Florida supreme court signals openness to abortion ban that would slash access

Five of seven justices on court were selected by Governor Ron DeSantis and decision would have ramifications across south-east

Carter Sherman and Ava Sasani
Fri 8 Sep 2023

In arguments in a case that could drastically limit abortion access in the south-eastern United States, the Florida supreme court on Friday seemed open to arguments to uphold a law that bans abortion past 15 weeks of pregnancy.

If the state’s high court upholds the 15-week ban under consideration, a separate, stricter law would take effect prohibiting abortion after six weeks, before many people know they are pregnant.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/08/florida-abortion-ban-supreme-court

08.09.2023

News

ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

Carlos Muñiz

Dr Kanthi Dhaduvai

Florida Supreme Court

Henry Whitaker

Physicians for Reproductive Health

Ninth Circuit limits remote abortion access in Guam

The Ninth Circuit ruled that Hawaii doctors may no longer provide the abortion pill to their patients in Guam through telemedicine.

CANDACE CHEUNG
August 1, 2023

(CN) — A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday voided an injunction granted in 2021 that allowed Hawaii physicians to prescribe medication abortion to their patients in Guam without an in-person consultation.

The three-judge panel cited both the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision and Guam’s Women’s Reproductive Health Information Act in its opinion, authored by Judge Kenneth K. Lee.

Continued: https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-limits-remote-abortion-access-in-guam/

01.08.2023

Commentary

ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

Alexa Kolbi-Molinas

anti-choice misogyny

Bliss Kaneshiro

Guam Board of Medical Examiners

Kenneth K. Lee

Lou Leon Guerrero

Shandhini Raidoo

Women’s Reproductive Health Information Act

Meet Republicans’ New Boogeyman: So-Called ‘Abortion Trafficking’

Restrictions on abortion travel are simply meant to stop people from red states from crossing into blue states to access care safely and legally.

By Kylie Cheung
Apr 3, 2023

For years now, Kiki Council, an attorney in Colorado, has helped minors obtain judicial bypass to get abortion care. Council, who works as legal counsel for pro bono initiatives at the Lawyering Project, has often supported teens traveling out-of-state for the health service without parental consent.

“The minors who can’t tell their parents about their choice are in very precarious, vulnerable positions at home,” Council told Jezebel. “They’re experiencing emotional, verbal, or physical abuse. They’re living with parents or guardians who are extremely religious, or have extreme views that make them feel like they can’t safely share that choice with them.”

Continued: https://jezebel.com/meet-republicans-new-boogeyman-so-called-abortion-tr-1850293302

Federal Court Preserves Abortion Access in Guam

Case: Guam Society of OBGYNs v. Guerrero

March 24, 2023
ACLU

HAGÅTÑA, Guam — A federal district court in Guam today denied Attorney General Douglas Moylan’s request that it lift a decades-old permanent injunction and allow a total abortion ban to take effect. This ruling means essential, life-saving abortion care will remain accessible on the island, and doctors and their patients will not face potential criminal prosecution for providing or accessing care.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and attorneys Anita Arriola and Vanessa Williams filed a brief earlier this month in opposition to reinstating the ban on behalf of three Guam-licensed physicians, including the only two physicians providing abortions to patients in Guam, and Famalao’an Rights, a Guam-based reproductive justice group

Continued: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-court-preserves-abortion-access-in-guam

24.03.2023

News

ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

American Civil Liberties Union

Anita Arriola

Douglas Moylan

Famalao’an Rights

Guam Society of OBGYNs v. Guerrero

USA – The new front in the right’s war on abortion

Abortion pills are at the heart of the fight over abortion access in a post-Roe world.

By Rachel M. Cohen
Jan 9, 2023

The Biden administration helped expand access to medication abortion last week, with the US Food and Drug Administration finalizing a rule to make the pills more readily available in pharmacies. But this effort to help patients get pills to end a pregnancy could be dwarfed by a major push to restrict access to the medication from anti-abortion leaders and their Republican allies.

