022

In the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, alarming stories have emerged of pregnant people being denied necessary medical care in some of the 15 states that now ban all or most abortions. To name a few: a woman in Wisconsin bled for 10 days due to an incomplete miscarriage when emergency room staff refused to remove the fetal tissue; one Texas physician said they were told by hospital management not to treat ectopic pregnancies until they ruptured (a life-threatening event); and a Louisiana woman was forced to endure painful labor after her water broke at just 16 weeks, because doctors were told they could not do an abortion procedure.

Continued: https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a40860997/abortion-bans-medical-rights-hospital-pharmacy/

What the U.S. can learn from Stalin’s abortion ban

BY WENDY Z. GOLDMAN
JAN. 4, 2022

As the right to get an abortion in the United States is whittled away, state by state and statute by statute, we can learn important lessons about the impact of its repression from the history of one country where it was first legalized — and then re-criminalized.

In 1920, Soviet Russia, which would become the Soviet Union in 1922, became the first country in the world to legalize abortion. In an unprecedented decree, the state noted that punishing women or doctors for abortion had “no positive results. It drives the operation underground and makes women the victims of greedy and often ignorant abortionists who profit from this secrecy.”

Continued: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-04/stalins-abortion-ban-soviet-union

Abortion: How do Trump and Biden’s policies compare?

9 September 2020

Abortion is arguably the most divisive issue in US politics - and with the presidential candidates promising to either revoke national rights to abortion or take extra steps to safeguard it, the stakes have never been higher.

With President Trump in the White House, anti-abortion activists are energised and Republican-controlled states have tightened restrictions.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54003808

ACLU, Planned Parenthood bring lawsuit against Alabama abortion law

ACLU, Planned Parenthood bring lawsuit against Alabama abortion law

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN
Fri May 24, 2019

Washington (CNN)The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama's abortion law, the latest in legal challenges to state legislation that place restrictions on abortions.

Alabama's near-total ban -- the most restrictive abortion law in the country -- would punish doctors who perform the procedure with up to 99 years in prison and does not include exceptions for cases of rape and incest. Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill into law last Wednesday, but it does not take effect until November.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/24/politics/alabama-abortion-ban-aclu-lawsuit/index.html

South Korea overturns abortion ban in ‘major step forward’ for women’s rights

South Korea overturns abortion ban in ‘major step forward’ for women’s rights
Constitutional court says ban infringes a woman’s ‘right of self-determination’

Adam Withnall and Maya Oppenheim
April 11, 2019

South Korea’s decades-long ban on abortion is unconstitutional, the country’s highest court has ruled, in a landmark decision that paves the way for anti-abortion regulations to be scrapped.

The ban infringed a woman’s “right of self-determination”, the constitutional court said in its ruling, ordering the government to draw up legislation to ease the rules by the end of 2020.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/south-korea-abortion-ban-court-ruling-constitution-seoul-a8864501.html

11.04.2019

Amnesty International

Moon Jae-in

Roseann Rife

South Korea abortion law

South Korea Constitutional Court

South Korea must end abortion ban by 2020, says court

April 11, 2019

South Korea's ban on abortion has been ruled unconstitutional in a historic court decision. The country's constitutional court ordered that the law must be revised by the end of 2020.

Under the 1953 ban, women who have abortions can be fined and imprisoned, except in cases of rape, incest or risk to their health. Doctors who perform the procedure can also face jail.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47890065

11.04.2019