Tag Archives: abortion rights

The Associated Press reports: North Dakota on Monday adopted one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country as Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning the procedure throughout pregnancy, with slim exceptions up to six weeks’ gestation. In those early weeks, abortion would be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, such as ectopic pregnancy. “This …

The Hill reports: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) blasted Republicans for their abortion policies, saying on Sunday the GOP is “going to lose huge” if it continues to embrace increasingly restrictive stances on the procedure. “As Republicans, we need to read the room on this issue because the vast majority of folks are not in the extremes,” Mace said on ABC’s …

The New York Times reports: Voters pushed back decisively after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, approving ballot measures that established or upheld abortion rights in all six states where they appeared. Now, with abortion rights groups pushing for similar citizen-led ballot initiatives in at least six other states, Republican-controlled legislatures and anti-abortion groups are trying to …

CTV News reports: Canada’s families minister says the federal government is prepared to offer Americans access to a widely used abortion pill that could be restricted in the United States. Speaking to the host of CTV’s Power Play, Vassy Kapelos, on Thursday, Families Minister Karina Gould said the federal government “would work to provide that for American women” should the …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday blocked new restrictions set by lower courts on a widely used abortion pill, delivering a victory to President Joe Biden’s administration as it defends broad access to the drug in the latest fierce legal battle over reproductive rights in the United States. The justices, in a brief order, granted emergency requests by …

NBC News reports: Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America issued a scathing response to a statement the Trump campaign made to The Washington Post when asked whether Trump supported the six-week abortion ban that a likely 2024 opponent, Gov. Ron DeSantis, signed into law in Florida. “President Donald J. Trump believes that the Supreme Court, led by the three justices which …

Reuters reports: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday kept on hold limits set by lower courts on access to the abortion pill mifepristone in a challenge by anti-abortion groups to the drug’s federal regulatory approval. The decision to keep the matter on hold gives the justices more time to consider requests by President Joe Biden’s administration and the …

Axios reports: New doctors applying to medical residency programs were likelier to avoid practicing in states with the most stringent abortion restrictions, an analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges found. The drop in applications, particularly for OB-GYN residencies, could exacerbate the lack of maternal health care in those states, which already have the highest maternal mortality rates in …

Axios reports: In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said the state “secured an emergency stockpile” of up to 2 million doses of misoprostol. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) requested the University of Massachusetts purchase around 15,000 doses of mifepristone which the state says will “ensure sufficient coverage for more than a year.” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) stockpiled 150,000 …

The New York Times reports: Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued a temporary stay on Friday ensuring that a common abortion pill would remain widely available while the Supreme Court decides whether to grant a formal stay. The interim stay will expire at midnight on Wednesday. Such a stay is meant to preserve the status quo while the justices study …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: In the medieval ages, mothers would emerge under the cover of night, head to the church, and place their unwanted newborns in turntables embedded in the walls, where, on the other side, a nun would take them. A version of the practice may soon return in Florida. A bill passed unanimously in the House and advancing …

NBC News reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly signed legislation Thursday that would ban most abortions after six weeks in Florida, a move that will weigh on his likely 2024 presidential bid. DeSantis signed the measure just hours after the Legislature passed it Thursday afternoon. But he didn’t announce publicly that he did so until after 11 p.m. Just two of …

The New York Times reports: A federal appeals court ruled late Wednesday that the abortion pill mifepristone could remain available, but the judges blocked the drug from being sent to patients through the mail and rolled back other steps the government had taken to ease access in recent years. In its order, a three-judge panel for the Fifth Circuit partly …

Politico reports: The Biden administration is updating the nation’s main health privacy law to offer stronger legal protections to people who obtain abortions in their state or who cross state lines for the procedure, as well as their doctors and loved ones. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights on Wednesday will issue a Notice of …

Mediaite reports: Republicans and Democrats “overwhelmingly” do not want the abortion drug mifepristone pulled from the market, but a federal judge in Texas is aiming to do just that some 23 years after it first received FDA approval. According to an IPSOS poll, 82% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans oppose the ruling. “Americans overwhelmingly do not want this abortion …

CNN reports: The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Monday to put on hold a judge’s ruling that could make a medication abortion drug unavailable nationwide starting Friday at midnight. The request, filed on Monday before the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, is seeking a short-term administrative stay as well as a long-term stay pending appeal on …

Reuters reports: Over 300 biotech and pharmaceutical industry executives, including Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, signed an open letter on Monday seeking the reversal of a federal judge’s decision to suspend sales of the abortion pill mifepristone. A U.S. judge on Friday suspended the FDA’s two-decade-old approval of the drug. Last week’s ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk undermines the FDA’s authority, …

NBC News reports: Democratic lawmakers are mobilizing in the wake of the decision in Texas that threw access to the so-called abortion pill into flux Friday, introducing legislation Monday to protect access to the most widely used form of abortion in the U.S. Reps. Pat Ryan of New York and Lizzie Fletcher of Texas will introduce the Protecting Reproductive Freedom …

The Hill reports: HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra said the move by a federal judge in Texas to block the approval of a type of abortion medication could have far-reaching effects on the status of other federally-approved medications and vaccinations. “When you turn upside down the entire FDA approval process, you’re not talking about just mifepristone,” Becerra said on CNN. “You’re …

The Washington Post reports: Since Kacsmaryk joined the federal bench in 2019, many of his decisions have been wins for the right. In a practice known as “judge shopping,” conservative groups have zeroed in on the Amarillo division of the Northern District of Texas as a go-to place to challenge a wide range of Biden administration policies. Because Amarillo is …