India – Haryana govt shuts 300 abortion centres, another 23 issued show-cause notices

The Haryana State Drugs Controller has been tasked with compiling a list of wholesalers and stockists of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits, restricting their sale exclusively to registered MTP centres.

By: Express News Service
April 13, 2025

The Haryana government Thursday announced that the registrations of 300 medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) centres in the state have been cancelled.

The closed centres had allegedly failed to share and update information concerning its gynaecologists and abortion data, among others.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/abortion-centres-shut-haryana-government-notices-9940381/

14.04.2025

Why foreigners in Czechia face hidden barriers to abortion

Despite legal abortion access, foreign women—especially non-EU nationals—face bureaucratic, financial, and legal hurdles that can delay or deny care.

Elizabeth Zahradnicek-Haas
March 7, 2025

Abortion is legal in Czechia, but foreign women, particularly those from outside the EU, face numerous obstacles when seeking safe and timely abortion care.

The latest report from The Abortion Support Alliance Prague (ASAP), found that nearly half of the 70-plus state hospitals surveyed were uncertain about providing abortions to non-citizens, while 43 percent of hospitals refused to provide abortion services to EU citizens, either due to legal uncertainty or restrictive internal policies.

Continued: https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/legal-but-inaccessible-the-hidden-barriers-to-abortion-for-foreigners-in-czechia

Guttmacher Releases First-Ever State-Level Data on Medication Abortion Provision

Data show medication abortion remains critical as federal attacks on access intensify

Feb 27, 2025

The Guttmacher Institute released the latest round of data from its Monthly Abortion Provision Study, an initiative launched in 2023 to produce monthly estimates of clinician-provided abortions in US states without total abortion bans. In addition to state and national abortion estimates from January 2023 through November 2024, for the first time the data also include state-level estimates of the proportion of abortions provided via medication in 2023 in states without total abortion bans and the proportion of all abortions that were provided by online-only clinics in 2023 in states without total bans or bans on telemedicine provision. In an accompanying policy analysis, Guttmacher experts put these findings in the larger political context, outlining the current and future threats to medication abortion in the United States.

The new data confirm that medication abortion accounts for the majority of abortions provided in nearly all US states without total abortion bans, ranging from 95% in Wyoming and 84% in Montana to 44% in Washington, DC and 46% in Ohio. These estimates expand on Guttmacher’s previous finding that 63% of all clinician-provided abortions in 2023 in the United States (excluding states with total abortion bans) were medication abortions.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2025/guttmacher-releases-first-ever-state-level-data-medication-abortion-provision

27.02.2025

Australia- Expansion of medical abortion prescribers to be considered by NSW government

By Lani Oataway, ABC Central West
Feb 9, 2025

A New South Wales Health review of abortion legislation has recommended the government consider changing the law to allow endorsed midwives and nurse practitioners to prescribe medicine for early terminations.

It would mean at least 900 more health practitioners across the state could prescribe MS-2 Step — a two-part medication that stops pregnancy up to 63 days after a menstrual period — aside from doctors.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-10/medical-abortion-expansion-recommendation-nurse-practitioners/104909264

Reading the Warning Signs: How Trump’s Administration Could Crack Down on Abortion

Trump’s boasts about returning control over abortion to the states may well prove to be a stopgap measure en route to a blanket ban.

Jan 8, 2025
by Shoshanna Ehrlich

During the presidential campaign, Trump forcefully avowed he did not support a national abortion ban—a position consistent with two-thirds of the electorate—gloating instead that he was responsible for sending the issue back to the states where it belongs. He also distanced himself from the “virally unpopular” Project 2025—the far-right playbook for the next conservative administration.

