Tag Archives: abortion rights

The Spokesman Review reports: An anti-abortion group must pay about $960,000 to Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho to cover legal fees and a fine for protests that interfered with patient care. The Church at Planned Parenthood was ordered to pay $110,000 in civil damages to Planned Parenthood last month after a Spokane County judge ruled that the …

Just in via press release: The Satanic Temple has announced the launch of its first reproductive health clinic, which will provide free religious medication abortion care in New Mexico. TST Health, The Satanic Temple’s religious medical services arm, will provide telehealth screenings and appointments and prescribe abortion medication for its patients. According to TST Health’s website, anyone in New Mexico …

The Associated Press reports: Attorneys general in 20 conservative-led states warned CVS and Walgreens on Wednesday that they could face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills by mail in those states. A letter from Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to the nation’s largest pharmacy-dispensing companies was co-signed by 19 other attorneys general, warning that sale of abortion pills …

Iowa Starting Line reports: Iowa House Republicans would make it a felony to “manufacture, distribute, prescribe, dispense, sell or transfer” abortion drugs in Iowa. Despite abortion being legal in Iowa until the 20th week of pregnancy, the bill would make it a crime for someone to provide the most common method of abortion in the country. The penalty would mean …

Minnesota Public Radio reports: Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday signed into law a proposal that guarantees in state law the right to abortion and other reproductive health care options. The move backstops the current right to an abortion laid out in a 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court decision, and it expands that to include access to birth control, sterilization, family planning …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: A prominent Catholic antiabortion activist accused of shoving a Planned Parenthood volunteer was acquitted Monday of charges that he instigated the encounter to intimidate workers at the organization’s Center City clinic. It took a jury roughly an hour to find Mark Houck, 49, of Kintnersville, not guilty of violations of the FACE Act — a federal …

The Associated Press reports: Virginia Senate Democrats defeated several bills Thursday that would have restricted abortion access in the state, including a proposed 15-week ban with exceptions that was a priority for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The Senate Committee on Education and Health voted the measures down on a party-line basis without debate after a subcommittee had previously recommended that …

Miami’s NBC affiliate reports: A Florida prosecutor who Gov. Ron DeSantis had suspended will remain out of office since a federal judge on Friday ruled that he does not have the power to reinstate the prosecutor — despite ruling that the removal violated the First Amendment and Florida Constitution. In an order dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle …

Axios reports: Women in states with abortion bans are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth or soon after giving birth, according to a report from the Gender Equity Policy Institute shared first with Axios. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, and government officials and health experts are concerned that conditions will …

CBS News reports: Just a few weeks ago the FDA cleared the way for pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens to fill a prescription for abortion pills, however, in Florida, that won’t be the case. “In terms of CVS, Walgreens, I don’t know about Publix, but they are not going to be offering that in the state of Florida,” Governor Ron …

Axios reports: House Republicans on Wednesday used their new majority to push through a largely symbolic bill that would require health care providers to provide care to infants born after an attempted abortion. Health providers are already required under law to act to provide medical services to any infant born at any gestational age. The House bill also penalizes the …

The Birmingham News reports: One week after the federal government made it easier to get abortion pills, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Tuesday that women in Alabama who use those pills to end pregnancies could be prosecuted. That’s despite wording in Alabama’s new Human Life Protection Act that criminalizes abortion providers and prevents its use against the people receiving …

Via email from hate group leader Tony Perkins: While much of the news cycle this week has been focused on the House, the Biden Administration, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens have been moving in tandem to expand access to abortion-inducing drugs. A recent rule change at the FDA paves the way for your local …

The Charleston Post & Courier reports: The state Supreme Court has thrown out South Carolina’s law that bans abortions at roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, calling it unconstitutional. In a 3-2 split decision, justices ruled that privacy rights inserted in the state constitution do extend to a woman’s right to an abortion. The Legislature has the authority to set …

The New York Daily News reports: Two anti-abortion activists known for creating chaos when they visit New York were indicted Friday [DOJ link] for blocking access to a lower Manhattan Planned Parenthood clinic, federal prosecutors said. Bevelyn Beatty Williams and Edmee Chavannes surrendered in their home state of Tennessee to face charges that they tried to stop women from getting …

Florida Politics reports: Changes may be afoot yet again for Florida’s laws regarding reproductive rights. During a press conference in Fort Lauderdale Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked if he would “take the lead” on the “heartbeat bill,” which would ban terminations of pregnancy if there were a detectable fetal heartbeat. “I’m willing to sign great life legislation. That’s what I’ve always …

AlterNet reports: Virginia State Delegate Marie March (R) has pre-filed House Bill 1395, a law that would define life as beginning at fertilization. “Life begins at conception and each person is accorded the same rights and protections guaranteed to all persons by the Constitution of the United States,” the proposed bill states. The proposed bill would effectively outlaw all abortions …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot be compelled to testify in the federal case that suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren is making to be reinstated, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Warren’s case that his August suspension from office is a violation of his First Amendment rights that should be undone starts Tuesday in front of U.S. District …

The Associated Press reports: The Georgia Supreme Court Wednesday reinstated the state’s ban on abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. In a one-page order, the high court put a lower court ruling overturning the ban on hold while it considers an appeal. Abortion providers who had resumed performing the procedure past six weeks after the lower court ruling will …

The Washington Post reports: Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. denied an allegation from a former antiabortion activist that Alito or his wife disclosed to conservative donors the outcome of a pending 2014 case regarding contraceptives and religious rights. The New York Times reported Saturday that Rob Schenck, who on his website identifies himself as a “once-right-wing religious leader but now …