As lawmakers head back to state legislatures this month, many for the first time since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June, Republicans face new pressure to restrict access to the combination of abortion-inducing drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, used typically within the first 10 to 12 weeks of a pregnancy. Medication abortion has become the most common method for ending pregnancies in the United States, partly due to its safety record, its lower cost, diminished access to in-person care, and greater opportunities for privacy.

Continued: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/1/9/23540562/abortion-pills-medication-dobbs-roe-mifepristone

USA – Policies to Roll Back Abortion Rights Will Hit Incarcerated People Particularly Hard

By Carly Graf
AUGUST 22, 2022

Policies governing abortion and reproductive health care services in U.S. prisons and jails were restrictive and often hostile even before the Supreme Court removed Roe v. Wade’s constitutional protections for abortions. After the June ruling, many reproductive services stand to be prohibited altogether, putting the health of incarcerated women who are pregnant at risk.

That threat is particularly urgent in states where lawmakers have made clear their intentions to roll back abortion rights.

Continued: https://khn.org/news/article/abortion-rights-policies-incarcerated-prison-jail/

Despite latest court ruling blocking Texas abortion law, most providers are still reluctant to defy ban

by Caroline Kitchener, Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, Ann E. Marimow and Casey Parks
Oct 7, 2021

Abortions after six weeks of pregnancy were allowed in Texas on Thursday for the first time since the nation’s most restrictive abortion law went into effect there on Sept. 1. Some abortion providers resumed offering the procedure after a federal judge issued an order Wednesday evening blocking enforcement. But many providers said they would keep complying with the ban until the legal issues are resolved.

Less than two hours after U.S. District Judge Robert L. Pitman granted the Biden administration’s request for an injunction, Texas said it would appeal to the conservative-leaning U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Regardless of how the appeals court rules, the issue could quickly make its way back to the Supreme Court, which last month turned down a request by abortion providers to stop the law from taking effect.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/10/07/texas-abortion-injunction-reaction/

Texas’ near-total abortion ban is temporarily blocked by a federal judge, spurring the state to quickly appeal

It wasn't immediately clear how the temporary order may affect access to abortions in the state. The law is constructed in a way that people who violate it could be liable to litigation if enforcement is reinstated.

BY REESE OXNER
OCT. 6, 2021

A federal judge temporarily blocked Texas’ near-total abortion ban Wednesday as part of a lawsuit the Biden administration launched against the state over its new law that bars abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy.

The state of Texas quickly filed a notice of appeal. The state will almost definitely seek an emergency stay of Pitman's order in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is known as perhaps the nation’s most conservative appellate court.

Continued: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/01/texas-abortion-law-blocked/

Biden Administration Sues Over Barbaric Texas Abortion Law That Would Force a 12-Year-Old to Have her Rapist’s Child

The Justice Department argues that the law is “clearly” unconstitutional and sets a dangerous, chilling precedent.

BY BESS LEVIN
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

One week after the Supreme Court’s arch conservatives gave the green light to a monstrous Texas law that bans abortion at six weeks with no rape or incest exceptions, and two days after Texas governor Greg Abbott boldly claimed that the “Texas Heartbeat Act” isn’t as vile as it seems because people are effectively given a luxurious two weeks or so after getting pregnant to decide what to do, the Biden administration has sued the Lone Star state, saying the law is unconstitutional and sets an absolutely horrifying precedent. Continued: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/09/justice-department-texas-abortion-lawsuit

Guam moves closer to restoring abortion access after ACLU lawsuit

It’s been impossible to get an abortion on the island since 2018, and the closest legal clinic is in Hawaiʻi

Michelle Broder Van Dyke in Honolulu
Wed 10 Mar 2021

Guam has taken a significant step toward restoring abortion access, after the ACLU scored a victory in a lawsuit that seeks to ensure residents of the US territory can turn to remote healthcare providers for abortion medication.

Getting an abortion on Guam has been impossible since 2018, when the last abortion doctor retired and moved off the island. Before then, at least 200 abortions occurred on Guam every year. Today, accessing the closest legal abortion clinic requires a flight to Hawaiʻi, an expensive and difficult undertaking especially during a pandemic.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/10/guam-abortion-access-aclu-lawsuit