Women Suing Idaho After They Were Denied Abortions Will Tell Their Stories in Court
NBC News, November 11, 2024
Four women who are suing the state of Idaho after they were denied abortions will testify starting Tuesday about their experiences traveling out of state to end nonviable pregnancies. The lawsuit at the center of the trial in Ada County District Court seeks to clarify the medical exemptions to Idaho’s strict abortion laws. The plaintiffs are the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians, two physicians and the four women testifying this week, who learned while pregnant that their fetuses were unlikely to survive. The suit, filed last year, argues that the woman suffered “unimaginable tragedy and health risks due to Idaho’s abortion bans,” and that Idaho doctors lack sufficient guidance about when they can perform the procedure without risking jail time. Idaho has two laws restricting abortion: Under the most stringent, it is a felony to terminate a pregnancy at any stage, with limited exceptions, and providers who violate the law face two to five years in prison. A second law allows private citizens to sue health care providers who perform abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Neither policy makes an exception for fatal fetal abnormalities, which is a focus of the lawsuit.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices Question Enforcing 1849 Law as an Abortion Ban
Wisconsin Examiner, November 11, 2024
Several of the Wisconsin Supreme Court liberal justices appeared opposed to the enforcement of a 174-year old law when it comes to abortion during oral arguments Monday in a high-profile case meant to clarify law in the state. Wisconsin abortion law has been unsettled since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, sending decisions about abortion legality back to states. Health care providers in Wisconsin immediately ceased providing abortion care due to the state’s 1849 law. Attorney General Josh Kaul and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers filed a lawsuit challenging the statute in June 2022, arguing that it had been superseded by other laws passed by the state, including a ban on abortions after 20 weeks enacted in 2015, and could not be enforced as applied to abortions. Access ceased for 15 months until a Dane County judge ruled in December 2023 that the law applies to feticide, not abortion, allowing providers to resume services. The pre-Civil War Wisconsin statute states that any person “other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child is guilty of a Class H felony” and that any person who “intentionally destroys the life of an unborn quick child” is guilty of a Class E felony. It specifies that “unborn child” is defined as “a human being from the time of conception until it is born alive.” It includes no exceptions for rape or incest or specific medical complications. The only exception for the law is the life of a mother.
Kentucky Woman Seeking Abortion Files Lawsuit Challenging State’s Near-Total Ban
NBC News, November 12, 2024
A woman in Kentucky who is seeking an abortion filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to strike down the state’s near-total ban. The suit, filed by a woman referred to in the documents as Mary Poe, alleges that two Kentucky abortion laws violate the state constitution’s rights to privacy and self-determination. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday afternoon in the Jefferson County Circuit Court. The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement and complaint shared first with NBC News that the lawsuit reflects “the severe harms that Mary Poe, who is approximately seven weeks pregnant, is suffering because the government has denied her access to the care she needs.” Kentucky enacted two laws after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022 overturned the right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade. The first law prohibits seeking or administering an abortion in almost all instances. The second makes it a felony for doctors in Kentucky to perform the procedure after the sixth week of pregnancy except to prevent the death or “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” of the pregnant woman. There are no exceptions for rape, incest or a fatal fetal condition.
Some Women Are Stockpiling Plan B and Abortion Pills. Here’s What Experts Have To Say
USA Today, November 11, 2024
On November 6, “Is the morning after pill legal?” increased in searchability by 700% on Google, and “shelf life of morning after pill” and “abortion pill online” became breakout trending terms. Wisp, a telehealth service that provides sexual and reproductive health care, has seen a massive increase in sales following the election results, according to their Chief Executive Officer Monica Cepak. Emergency contraception sales increased by approximately 1,000% and new patient emergency contraception sales were up 1,650%; birth control sales were up 50%, and medication abortion orders went up by 600%. In comparison, Wisp experienced a 900% increase in emergency contraception sales following the Dobbs decision in 2022. Julie, a healthcare company that sells emergency contraception online and in retail stores, also experienced a stark increase in sales. States like Idaho, Florida, Texas and South Dakota were leaders in the growth across most retail chains, and their Amazon store saw the most dramatic spike with 10x growth.
Study Maps How Nonprofit Religious Groups Set Up Facilities Near Abortion Clinics
NBC News, November 8, 2024
A new study previewed exclusively by NBC News tracked the strategy of crisis pregnancy centers, mapping the distance between abortion facilities and the centers in the U.S. While crisis pregnancy centers’ pattern of locating near abortion facilities is well documented, the new research, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Medical Internet Research, maps women’s geographic access to both crisis pregnancy centers and abortion facilities. The new study found that in 2021, crisis pregnancy centers outnumbered abortion clinics 3-to-1 in the U.S., but acknowledged that the figure is probably greater now after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. On average, the distance between crisis pregnancy centers and abortion facilities in the U.S. was 5.5 miles. In some areas, the centers and abortion clinics may be only doors away.
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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.
