Tag Archives: abortion rights

The Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal reports: Pro-life activist Mark Houck and his wife, Ryan-Marie Houck, are suing the federal Department of Justice over the DOJ’s treatment of their family, accusing the DOJ of a “faulty” investigation led to an excessively forceful arrest and a “malicious and retaliatory prosecution” that has severely impacted their entire family. Houck is a Catholic father …

NPR reports: Virginia Democrats have maintained their control of the state Senate and flipped the state House, consolidating their grip on the state legislature in what will remain divided government. Their legislative wins provide Democrats with a stronger hand pushing against the policy priorities of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Although Virginia voters weren’t weighing in directly on abortion rights, the …

First, a Washington Post report on exit polling: Most men and women voted yes on Issue 1, according to preliminary exit polls, with women doing so by a slightly wider margin. Exit polls found more than 8 in 10 Black voters supported establishing a right to abortion in the state’s constitution, as did more than 7 in 10 Hispanic voters. …

The Hill reports: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) called a referendum on reproductive rights on the ballot Tuesday in his home state a “radical proposal,” just days before voters will take to the polls to weigh in on the issue. “If you look at Issue 1 — it’s a radical proposal and whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life, it just goes …

The Associated Press reports: Indiana’s attorney general violated professional conduct rules in statements he made about a doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio in the weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, according to a court opinion filed Thursday. The Indiana Supreme Court’s disciplinary commission found Todd Rokita, a …

The Columbus Dispatch reports: A fight over words ensued shortly after the reproductive rights amendment was approved to go on the Nov. 7 ballot. The Ohio ballot board approved changes to the summary language in key ways by a 3-2 vote. Among other concerns, advocates were angered that “fetal viability” was changed to “unborn child.” Likewise, advocates argued that the …

Democracy Docket reports: Just six days after Ohio voters began receiving ballots for the upcoming November election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) canceled 26,666 voter registrations in the state. On Sept. 22, ballots were sent to overseas citizens and military members to begin voting in the Nov. 7 general election and on Sept. 28, LaRose ordered the cancellations, …

The New York Times reports: Kari Lake campaigned for governor of Arizona last year as a fierce ally of former President Donald J. Trump who was in lock step with her party’s right-wing base, calling abortion the “ultimate sin” and supporting the state’s Civil War-era restrictions on the procedure. This week, she made a remarkable shift on the issue as …

Politico reports: Anti-abortion groups are banking on Ohio to end the movement’s run of state-level losses and create a blueprint for battles in 2024 and beyond. In four weeks, voters in the Buckeye State will decide whether to enshrine abortion protections into the state constitution or be the first to reject an abortion-rights measure since the Supreme Court overturned Roe …

Florida Politics reports: Attorney General Ashley Moody says she will ask the state Supreme Court to block a proposed abortion rights amendment from appearing on the 2024 ballot. Moody released an op-ed for Florida’s Voice where she argued that the measure’s ballot summary would mislead voters. If passed by 60% of voters, the amendment would prohibit the Legislature from banning …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by anti-abortion activists to throw out more than $2 million in damages they were ordered to pay Planned Parenthood after secretly recording video of abortion providers in a scheme to try to show the illicit sale of aborted fetal tissue for profit. The justices turned away the …

Courthouse News reports: Yelp and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued one another on Thursday over a disagreement on whether the company mislabels crisis pregnancy centers without abortion services. As of Sept. 28, 2023, the popular review platform posts a consumer disclaimer on the business profiles of crisis pregnancy centers when they do not provide abortion services. The notice reads: …

The New York Times reports: In the chaos of Wednesday night’s noisy Republican presidential debate, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina interrupted Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to pose a question on abortion that Mr. DeSantis had dodged directly answering for months. Would the Florida governor sign a “15-week limit” on abortion as president, Mr. Scott asked, talking over both …

“This is an issue that’s been going on for 52 years. I was able to end it. That gave tremendous negotiating power to the pro-life movement, tremendous negotiating power because they can’t do the things that they used to be able to do. The pro-life was fighting it. We have these groups fighting this thing for so many decades, but …

Reuters reports: California on Thursday sued two anti-abortion organizations for telling patients that they can help reverse the effects of the abortion pill mifepristone, a potentially dangerous claim not supported by evidence. In a complaint filed in Alameda County Superior Court, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, accused Heartbeat International (HBI) and RealOptions Obria of violating a state law …

The Christian Post reports: Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has introduced legislation to repeal a federal law that has been used to prosecute abortion clinic protesters and those accused of vandalizing crisis pregnancy centers. Roy introduced the bill Tuesday meant to repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, with Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah introducing …

Indianapolis’s Fox affiliate reports: The Disciplinary Commission of the Indiana Supreme Court has filed a disciplinary complaint against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita in relation to comments he made to media outlets and other public statements he made between July 2022 and September 2022 surrounding an investigation into Dr. Caitlin Bernard. According to documents filed Monday, the commission claimed that …

“They are breaking and violating the law by funding abortion tourism with tax dollars. When agencies do that, the Congress has to stand up and push back against it. Our recruiting is in the absolute gutter now, and you’re funding abortion tourism? Is that really something helping to protect this country? So we need to fight back against it and …

NBC News reports: Republican strategists are exploring a shift away from “pro-life” messaging on abortion after consistent Election Day losses for the GOP when reproductive rights were on the ballot. At a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans this week, the head of a super PAC closely aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., presented poll results that suggested voters …

The Associated Press reports: Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion nationwide Wednesday, two years after ruling that abortion was not a crime in one northern state. That earlier ruling had set off a grinding process of decriminalizing abortion state by state. Last week, the central state of Aguascalientes became the 12th state to decriminalize the procedure. Judges in states that still …