Trump Nominates Abortion Opponent Heidi Overton To Be Head of FDA
The Guardian, August 19, 2026
Donald Trump nominated Dr Heidi Overton – an abortion opponent who stood next to the president as he made false claims about vaccines – to be commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)…. Overton would also take the reins of an agency tasked with regulating medication abortions, specifically the drug mifepristone, which has become an important piece of abortion access for the 23 million women living in states with bans. In a 2023 policy brief, Overton has previously described mifepristone as “teleabortion” and “abortion-on-demand”, which Congress should work to strictly regulate “to protect women and children.”
Idaho Judge Ruling Allows Abortion if It Protects Mother’s Health, Prevents Self-Harm
Idaho Capital Sun, August 13, 2026
A pregnant woman may receive abortions in many cases if there are serious risks to her health or if there’s a high risk she will harm herself, an Idaho federal judge has ruled. The decision, released Thursday, marks a major change to the Idaho abortion ban’s exemptions…. U.S. District Court of Idaho Judge B. Lynn Winmill in his 81-page decision blocked the Idaho attorney general or Ada County prosecutor from enforcing Idaho’s criminal laws that prohibit providing abortions in narrow cases to protect the mother’s health.
Federal Judge Halts Proposed HHS Changes To Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
Stateline, August 19, 2026
A federal judge in the District of Columbia issued an order Wednesday blocking U.S. Health and Human Services from implementing sweeping changes to grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program while a lawsuit proceeds, but dozens of existing grants that were canceled this summer will remain so for now, unless the administration chooses to reinstate the funds. The agency canceled 53 out of 67 grants under the program at the end of June, affecting grantees in more than two dozen states, including Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. Grantees were given no advance notice and were told their programs did not align with agency priorities – most were told their programs normalized or promoted sexual activity for minors.
AI’s Abortion Misinformation Problem
Salon, August 19, 2026
Chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude are quickly changing the healthcare landscape. An estimated one in seven people have used AI for a health-related question instead of seeing a general practitioner. One in ten people have used AI for mental health support. Within the Venn diagram of people using AI for health-related information lies a cohort for whom access to accurate information is of the utmost importance: those seeking information on abortion care. In an era when the internet is already rife with abortion-related misinformation, LLMs entering the chat have complicated the landscape – and abortion rights advocates are fighting back.
Planned Parenthood Can Refer Indiana Abortion Patients Out-of-State, Federal Appeals Court Rules
Indiana Capital Chronicle, August 19, 2026
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that permanently bars the state of Indiana from penalizing Planned Parenthood for pointing pregnant minors to states in which abortion is legal…. “Young people should not have to navigate a complicated and deeply personal health care decision without clear, honest information,” said Rebecca Gibron, the CEO and president of Planned Parenthood’s Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky chapter. “For years, Indiana has tried to make that harder,” Gibron said in a news release Wednesday.
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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.
