“Each year since 1973, abortion rights activists have gathered on Jan. 22 for “Roe v. Wade Day” to celebrate the Supreme Court decision that granted a constitutional right to abortion. But now, 50 years after the decision, Roe v. Wade Day will be different: Sunday will also mark the first anniversary of Roe since the ruling was overturned.”
A federal judge in Texas struck down a provision of the Affordable Care Act that required coverage for a range of preventive services — including for cancer screenings, medications and more…
“Nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court ended a nationwide right to an abortion, the landscape is far from settled, with lawmakers considering broader bans or stronger protections and legal challenges popping up nationwide. It’s been a hectic week for abortion policy with Republican-dominated states seeking to tighten restrictions, Democratic lawmakers trying to protect abortion access – and court fights playing out on multiple fronts.”
“Over the course of about four hours of arguments, a federal judge in Texas asked questions that suggested he is seriously considering undoing the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a medication abortion drug and the agency’s moves to relax the rules around its use. But the judge, US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, also indicated he was thinking through scenarios in which he could keep the drug’s 2000 approval intact while blocking other FDA rules.”
“Zurawski v. Texas, a new lawsuit announced Tuesday, March 7, marks the first time patients directly affected by abortion laws have sought to challenge them in court.”
“A judge is poised to rule in a case that seeks to revoke the approval of the most common, safe and effective abortion pill regimen, with the potential for consequences to be felt in every state.”
“Governors supporting abortion rights are forming a new coalition aimed at expanding and protecting access to the procedure, according to details shared with The Health 202.”
“The future of medication abortions across the U.S.—even in states with few abortion restrictions—is on the line.”
“President Joe Biden used the word “abortion” — one he has rarely uttered in speeches —in his brief remarks on the issue in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.”
“The Biden administration is weighing additional actions to help people access abortions, which may include a public health emergency declaration.”
“A company that makes an abortion pill filed a lawsuit Wednesday morning challenging the constitutionality of a state ban on the medication, one in what is expected to be a wave of cases arguing that the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the pill takes precedence over such restrictive state laws. “
“House Republicans addressed abortion Wednesday for the first time in their new role controlling the chamber, passing two pieces of legislation with their razor-thin majority. The votes come after the reversal of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court last summer, which factored heavily into voter behavior in the November midterms, particularly in states where abortion issues were on the ballot.”
“The US Food and Drug Administration is allowing certified pharmacies to dispense the abortion medication mifepristone to people who have a prescription. Mifepristone can be used along with another medication, misoprostol, to end a pregnancy. Previously, these pills could be ordered, prescribed and dispensed only by a certified health-care provider.”
“A nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility in Texas sued the department Tuesday over its decision to offer abortions services in certain cases and abortion counseling to veterans, claiming the new rules violate her religious beliefs. “
“Twice as many independent abortion clinics have closed so far in 2022 compared to the year before as facilities shutteredin the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision this year to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to an association for independent abortion care providers.”
“The fight over medication abortion bills is heating up, as conservatives turn their focus to medication abortion.”
The first major election of the post-Roe era yielded new protections for abortion rights, as voters in three states approved measures to add constitutional protections guaranteeing access to the procedure…California, Michigan and Vermont backed ballot measures that effectively make it impossible for state lawmakers to enact bans.
Latinas are the largest group of women of color affected by current and future state abortion bans and restrictions: More than 4 in 10 Latinas of reproductive age live in the nearly two dozen states where officials are working to make abortion inaccessible. A new analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, first shared with NBC News, found that close to 6.5 million Latinas (42% of all Latinas ages 15-49) live in 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortions after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade this summer.
A few blocks from the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, America’s battle over abortion is playing out under one roof. On one side of a squat single-story office building, a Planned Parenthood clinic offers reproductive health care and refers patients for abortions. Next door is a branch of Pregnancy Decision Health Center, a crisis pregnancy center that offers counseling and support for pregnant women – but also works to dissuade them from terminating their pregnancies and has been accused of promoting misinformation about abortion.
The fate of abortion rights and abortion access will be determined this November at the state and local level during midterm elections. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June of this year, most abortions have been banned in 14 states and are actively threatened in seven. Now, voters will directly influence the future of abortion in five states, while local gubernatorial and judicial races across the country will similarly shape the makeup of each state’s abortion access—either acting as stopgaps between the state and abortion bans or paving the way for expanding an already staggering abortion desert.