UK – James Cleverly opposes moves to cut abortion time limit

Apr 25, 2024
By Nick Eardley & Becky Morton, BBC Politics

Home Secretary James Cleverly has said he opposes attempts to reduce the time limit for abortion. Several MPs are seeking to change the law on abortions through the Criminal Justice Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.

But Mr Cleverly urged his colleagues not to pursue the abortion debate as part of the bill before the election. "This is not the kind of bill where we should have something like this," he said. Speaking to journalists in Westminster, he said: "I am pro-choice. Safe and legal access to abortion is incredibly important."

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68900657

25.04.2024

News

anti-choice restrictions

UK – Lower abortion limit from 24 weeks, 700 doctors urge MPs

Reduction ‘long overdue’ because of increased numbers of babies born at 22 or 23 weeks now able to survive

Charles Hymas,
10 March 2024

The abortion time limit should be lowered from 24 to 22 weeks, more than 700 doctors have urged MPs. In a letter to all 650 MPs, the medics have called on them to back an amendment to the Government’s Criminal Justice Bill to reduce the time limit, in what would be the biggest change to the law for a generation.

The medical professionals – ranging from senior consultants to GPs – said a reduction is “long overdue” because of the increased numbers of babies born at 22 or 23 weeks who are now able to survive.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/10/lower-abortion-limit-from-24-weeks-700-doctors-urge-mps/

USA – The Impact Of Restrictive Abortion Laws In 2023

JANUARY 1, 2024
15-Minute Listen

From NPR's daily news podcast, Consider This: Nearly two years into Roe v. Wade being overturned, pregnant people continue to have a hard time accessing abortion and miscarriage care. This year saw the addition of new restrictive abortion laws in some states and protection of existing abortion laws in others.

What does this mean for abortion care in 2024, and how might all of this affect the 2024 elections?

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2024/01/01/1197958788/restrictive-abortion-laws-2023

01.01.2024

Interviews/Podcasts

anti-choice restrictions

barriers to access

restrictive abortion laws

NARAL Pro-Choice America Releases New Research on Anti-Abortion Extremism

June 1, 2023

Washington, DC — Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America released a series of new research memos detailing how anti-abortion extremists are ramping up their radical attacks on our rights in a post-Dobbs America. Emboldened by the fall of Roe v. Wade, anti-abortion lawmakers and groups are sneaking “personhood” ideology into state and federal law, targeting contraception, and working to enact once-unthinkable policies such as instituting the death penalty for people who have an abortion.

NARAL Pro-Choice America Vice President of Communications and Research Angela Vasquez-Giroux released the following statement: “It’s never been clearer that anti-abortion extremists like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the politicians who do their bidding were never going to stop at Roe….”

Continued: https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/2023/06/01/naral-pro-choice-america-releases-new-research-on-anti-abortion-extremism/

01.06.2023

News

Angela Vasquez-Giroux

anti-choice extremism

anti-choice restrictions

anti-choice violence

Naral Pro-Choice America

pro-life murders

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America

United States

Anti-choice

Doctors Are Still Confused by Abortion Exceptions in Louisiana. It’s Limiting Essential Care

BY ANISHA KOHLI
MAY 24, 2023

The Louisiana state legislature shot down two bills last week that aimed to clarify the legality of abortion and miscarriage care in pregnancies with complications.

The existing laws in Louisiana allow for abortions in certain cases when a pregnant patient’s life or health may be at risk, but physicians have criticized the texts for being confusing and limiting their ability to provide essential medical care.

Continued: https://time.com/6282288/louisiana-abortion-exceptions-confusion-doctors/

USA – The short life of Baby Milo

By Frances Stead Sellers, Thomas Simonetti and Maggie Penman
May 19, 2023

Milo Evan Dorbert drew his first and last breath on the evening of March 3. The unusual complications in his mother’s pregnancy tested the interpretation of Florida’s new abortion law.

Deborah Dorbert discovered she was pregnant in August. Her early appointments suggested the baby was thriving, and she looked forward to welcoming a fourth member to the family. It didn’t occur to her that fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a half-century constitutional right to abortion would affect them.

Continued: https://wapo.st/41XRJzA

19.05.2023

Commentary

anti-choice cruelty

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice restrictions

North Carolina’s Devastating New Abortion Ban and the Fight Ahead

BY BILLY CORRIHER
MAY 18, 2023

On Tuesday night, over the cries of hundreds of protesters, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina overrode the Democratic governor’s veto to enact an unpopular 12-week abortion ban, a bill that they refused to debate in a public hearing.

Republicans now enjoy more power in the state Capitol than they’ve had in years, after a Democratic lawmaker switched parties to give the GOP a veto-proof majority in both chambers. And it could get worse after they gerrymander election districts later this year, enabled by a conservative-controlled state Supreme Court. That new GOP majority on the court recently reversed course on democracy to sanction gerrymandering and voter suppression. This could lead to more new laws that hurt schools, trans people, workers, and so many more, in addition to giving Republicans near-total control over government in a state that has split evenly and twice elected a Democratic governor in recent years.
Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/north-carolina-devastating-new-abortion-ban.html

18.05.2023

Commentary

anti-choice cruelty

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice restrictions

Abortion bans are unpopular. Republicans are passing them anyway.

In some cases, anti-abortion legislators have been forced to backtrack from some more restrictive proposals. In others, they’ve tried to subvert the lawmaking process to avoid blowback.

Shefali Luthra
May 12, 2023

With abortion bans becoming increasingly unpopular, Republican-led statehouses are walking a delicate line: Trying to advance bills that would restrict access to the procedure without drawing attention, circumventing normal processes to cram new policies through as legislative sessions come to a close.

Last year, Republican lawmakers across the country pushed restriction after restriction in anticipation of the looming Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which in June of last year allowed states to begin banning abortion. But now that those laws can actually take effect, legislators are newly attuned to potential political consequences.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2023/05/abortion-bans-unpopular-republicans-passing-them-anyway/

12.05.2023

anti-choice restrictions

Republicans Are Testing Abortion Restrictions to See What Sticks

Kelsey Butler, Bloomberg News
May 11, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Republican-led state legislatures are increasingly road-testing restrictive abortion rules that fall just short of total bans, to see how far they can limit reproductive health-care without generating political backlash.

States such as Florida and Georgia have passed laws banning abortions after six weeks, before many people realize they are pregnant. Others are trying out slightly longer gestational limits. North Carolina’s Senate Republicans earlier this month advanced a bill that would restrict abortion after 12 weeks, while Arizona has a 15-week ban in effect.

Continued: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/republicans-are-testing-abortion-restrictions-to-see-what-sticks-1.1918824

11.05.2023

News

A Woman’s Choice

anti-choice cruelty

anti-choice misinformation

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice restrictions

Idaho criminalizes helping minors travel out of state to get an abortion

May 5, 2023
By Sarah Varney and Maea Lenei Buhre
(Video 8:15 minutes)

With abortion now effectively banned in 15 states, many Americans are crossing state lines to legally end pregnancies. Friday, the first state law aimed at ending that option for anyone under 18 went into effect in Idaho.

In a story co-produced with the PBS NewsHour, KFF Health News correspondent Sarah Varney takes a look at this new frontier in the movement to outlaw access to legal abortion.

Continued: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/idaho-criminalizes-helping-minors-travel-out-of-state-to-get-an-abortion