Judge Strikes Down Wyoming’s Abortion Laws, Saying They Violate State Constitution
NBC News, November 18, 2024
A Wyoming judge ruled Monday that two laws restricting and banning abortion in the state violate its constitution, making the procedure legal up until fetal viability for the time being. Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens imposed an injunction on the pair of state laws in a ruling that said they ran afoul of the state constitution, which says every person has a right to personal autonomy in making medical decisions. Owens wrote that under the two statutes – the Life Act and the Medication Abortion Ban – the state “has enacted laws that impede the fundamental right to make health care decisions for an entire class of people, pregnant women.”
Judge Dismisses a Lawsuit Over South Dakota Abortion-Rights Measure That Voters Rejected
Associated Press, November 19, 2024
A South Dakota judge dismissed a lawsuit that an anti-abortion group filed in June targeting an abortion rights measure that voters rejected this month. In an order dated Friday, Circuit Court Judge John Pekas granted Life Defense Fund’s motion to dismiss its lawsuit against Dakotans for Health, the measure group. In a statement, Life Defense Fund co-chair Leslee Unruh said: “The people have decided, and South Dakotans overwhelmingly rejected this constitutional abortion measure. We have won in the court of public opinion, and South Dakotans clearly saw the abortion lobby’s deception.” Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland said he had expected the lawsuit to be dismissed. “The Life Defense Fund’s accusations were part of a broader, failed effort to keep Amendment G off the ballot and silence the voices of South Dakota voters,” Weiland said in a statement. “But make no mistake – this dismissal is just one battle in a much larger war over the future of direct democracy in South Dakota.” Life Defense Fund’s lawsuit had challenged petitions that got the measure on the ballot, saying they contained invalid signatures and circulators committed fraud and various wrongdoing. The anti-abortion group sought to invalidate the ballot initiative and bar the measure group and its workers from doing ballot-measure work for four years.
The Newly Revived Zombie Laws Threatening To Lock Up Women When They Miscarry
Slate, November 15, 2024
Last week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one of a pair of cases that will determine access to abortion in the state. The case also illuminates how feticide laws, which are on the books in the vast majority of states, can be transformed into abortion bans.The Wisconsin case centers on an 1849 law that dictates that “any person, other than the mother, who intentionally takes the life of an unborn child” is guilty of a felony unless a life exception applies. When the Supreme Court overruled Roe in 2022, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul asked the state courts to clarify that this law was not an abortion ban but a feticide law – and thus did not apply to consensual abortions. Indeed, that’s what the Wisconsin Supreme Court had suggested in a previous case in 1994. The organization Pregnancy Justice has established that 38 states have feticide laws, which authorize homicide charges against anyone who causes a miscarriage or stillbirth. These laws are on the books in blue as well as red states for a simple reason: In theory, there should be no conflict between protecting access to legal abortion and criminalizing the conduct of those who assault or kill pregnant patients and end their pregnancies without their consent. But in the aftermath of Roe’s reversal, these laws are being put to different uses.
‘Such Small Steps.’ States Without Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives Leave Abortion-Rights Advocates With Little Recourse
TIME, November 14, 2024
The majority of the state ballot measures meant to protect abortion access this year passed, and most of them were citizen-led initiatives, meaning organizers petitioned to get the measures on the ballot. Those types of measures give everyday Americans agency to fight for abortion rights now that the issue has been left to the states. But not all states allow citizens to put forward statewide ballot initiatives, including some with the strictest abortion laws in the country, leaving reproductive-rights advocates there with little recourse. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade, advocates have turned to the citizen-led initiative process to try and enshrine the right to abortion in state constitutions. Polling has found that the majority of Americans say that abortion should be legal in all or most situations, and when abortion has been on the ballot, it’s won most of the time.
Texas Follows Louisiana’s Lead To Reclassify Reproductive Care Drugs as Controlled Substances
Louisiana Illuminator, November 14, 2024
A Texas lawmaker has filed a bill that would reclassify two drugs used for reproductive health as controlled substances, which would place further restrictions on their access.The proposal mirrors a law in Louisiana that went into effect Oct. 1 that treats mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances in state law. While the drugs are used in medication abortions, they have other applications such as treating life-threatening hemorrhaging. Texas state Rep.-elect Pat Curry, a Republican from Waco, has filed legislation, House Bill 1339, that is comparable to the Louisiana law. Some health care providers have criticized Louisiana’s measure over its stricter storage and documentation requirements. Physicians have said the additional steps could place patients’ lives at risk. Both Louisiana and Texas have strict abortion bans in place. Both states bar the procedure in almost all instances. The Texas Legislature convenes for its next lawmaking session Jan. 14.
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
Last week the landscape of abortion access for millions of American women changed overnight. Though Donald Trump's election puts abortion access in serious jeopardy, measures to protect abortion access that passed will give +11 million women protections. https://t.co/rFvLlL46Rc
— National Partnership (@NPWF) November 15, 2024
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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.
