The Supreme Court Won’t Explain Why It Just Greenlit New Abortion Restrictions

The court issued its first abortion decision since Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed.

By LEAH LITMAN
JAN 14, 2021

On Tuesday evening, the Supreme Court released its first abortion decision since Senate Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barrett as Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s successor. The court’s unexplained, unsigned order allows the government to restrict access to the abortion pill. It also provides a strong signal that the new court is willing to indulge restrictions on abortion, even though it did not bother to explain why. Some may be inclined to write off the court’s decision since the incoming Biden administration could change the specific regulation at issue in the case, which required women to pick up mifepristone in person from a medical facility. But the decision serves as a standing invitation to states to impose yet more draconian restrictions on abortion.

Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/the-supreme-court-abortion-pill-order.html

USA – This week’s SCOTUS ruling sends a ‘chilling signal’ on the future of abortion rights

Abortions have been available by mail during coronavirus. Not anymore.

Caroline Kitchener
Jan. 13, 2021

Julie Amaon wanted to make the process as easy as possible. Her organization — Just the Pill — began facilitating abortions by mail in October. After they scheduled a call with a doctor, patients in Minnesota would typically receive their pill in the mail within 72 hours. Amaon, a family medicine doctor and medical director for Just the Pill, always followed up with a care package: Oreos, sanitary pads and a bag of peach mango herbal tea.

The entire operation screeched to a halt Tuesday night, when the Supreme Court lifted a national injunction that allowed women to access the abortion pill remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. Since July, patients had been able to request an abortion pill without ever setting foot in a clinic or a doctor’s office, an accommodation instituted to protect patients from the virus.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/this-weeks-scotus-ruling-sends-a-chilling-signal-on-the-future-of-abortion-rights/

Covid: Locked-down women turn to pills amid Malta abortion ban

Catholic Malta has the strictest ban on abortion in the EU, but during the pandemic more Maltese women have been ordering abortion pills from abroad, unable to travel because of the lockdown.

By Sophia Smith-Galer, BBC World Service
January 8, 2021

Veronica - not her real name - was among them. "It was a big burden for me. I already have two kids with learning difficulties. I came off the pill, as the doctor suggested I switch to an IUD for health reasons. I was waiting for the appointment, but Covid came and cancelled all the hospital appointments."

Not long after that Veronica got pregnant. "I had to decide what is best for me and the children," she says. "The best for my health, the best financially… plus the father immediately told me to abort."

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55579339

What Happens if Roe v. Wade Is Overturned?

By Quoctrung Bui, Claire Cain Miller and Margot Sanger-Katz
Ne York Times
Oct. 15, 2020

The almost-certain confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court has increased the chances that Roe v. Wade will be weakened or overturned. If that were to happen, abortion access would decline in large regions of the country, a new data analysis shows.

Legal abortion access would be unchanged in more than half of states, but it would effectively end for those living in much of the American South and Midwest, especially those who are poor, according to the analysis. (The analysis incorporates more recent data on research we wrote about last year.)

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/15/upshot/what-happens-if-roe-is-overturned.html

USA – The Supreme Court’s next abortion decision may come sooner than you think

Opinion by Rachel Rebouché
Oct. 5, 2020

A newly configured Supreme Court featuring a Justice Amy Coney Barrett need not overturn Roe v. Wade to gut abortion rights. The court stands poised to permit states and the federal government unfettered discretion to restrict abortion on the thinnest of justifications. The most immediate example is before the court now and could have repercussions for policies aimed at curbing the covid-19 pandemic.

Since approving medication abortion 20 years ago, the Food and Drug Administration has required in-person delivery of the first drug, mifepristone, that precipitates a nonsurgical abortion. In July, the federal district court in Maryland suspended the in-person requirement during the pandemic, ruling that the FDA’s restriction was unnecessary, given the safety and efficacy of medication abortion, and that it endangered patients who should otherwise minimize contact with providers.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/05/supreme-courts-next-abortion-decision-may-come-sooner-than-you-think/

U.S.-Based Online Pharmacy First to Ship Abortion Pills to Patients Inside the U.S.

