Republican AGs Sue Abortion ‘Shield Law’ States in U.S. Supreme Court
Stateline, September 30, 2026
“Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and the attorneys general in Arkansas and Alabama filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court, suing California, Massachusetts and New York to invalidate the so-called ‘shield laws’ that have allowed providers in those states to send abortion medication to people in states with abortion bans. The state officials, all Republicans, also filed a lawsuit in federal district court against individual abortion providers in the same three states. […] The lawsuit filed in the Western District of Louisiana seeks to stop the individual providers named from being able to prescribe and send abortion medication to those states, while the Supreme Court complaint asks the justices to find the shield laws are a constitutional violation of state sovereignty. […] The district court suit names 30 defendants, including the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project and its founder, Dr. Angel Foster, Dr. Remy Coeytaux in California and other telehealth providers around the country. The complaint compares the mailing of abortion medication to anthrax, mail bombs and chemical weapons, despite studies since 2000 showing that abortion medication is safe and effective to use.”
Inside the Clandestine Network of Abortion-Pill Mules
Mother Jones, September 30, 2026
“Lena will sneak the pills back into the U.S., where they will be distributed to community support networks, a modern version of the underground feminist activists who helped women get abortions before Roe v. Wade. Since Roe’s overturning, these grassroots groups have sent abortion meds – for free – to tens of thousands of women who struggle to access care through mainstream channels, including minors, undocumented immigrants, and pregnant women past the first trimester. Unlike telemedicine providers who practice under blue-state shield laws, community networks operate outside the legal and medical systems. ‘It really doesn’t matter what [state and federal authorities] do legally – we will continue,’ Lena says, adding, ‘there may come a time where we are one of the only, if not the only, option for the nation.'”
Planned Parenthood Files Legal Challenge to Investigation, Document Demands by Tennessee AG
Tennessee Lookout, September 25, 2026
“Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi petitioned a Nashville court on Wednesday to set aside a sweeping legal demand by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to turn over the organization’s donor details, healthcare provider information and the medical records of adult and minor patients. The legal petition, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court, makes public for the first time the existence of an ongoing and wide-ranging investigation into the nonprofit operator of four Tennessee clinics. Since the state’s 2022 abortion ban, the organization has ceased offering abortions as part of its healthcare services; instead, it offers information, financial assistance and referrals to pregnant patients seeking abortions outside of Tennessee.”
Congress Passed $100 Million for Teen Pregnancy Prevention. Most of It Is Untouched
NPR, September 25, 2026
“Congress passed $101 million in funding for teen pregnancy prevention, and President Trump signed that into law as part of his budget bill. But with less than a week to go in the 2026 fiscal year, about $100 million of that funding remains unspent. What gives? According to a letter from members of Congress shared exclusively with NPR, the Department of Health and Human Services has spent about $500,000 of the $101 million it is obligated to give out in grants to organizations that work with teens. ‘Withholding these funds deprives teens across the U.S. of vital resources and threatens to unwind decades of progress made in reducing teen pregnancy,’ reads the letter from the Democratic Women’s Caucus to HHS. Ninety-two lawmakers in the House and Senate signed the letter, which was sent to HHS on Friday morning. Grants to dozens of nonprofits, universities and health departments were cut off abruptly in June. Most were in the third year of a five-year funding cycle, according to the lawmakers’ letter.”
Anti-Abortion Group Threatens To Sue FDA Over Mifepristone
The Hill, September 24, 2026
“The anti-abortion group Students for Life of America on Thursday filed a notice of intent to sue the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over alleged inaction over the Endangered Species Act, an escalation of the group’s years-long effort to use environmental laws to restrict abortion drugs. The organization alleges more than 50 tons of medical waste are flushed into water systems each year as a result of abortion drugs, causing significant environmental harm. Environmental scientists dispute that. ‘The FDA has ignored environmental law, failing to do the water testing needed to show that dumping tons of mifepristone-poisoned waste into our water isn’t risking the lives and fertility of endangered species, and there are more than 1,500 protected creatures in all 50 states,’ Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins said in a statement.”
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
In the six and a half years since a global pandemic rocked the economy and took the lives of more than 1 million people in the U.S., 10 states have enacted or expanded access to paid sick leave. This year, Virginia became the first Southern state to enact paid sick leave, bringing the total number to 19 states, including the District of Columbia, which have passed paid sick leave laws along with at least 18 local jurisdictions.
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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.
