Louisiana Judge Preserves Telehealth Abortion Access Provision for Now, Puts Case on Hold
Stateline, April 7, 2026
A federal judge in Louisiana upheld telehealth access to abortion medication in a decision issued Tuesday afternoon, pausing the case until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completes a safety review of the drug, mifepristone. U.S. District Judge David C. Joseph also ordered the FDA to conduct its review with “deliberate speed,” after reports in December that the agency had instructed officials to delay until after the midterm elections in November. Those reports drew sharp criticism from anti-abortion groups. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, sued the FDA in October, arguing the court should strike down a 2023 provision allowing telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone.
Trump Admin Moves Title X Family Planning Program Away From Contraception, Toward Conception
POLITICO, April 3, 2025
On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services quietly posted new guidance for clinics around the country that provide birth control and other sexual health services to millions of low-income people. The nearly 70-page document included no mention of contraception other than an assertion that it is overprescribed, has negative side effects, and is part of a broader “overreliance on pharmaceutical and surgical treatments.” The guidance instead promotes “natural family planning methods,” such as period tracking apps and other forms of fertility awareness that have higher failure rates than hormonal birth control. It also asserts that a key goal of the program is to “strengthen family formation and assist clients in achieving healthy pregnancies.”
HHS Directly Gives Crisis Pregnancy Centers Millions of Dollars
Mother Jones, April 4, 2025
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gave at least $34 million directly to 16 crisis pregnancy centers between 2018 and 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report. This report comes as the Trump administration doubles down on its “pro-life and pro-family agenda,” according to White House spokesperson Kush Desai. On Friday, the Trump administration, in its budget proposal, announced plans to overhaul its Title X family planning program, moving away from contraception and instead focusing on “optimal health (defined as physical, mental, and social wellbeing), not just medical intervention.” This also seems to dismiss that some people need medical interventions, like IVF, in order to have children.
‘Am I Going To Die?’: More Women Join Challenge to Arkansas Abortion Ban
The Guardian, April 9, 2026
On Thursday, two women denied abortion care joined an ongoing lawsuit that seeks to overturn Arkansas’s near-total ban. One of the new plaintiffs, Leitaea Lowrimore, had hallmark symptoms of a dangerous ectopic pregnancy in February and a total of three emergency rooms in two states – Arkansas and Oklahoma, which also bans abortion – either denied her screenings or discharged her. The other plaintiff, Kishaya Holloway, said she did not want to have children and left before dawn to travel to get an abortion out of state. Lowrimore said she wanted to sue to help other women. Her story can “voice what’s truly going on behind closed doors and how the laws are affecting pregnant women,” she said.
Abortion Clinics Are Closing Nationwide. Could Urgent Care Help Fill the Gap?
NPR, April 8, 2026
Urgent care clinics could be a solution to closures for abortion clinics across the country. At least 38 abortion clinics shut down last year in states where they’re still legal. Even states that recently passed constitutional amendments protecting abortion rights, such as Michigan, have had clinics close since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. And as rural hospitals shutter labor and delivery units, patients are losing access to pregnancy care. Now communities are coming up with alternatives, such as Shawn Brown’s urgent care clinic in Marquette, Michigan. Word spread quickly once Brown’s urgent care clinic began offering medication abortions and now the office provides as many as four per week, with patients traveling from as far away as Louisiana.
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Extremist politicians are putting pregnant people’s lives at risk by undermining access to emergency abortion care.
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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.