However, warning signs suggest that Trump may have been pandering to the electorate on both scores. Notably, when his remarks on the campaign trail about a national ban are considered alongside his existing ties to Project 2025, his boast about returning control over abortion to the states may well prove to have been stopgap measure en route to a blanket ban … although perhaps by way of a back-channel strategy.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2025/01/08/trump-administration-doj-bondi-abortion-pill-comstock-act-mifepristone/

USA – Some states on track to restore abortion access, while others push for fetal rights in 2025

By: Sofia Resnick and Kelcie Moseley-Morris
January 2, 2025

Heading into the third year since Roe v. Wade was overturned, states will continue to introduce and consider legislation to expand or restrict access to reproductive health care and abortion as legislative sessions begin. In anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, states with broad reproductive rights protections have introduced bills to shield patients and doctors if the incoming Republican administration overturns protections implemented under President Joe Biden. States with strict bans, meanwhile, have started floating fetal personhood bans, abortion pill punishments and other restrictions.

Most legislatures will convene during the second week in January or later and adjourn midway through the year.

Continued: https://ncnewsline.com/2025/01/02/some-states-on-track-to-restore-abortion-access-while-others-push-for-fetal-rights-in-2025/

Medication abortions may be more painful than women expect, study finds

The pain is often described as similar to period cramps, catching some women off guard if it turns out to be more severe.

Dec. 17, 2024
By Kaitlin Sullivan

Many women are surprised by how much pain they experience during a medication abortion, a study published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health found.

More than 60% of abortions in the U.S. are medication abortions, meaning a person takes two drugs, often at home, to end a pregnancy. The study, which surveyed women in the U.K., found that many don’t feel prepared for the amount of pain they may feel during the procedure.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/medication-abortions-may-painful-women-expect-study-finds-rcna184554

Australia – Family Planning report reveals a third of NSW local government areas had no doctors providing medical abortions in 2022

Lucy Barbour and Lucy Sweeney
Wed 11 Dec, 2024

When Charlotte (not her real name) asked a doctor in the New South Wales southern highlands for a medical abortion, he ignored her request, gave her a blood test referral and ushered her out of the room.

The decision to terminate her third pregnancy was not one she had made lightly. Her youngest daughter was experiencing behavioural challenges and the entire family was struggling.

She had hoped the GP would provide a prescription for the abortion pills, known as MS-2 Step. Instead, she left with an overwhelming sense of shock and confusion.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-12/one-third-nsw-shires-not-providing-medical-abortions/104708208

USA -Why abortions rose after Roe was overturned

Contrary to many predictions, abortions did not decline nationally after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision. Here's what's behind the trend.

Nov. 26, 2024
By Aria Bendix

It seemed only logical after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that abortion rates would go down and births would go up. Instead, the opposite happened: Abortions went up last year and the country’s fertility rate hit a historic low.

More than 1 million abortions were recorded in the United States in 2023 — the highest in a decade, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion access. So far this year, abortion rates have remained about the same as in the last six months of 2023, preliminary data show.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/abortions-rose-roe-overturned-why-rcna181094

26.11.2024

Commentary

abortion by mail

Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine Access

abortion pills

Aid Access

Alliance Defending Freedom

American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs

Center for Reproductive Rights

Comstock Act

Diana Greene Foster

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

Dr. Amy Whitaker

Dr. Christina Francis

Dr. Remy Coeytaux

Erik Baptist

Florida Access Network

Food and Drug Administration

Guttmacher Institute

Julie Kay

Karoline Leavitt

Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project

Matthew Kacsmaryk

medication abortion

mifepristone

National Right to Life

Stephanie Loraine Piñeiro

telemedicine abortion

The Brigid Alliance

traveling for abortion

Quebec announces province’s first abortion access plan

It includes $7.5 million to be spent on information campaigns, improving access to abortion services, research and consultations.

Jack Wilson
Published Nov 18, 2024

Quebec will make it easier for women to obtain the abortion pill, increase funding to pro-choice organizations and support additional abortion services as part of a three-year plan to bolster access to abortion, says Martine Biron, minister for the status of women.

The action plan outlines steps the government will take between now and 2027 and is Quebec’s first plan to improve access to abortion.

“Everywhere in the world, we’re seeing setbacks in women’s rights. A shock wave came in 2022 with the reversal of Roe v. Wade” in the United States, Biron said Monday.

Continued: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-announces-provinces-first-abortion-access-plan