What Tuesday’s Elections Mean for the Future of Abortion Rights
The Guardian, November 6, 2025
Now, Democrats’ commanding victories in the 2025 elections have breathed new life into the [abortion rights] fight. Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill’s respective gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey will shield abortion rights in two states that have become havens for people fleeing abortion bans. In Pennsylvania, voters decided to retain three liberal supreme court justices, maintaining Democratic control of a bench that could decide the future of abortion rights in the deeply purple state. The sweeping support for California’s Proposition 50, a redistricting measure that will help Democrats pick up extra seats in the US House, will also likely defend national access to abortion.
Federal Judge in Hawaii Rules FDA Violated the Law by Restricting Access to Abortion Medication
Associated Press, October 30, 2025
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) violated the law by imposing restrictions on accessing mifepristone, a medication for abortions and miscarriage management, a federal judge in Hawaii ruled Thursday. A lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union argues the FDA continues to overly restrict access to a safe medication without scientific justification … The FDA’s 2023 decision to maintain the restrictions was unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act, “by failing to provide a reasoned explanation for its restrictive treatment of the drug,” U.S. District Judge Jill Otake’s ruling says.
NY Judge Dismisses Legal Challenge From Texas in Early Test of Abortion Shield Law
ABC News, October 31, 2025
A New York judge dismissed a legal challenge Friday from Texas seeking to enforce a more than $100,000 civil judgment against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a Dallas-area woman in an early test of the state’s “shield law” designed to protect providers … Justice David Gandin ruled that Bruck followed New York law and granted his motion to dismiss the petition from Texas. The judge, sitting in Kingston, wrote that the medical services Carpenter rendered are legal in New York and that they fall “squarely within the definition of ‘legally protected health activity’” under the state’s shield law.
While Some States Fight To Restore Title X Family Planning Funding, Idaho Chooses To Forfeit It
States Newsroom, November 3, 2025
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare quietly declined the entirety of its annual $1.5 million federal Title X funding, leaving patients statewide without free and low-cost contraception and reproductive health care services from a key family planning program. Though thousands of Idahoans relied on the health care provided through Title X for over 50 years, the state made no public announcements as the decision took effect in April, leading to the closure of 28 out of 43 – about 65% – Title X-funded family planning clinics in public health districts throughout the state, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare … A total of 7,528 Title X clients were served across Idaho in 2024, McWhorter said. The 15 remaining family planning clinics are supported by other funds, and additional service sites may be added as funding becomes available.
Iowa Doesn’t Have Enough OB-GYNs. Is the State’s Abortion Ban Part of the Problem?
NPR, November 5, 2025
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, multiple states, including Iowa, enacted abortion bans – despite already facing shortages of OB-GYNs … Iowa has the lowest number of OB-GYNs per capita in the country, according to a KFF analysis of 2021-2022 federal data from the Health Resources and Services Administration … Recent data on residency applications show that state abortion bans may be influencing the next generation of doctors. Fewer medical students are applying to OB-GYN residency programs in states that restrict or ban abortion, according to a data analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
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Note: The information contained in this publication reflects media coverage of women’s health issues and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
