Trump’s pardons spark fresh fights over abortion clinic safety

Democratic state lawmakers are trying to bolster protections, but those efforts are imperiled by legal fights.

By Alice Miranda Ollstein and Amanda Friedman
03/19/2025

Abortion rights supporters across the country are scrambling to strengthen protections for clinics in response to moves by the Trump administration that they believe will put providers and patients in danger.

Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills in Illinois, Michigan, New York and elsewhere to restrict demonstrations outside of clinics, increase criminal penalties for people who harass doctors and patients, or allocate more funds for abortion providers to buy security cameras, bulletproof glass and other protections.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/19/abortion-clinic-safety-trump-pardons-00234319

Arrest warrant issued for New York doctor indicted in Louisiana for prescribing abortion pill

By SARA CLINE and GEOFF MULVIHILL
January 31, 2025

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a New York doctor indicted on Friday by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing abortion pills online to a pregnant minor in the Deep South state, which has one of the strictest near-total abortion bans in the country.

Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge unanimously issued an indictment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter; her company, Nightingale Medical, PC; and the minor’s mother. All three were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-indictment-lousiana-new-york-doctor-63ff4d9da8a9b592a7ca4ec7ba538cd3

‘Here to Help’: US-Inspired Anti-Abortion Groups Put Down Roots in Bosnia

Taking money and inspiration from the United States, anti-abortion groups are growing in influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes with public funding too.

Azra Husaric Omerovic, Sarajevo, BIRN
December 20, 2024

Voice for Life markets itself as a counselling centre, a place where women considering abortion can come for advice, without being judged.

“If you are confused, don’t know what to do, need to talk or get emotional support, we are here for you,” the Sarajevo-based organisation says on its website. “You don’t have to go through this alone. We understand; we don’t judge, and we’re here to help resolve any uncertainty you face.”

Continued: https://balkaninsight.com/2024/12/20/here-to-help-us-inspired-anti-abortion-groups-put-down-roots-in-bosnia/

20.12.2024

Commentary

Heartbeat International

Letitia James

Voice For Life

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Europe

Anti-choice

Politics

US states file amicus brief in abortion medication lawsuit

Lou Kettering | U. Pittsburgh School of Law, US
FEBRUARY 12, 2023

A coalition of 22 states Friday filed an amicus brief opposing a proposed preliminary injunction that would withdraw or suspend the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion medications Mifepristone and Mifeprex. The case is in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division.

The brief asserts that the medications are safe and effective. Additionally, the brief claims that the drugs help promote access to abortion in rural and underserved communities. The brief states that withdrawing the FDA’s approval of the drugs risks undermining “the integrity of the FDA-approval process for other drugs.”

Continued: https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/02/coalition-of-states-files-amicus-brief-in-lawsuit-over-fda-approval-of-drugs-used-in-medication-abortion/

12.02.2023

News

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel

Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

Erik Baptist

Food and Drug Administration

A covert network of activists is preparing for the end of Roe

What will the future of abortion in America look like?

By Jessica Bruder
APRIL 4, 2022

One bright afternoon in early January, on a beach in Southern California, a young woman spread what looked like a very strange picnic across an orange polka-dot towel: A mason jar. A rubber stopper with two holes. A syringe without a needle. A coil of aquarium tubing and a one-way valve. A plastic speculum. Several individually wrapped sterile cannulas—thin tubes designed to be inserted into the body—which resembled long soda straws. And, finally, a three-dimensional scale model of the female reproductive system.

The two of us were sitting on the sand. The woman, whom I’ll call Ellie, had suggested that we meet at the beach; she had recently recovered from COVID-19, and proposed the open-air setting for my safety. She also didn’t want to risk revealing where she lives—and asked me to withhold her name—because of concerns about harassment or violence from anti-abortion extremists.

Continued: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/roe-v-wade-overturn-abortion-rights/629366/

04.04.2022

American Medical Association

Army of Three

Autonomous Pelvic Care

Carol Downer

Choix

Clergy Consultation Service

Danika Severino Wynn

Del-Em device

dilatation and curettage

DIY abortion

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

Laurie Bertram Roberts

Letitia James

Lorraine Rothman

lunch-hour abortion

manual vacuum aspiration

Mountain Access Brigade

Plan C

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

self-managed abortion

Self-managed Abortion Safe and Supported

telemedicine abortion

The End of Roe v. Wade

traveling for abortion

trigger laws

undue burden standard

USA – FDA urged to let women get abortion drugs by mail during coronavirus crisis

Donna Miller
August 16, 2020

The FDA is being urged to let women obtain abortion-inducing drugs by means of the mail amid the coronavirus slightly than have to go away their houses to get them.

“Whereas any girl who desires to go into a health care provider’s workplace or right into a clinic at the moment and get an abortion ought to proceed to have the opportunity to achieve this, management over one’s reproductive freedom shouldn’t be restricted to these ready to go away their houses as we battle the coronavirus,” New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James mentioned in an announcement Monday — echoing a letter despatched by her and 20 different high law-enforcement officers to the FDA urging an easing-up of restrictions.

Continued: https://gruntstuff.com/fda-urged-to-let-women-get-abortion-drugs-by-mail-during-coronavirus-crisis/78870/

COVID-19 Should Not Be Used as an Excuse to Implement Abortion Bans

COVID-19 Should Not Be Used as an Excuse to Implement Abortion Bans

April 30, 2020
by Surya Swaroop

As the United States is struggling to adapt to the unprecedented influx of patients with symptoms of COVID-19, there is a strong concern that the number of medical supplies available will not be able to keep up with the demand. While this is a pressing matter that the federal government needs to address, some Republican politicians are using this issue to further their political agendas. They have deemed abortions a nonessential medical service, citing the need to conserve medical supplies as the reason abortions should be banned during this time.

The logic of this argument is flawed on every level and indicates how little these politicians regard women’s reproductive health issues.

Continued: http://dailynexus.com/2020-04-30/covid-19-should-not-be-used-as-an-excuse-to-implement-abortion-bans/

New York AG Calls For Nationwide Abortion Access During The Coronavirus

New York AG Calls For Nationwide Abortion Access During The Coronavirus

April 4, 2020
5-Minute Listen / Transcript

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Letitia James, attorney general of New York, about her call for nationwide access to abortion during the coronavirus pandemic.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to turn now to a subject that has perplexed many people as the country deals with a coronavirus pandemic by closing down most activities. What is an essential business or service and what is not? The answer can vary from place to place. In a handful of states, officials have banned access to abortion clinics during the pandemic in an effort, they say, to preserve needed medical supplies, such as gowns and masks. Texas issued one such ban, triggering a legal challenge that has drawn in officials from other states. New York's attorney general, Letitia James, is organizing other like-minded attorneys general to support the challenge against the Texas measure.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/04/827436003/new-york-ag-calls-for-nationwide-abortion-access-during-the-coronavirus

Trump’s ‘conscience rule’ for health providers blocked by federal judge

Trump’s ‘conscience rule’ for health providers blocked by federal judge

By Yasmeen Abutaleb
November 6, 2019

A federal judge on Wednesday voided the Trump administration’s “conscience rule” that would have allowed health-care providers to refuse to participate in abortions, sterilizations or other types of care they disagree with on religious or moral grounds.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan declared the so-called “conscience rule” unconstitutional in a 147-page decision stemming from a lawsuit brought by New York and nearly two dozen other mostly Democratic states and municipalities. The rule had been set to go into effect later this month.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/trumps-conscience-rule-for-health-providers-voided-by-federal-judge/2019/11/06/39aa9b74-00b1-11ea-9518-1e76abc088b6_story.html

06.11.2019