9/30/2020
by CARRIE N. BAKER

For years, pharmacies outside the U.S. have been shipping abortion pills to American women wanting to end their pregnancies. But now, for the first time, a U.S.-based pharmacy—Honeybee Health—is distributing abortion pills directly to patients within the country by mail, now legal because of a recent federal court ruling.

“This is a momentous achievement for Americans, particularly for women of color and others who historically faced barriers to reproductive healthcare that are made even worse by COVID-19,” said Dr. Jessica Nouhavandi, co-founder, co-CEO and lead pharmacist of Honeybee Health.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/09/30/honeybee-health-us-based-online-pharmacy-first-to-ship-abortion-pills-to-patients-inside-the-u-s/

USA – The Demand for At-Home Abortion Is Increasing Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

Kimberly Truong
July 23, 2020

As some states rushed to restrict abortion amid the coronavirus pandemic, one new study has found an increased demand in self-managed abortions. Unsurprisingly, many of these requests are happening in states with more severe restrictions as well as more serious COVID-19 outbreaks.

The study, published in the Obstetrics and Gynecology journal, tracked requests for medication abortion by mail through data from Aid Access, an online medication abortion pill provider, during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic's spread and consequent lockdown measures in the U.S.

Continued: https://ca.style.yahoo.com/demand-home-abortion-increasing-amid-142240025.html

COVID-19 created double barrier for Maltese women’s access to abortion

The shutdown from COVID-19 in Malta laid bare the barriers for women to have access to abortion services

23 July 2020
by Matthew Vella

The shutdown from COVID-19 in Malta laid bare the barriers for women to have access to abortion services, with more people reaching out to activists and charities and seeking medical abortion pills online.

Pro-choice activist Liza Caruana-Finkel, an independent researcher, said COVID-19 had highlighted the problems of a system in which pregnant people in Malta secretly travel for abortions abroad or secretly order abortion pills online.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/103666/covid19_created_double_barrier_for_maltese_womens_access_to_abortion#.XxmmGud7lPY

23.07.2020

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No More Shame says 29 requests for abortion pills have been sent from Gibraltar between January and June this year

22nd July 2020

From the start of this year to June, 29 requests for abortion pills have been sent from Gibraltar, according to pro-choice campaigners, No More Shame. The group says that its sources at Women on Web - an organisation that provides access to such pills - have provided these statistics.

No More Shame claims that 20 requests for abortion pills were sent from Gibraltar in 2019 to Women on Web. By comparison, it says, 29 requests were sent during the first six months of this year, which reflects an increase of 190%. The group claims that many of these requests were made during the lockdown period, and demonstrates that women in Gibraltar are opting for abortion pills. The group claims that Clinica Ginesur Algeciras has provided its services to 15 Gibraltar residents between January and June of this year. It says there were 21 Gibraltar residents accessing their services for all of 2019.

Continued: https://www.gbc.gi/news/no-more-shame-says-29-requests-abortion-pills-have-been-sent-gibraltar-between-january-and-june-year

22.07.2020

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USA – Coronavirus Sparks Surge in Demand for At-Home Abortions

Interest in at-home abortions spiked most in states that used the outbreak as an excuse to restrict access to clinics.

Emily Shugerman
Published Jul. 21, 2020

As the nation locked down for the coronavirus pandemic and some states used the virus as an excuse to further restrict abortion access, women around the country became concerned they might not be able to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. A new study suggests many of them may have turned to at-home options.

The study, released Tuesday by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, analyzed the number of requests sent to Aid Access, a website that mails abortion pills to women in the U.S., between January 1 and April 11. Across the country, they found a 27 percent increase in requests after March 20—the average date lockdown orders started in most states.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/coronavirus-sparks-surge-in-demand-for-at-home-abortions

21.07.2020