Abortion Policy
Document indicates Supreme Court will punt Idaho emergency abortion case for now
A document inadvertently uploaded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s website on Wednesday appears to indicate the court will send a case regarding emergency abortion care in Idaho back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rather than make a decision, according to reporting from Bloomberg Law. Rather than rule on the merits, the unofficial opinion, […]
Kentuckians decry ‘terrifying’ choices, two years after Dobbs ended abortion access in the state
LOUISVILLE — Two years to the day after the United States Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, advocates and physicians in Louisville and Lexington slammed the fallout from Kentucky’s almost total ban on the procedure. Kentucky’s U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey was in Louisville Monday morning alongside Planned Parenthood and others to say “the […]
The Dobbs effect today: Abortion ballot initiatives, expected higher mortality, more litigation
In Arizona, the state’s highest court upheld a Civil War-era abortion ban. Florida and South Carolina moved to restrict abortion to six weeks — before many people know they are pregnant. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are “children,” temporarily throwing fertility treatments, such as IVF, into uncertainty and igniting a national debate. […]
Kentucky abortion rights advocate speaks on national television with Vice President Harris?
An Owensboro woman who appeared in a pivotal campaign ad for Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection appeared on national television with Vice President Kamala Harris Monday morning.? Hadley Duvall, who has emerged as an abortions rights advocate, sat next to the vice president to discuss abortion access in an exclusive interview that aired on MSNBC’s Morning […]
After an abortion for fetal anomalies, she hoped IVF would build her family. Now that’s in doubt.
This is the fifth installment of an occasional States Newsroom series called When and Where: Abortion Access in America, profiling individuals who have needed abortion care in the U.S. before and after Dobbs. The first installment can be found here, the second installment is here, the third is here, and the fourth is here. Anne […]
Anti-abortion groups say Supreme Court’s mifepristone ruling won’t deter them
In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling Thursday to maintain current access to the abortion medication mifepristone, abortion-rights advocates and opponents vowed to continue their respective battles over the drug. Mifepristone is one of two drugs used to treat miscarriages and terminate a pregnancy during the first trimester, and is the most […]
States are already collecting more abortion data. And HIPAA won’t always keep it private.
Years before the Dobbs decision, providers like Dr. Kylie Cooper were already uncomfortable with some of the reporting requirements for abortion procedures in states where they practiced. Cooper was a maternal-fetal medicine specialist for several years in Idaho before she reluctantly left the state in 2023 because of the near-total abortion ban that is now […]
New rules protect pregnant workers, but red states sue over abortion provisions
Natasha Jackson was four months pregnant when she told her supervisor she was expecting. It was 2008, and Jackson was an account executive at a rental furniture store in Charleston, South Carolina — the only female employee there. “I actually hid my pregnancy as long as I could because I was scared about what could […]
U.S. Senate Dems tie state abortion bans to fewer beginning physicians
WASHINGTON — Bans or severe restrictions on abortion access enacted by Republican state lawmakers have led to a downturn in medical students seeking to practice in those states, and a handful of Democratic U.S. senators said Tuesday those laws must be reversed. During a press conference just steps from the U.S. Capitol, the lawmakers and […]
The number of births continues to fall, despite abortion bans
Births continued a historic slide in all but two states last year, making it clear that a brief post-pandemic uptick in the nation’s birth numbers was all about planned pregnancies that had been delayed temporarily by COVID-19. Only Tennessee and North Dakota had small increases in births from 2022 to 2023, according to a Stateline […]
Louisville judge hears arguments in Jewish women’s challenge of Kentucky’s abortion ban
LOUISVILLE — Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Brian Edwards heard oral arguments Monday in the case of? three Jewish women who argue their religious freedom is violated by Kentucky’s abortion ban.? Much of the arguments focused on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the extent to which it overlaps with the state’s abortion ban. Several lawmakers […]
One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access
Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills weren’t sold in stores without a prescription in the United States. “My parents are immigrants from India, and it’s been over the counter there since my mom can remember,” said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of […]