USA – White coats in the state capital: OB-GYNs become political force in abortion wars

As lawmakers debate how much to restrict access to abortion, doctors are becoming increasingly vocal.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and MEGAN MESSERLY
08/22/2022

Red state lawmakers rushing to pass new abortion restrictions are being stymied
by an unexpected political force — OB-GYNs.

These physicians — many of whom have never before mobilized politically — are
banding together in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade,
lobbying state lawmakers, testifying before committees, forming PACs, and
launching online campaigns against proposed abortion restrictions. Legislators
who are themselves physicians are using their medical backgrounds to persuade
colleagues to scale back some of the more restrictive and punitive portions of
anti-abortion laws being considered.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/22/doctors-abortion-state-capitals-00052946

Doctors worry that online misinformation will push abortion-seekers toward ineffective, dangerous methods

By Naomi Thomas, CNN
Wed July 13, 2022

After a US Supreme Court draft decision on Roe v. Wade was leaked in May, Dr. Joshua Trebach noticed a disturbing turn in the online conversation around abortion.

"I started seeing things on social media, things like TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, people saying 'oh, if Roe v. Wade does get overturned, here are some secret, sneaky ways that you can drink some tea and have an abortion,' " Trebach said.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/13/health/abortion-misinformation-social-media/index.html

State Democrats, abortion-rights activists ‘incredibly frustrated’ with federal inaction

Democratic inaction at the federal level could complicate the party’s efforts to run this fall as champions of reproductive rights.

By MEGAN MESSERLY and ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
05/23/2022

State-level Democratic officials and abortion-rights advocates are discouraged by how little their allies in Congress and the White House have done since a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade became public.

Instead of executive actions that could increase access to abortion pills or help protect people’s medical information, national Democrats have largely highlighted what they can’t do in the Senate and focused on fueling midterm-election turnout, angering state and local leaders who feel the burden to protect and expand access is falling almost entirely on their shoulders.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/23/state-democrats-abortion-rights-activists-federal-inaction-00034191

USA – Abortion advocates’ strategy depends on pills. An information gap threatens their efforts.

With SCOTUS decision looming, confusion and fear hinder post-Roe plans.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and MEGAN MESSERLY
04/24/2022

Mail-order abortion pills could help millions of people discretely terminate their pregnancies should the Supreme Court strike down Roe v. Wade in the coming months, providing a way to circumvent mounting state-imposed restrictions.

But the majority of patients and many doctors remain in the dark or misinformed about the pills, how to obtain them, where to seek follow-up care and how to avoid landing in legal jeopardy, according to medical groups, abortion-rights advocates and national polls.

Continued; https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/24/abortion-advocates-strategy-depends-on-pills-an-information-gap-threatens-their-efforts-00027309

24.04.2022

Commentary

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USA – Dismantling the RNC’s Legacy of Hostility To Abortion Access

This week, the Republican National Convention has featured graphic and deceptive rails against abortion—the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that Trump has made mainstream over the last few years.

8/27/2020
by ANDREA MILLER

This brand of over-the-top opposition to abortion (Abby Johnson promised “the most provocative, impassioned, memorable” anti-abortion speech in history) may seem like a departure from the genteel conservatism of past conventions.

But, in reality, nearly 40 years of GOP opposition to abortion and the party’s failure to respect the importance of making fundamental decisions about our reproductive lives has led us to this point.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/08/27/republican-national-convention-abortion-dismantling-the-rnc-legacy-of-hostility-to-abortion-access/

Will the Supreme Court Strike a Devastating Blow to Abortion Rights?

Will the Supreme Court Strike a Devastating Blow to Abortion Rights?

By Caitlin Moscatello
June 17, 2020

In its first major test on abortion since President Trump appointed conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court is expected to render a decision soon that will signal to state lawmakers how far they can go in restricting abortion access. How the Court comes down on the case could also serve as an indicator of its willingness to dial back reproductive rights going forward.

The case, June Medical Services v. Russo, comes out of Louisiana, but is strikingly similar to a Texas law the Court struck down four years ago in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Both are considered to be the targeted regulation of abortion providers: Known as TRAP laws, they are medically unnecessary abortion restrictions that lawmakers pass under the guise of protecting women’s health.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/supreme-court-case-june-medical-v-russo-may-change-abortion.html

17.06.2020

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anti-choice restrictions

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The Supreme Court Might Overturn Roe v. Wade—But Justices Won’t Have the Final Say on Abortion Laws, Expert Says

The Supreme Court Might Overturn Roe v. Wade—But Justices Won't Have the Final Say on Abortion Laws, Expert Says

By Chantal Da Silva
On 1/6/20

With more than 200 members of Congress calling on the Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion rights groups across the country are bracing for the possibility that 2020 could be the year the ruling that established the right to abortion in the U.S. is rescinded.

Last week, dozens of Republican lawmakers, joined by two Democratic representatives, signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to consider overturning the 1973 decision, which has protected the right to abortion in the U.S. in the decades since.

Continued: https://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-roe-v-wade-overturn-access-abortion-rights-1480552

USA – Almost 40 Percent of Abortions Are Now Done With Pills

Almost 40 Percent of Abortions Are Now Done With Pills
Experts say the number would be even higher if the FDA loosened its restrictions on medication abortion.

by Marie Solis
Sep 19 2019

While the overall abortion rate in the U.S. has hit a record low since the procedure was legalized in 1973 under Roe v. Wade, the rate of people choosing medication abortion to end pregnancies is on the rise, according to new findings from Guttmacher Institute.

Medication abortion is a method of abortion that involves taking the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol to induce what is effectively a miscarriage. The method became available in the United States in 2000, when the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone, and has dramatically increased in use since: Whereas in 2004, medication abortions made up just 14 percent of all abortions in the U.S., by 2015 that number rose to almost 25 percent. Now Guttmacher reports that the share of medication abortions in 2017 was 39 percent of the total, or almost two in five.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/gyzjgx/medication-abortion-rates-in-the-us-hit-record-high-of-40-percent

Trump abortion ‘gag rule’ leaves poor patients ‘with nowhere to go’ in US

Trump abortion ‘gag rule’ leaves poor patients ‘with nowhere to go’ in US
Impact will vary greatly from state to state after Planned Parenthood withdraws from federal funding program over abortion referral bans

Miranda Bryant
Thu 22 Aug 2019

Last year alone, 37,000 low-income patients in Utah received subsidized family planning under Title X, the federal program which distributes grants to clinics.

But as of Monday, when Planned Parenthood withdrew from the longstanding scheme over new Trump administration rule banning clinics from referring patients for abortions, the US non-profit’s Utah branch must now look elsewhere for the $2m annual grant it used to depend on to provide essential services like birth control, STD and breast and cervical cancer tests to poor women.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/22/planned-parenthood-trump-abortion-gag-rule-harms-patients

The Right to an Abortion Is Under Threat. But States Are Stepping Up to Protect It

The Right to an Abortion Is Under Threat. But States Are Stepping Up to Protect It

By Andrea Miller
July 11, 2019

In 2016, candidate Donald Trump said that determining whether abortion is legal should “go back to the individual states.”

Today, states are indeed setting the terms. While hundreds of laws restricting abortion have passed in the states since Roe, creating significant barriers for many, particularly low-income women, women of color, young women and women living in rural communities, this year, a shocking number of states from Alabama to Ohio have acted with exceptional vigor, passing near-total bans in rapid succession.

Continued: https://time.com/5624770/abortion-rights-states-nirh-report/

11.07.2019