Abortion

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Texas Lawmakers Push for New Exceptions to State’s Strict Abortion Ban After the Deaths of Two Women

Weeks after ProPublica reported on the deaths of two pregnant women whose miscarriages went untreated in Texas, state lawmakers have filed bills that would create new exceptions to the state’s strict abortion laws, broadening doctors’ ability to intervene when their patients face health risks.

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-exceptions-deaths?

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Trump prompts reproductive care rush

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

Patients are flooding doctors' offices and pharmacies seeking IUD replacements, backup contraception and abortion pills before Republicans take control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in January, Axios' Tina Reed writes. Why it matters: Experts say millions of women could be affected by GOP efforts to restrict abortion and access to contraceptives. ? Zoom in: Google searches for contraception spiked after the election. Planned Parenthood North Central States (PPNCS), based in St. Paul, Minn., has seen a 150% increase in long-acting reversible contraception, such as IUD appointments scheduled. In Kentucky, health clinic appointments for contraceptives increased by 66%. There's also been an uptick in demand for permanent surgical sterilization, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Women have begun stocking up on emergency contraception, often referred to as the morning-after pill. Telehealth company Wisp saw orders for the drug, which doesn't need a prescription, double the week after the election. Keep reading ...

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A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban. Doctors Are Avoiding D&Cs and Reaching for Riskier Miscarriage Treatments.

Wrapping his wife in a blanket as she mourned the loss of her pregnancy at 11 weeks, Hope Ngumezi wondered why no obstetrician was coming to see her.

https://www.propublica.org/article/porsha-ngumezi-miscarriage-death-texas-abortion-ban?

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For this Catholic family, their activism against abortion starts in the home

The Young family chooses to live their anti-abortion beliefs through adoption, foster-parenting and raising their children to believe in the sanctity of life. They’re also committed to teaching their children about political candidates they see as aligned with their beliefs. Read more.

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Abortion foes strategize to get Trump to ban some abortions while keeping his pledge

The 2024 election results created complicated new realities for reproductive rights in the U.S., with Americans even in a few red states overwhelmingly voting to protect the right to have an abortion while also overwhelmingly electing anti-abortion representatives in state houses, courts, Congress, and the White House.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/12/04/abortion-foes-strategize-to-get-trump-to-ban-some-abortions-while-keeping-his-pledge/?

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Texas’ abortion pill lawsuit against New York doctor marks new challenge to interstate telemedicine

Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, launching one of the first challenges in the U.S. to shield laws that Democrat-controlled states passed to protect physicians after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pills-lawsuit-shield-laws-texas-telemedicine-74c9b7d5c3c152e4c8f199b29132daec?

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Are Abortion Bans Across America Causing Deaths? The States That Passed Them Are Doing Little to Find Out.

In states with abortion bans, ProPublica has found, pregnant women have bled to death, succumbed to fatal infections and wound up in morgues with what medical examiners recorded were “products of conception” still in their bodies.

https://www.propublica.org/article/abortion-bans-deaths-state-maternal-mortality-committees?

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In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families States with restrictive abortion laws generally have more porous safety nets for mothers and young children, according to recent research and an analysis by The Associated Press. Read more.

Why this matters: GOP state leaders in Tennessee and other states that banned abortion argue that they are bolstering services for families. Tennessee boosted its Medicaid coverage for mothers in 2022 from 60 days postpartum to a year, which allowed an additional 3,000 moms to use the program each year. The state also raised the Medicaid income limit for parents to the poverty level and offers recipients 100 free diapers a month for babies under 2. Yet, nonprofit leaders and mothers told the AP there are still significant gaps in the safety net.   Moms described several aid programs as rife with red tape and other challenges. Women with young children in states where abortion is banned or limited to early weeks of pregnancy said it can be tough to get social services there, according to a survey by the health policy research organization KFF. Nearly half said it’s difficult for women in their state to get food stamps compared with 3 in 10 in states where abortion is generally available. And while a fragmented patchwork of charities can help, they often don’t cover the entire state.   Tennessee fared poorly at government nutrition program enrollment, Medicaid, having enough maternal care and requirements for paid family and medical leave, an October study found. Other states with similarly restrictive abortion laws — such as Idaho, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia and Mississippi — ranked poorly on numerous measures, too.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Abortions are up in the US. It’s a complicated picture as women turn to pills, travel   Abortion opponents shift focus to pills with lawsuits, proposed laws and possible federal action   Arizona governor urges the state to stop collecting abortion data, citing patient privacy

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Abortion access

Even in states where the procedure is legal, providers say they don’t necessarily get a warm welcome. One clinic moved to Illinois — a “safe haven” state — but encountered hostility that has made it nearly impossible to get up and running.   Emergency contraception pill could be an alternative to mifepristone for abortions, study suggests A new study suggests that a pill used for emergency contraception could be repurposed at a higher dose as an abortion drug, providing a possible alternative to mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in the most common type of abortion in the United States. https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pill-mifepristone-ella-emergency-contraception-feea8d741a3fdefcf53ecec13d17c339?

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Arrest warrant issued for New York doctor indicted in Louisiana for prescribing abortion pill

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a New York doctor indicted on Friday by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing abortion pills online to a pregnant minor in the Deep South state, which has one of the strictest near-total abortion bans in the country.

https://apnews.com/article/abortion-indictment-lousiana-new-york-doctor-63ff4d9da8a9b592a7ca4ec7ba538cd3?

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SC doctors seek conscience protections to provide abortion care in new federal lawsuit

In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit with national implications, a group of religious OB-GYNs is asking court to overturn state’s so-called ‘fetal heartbeat ban’

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/02/08/sc-doctors-seek-conscience-protections-to-provide-abortion-care-in-new-federal-lawsuit/?

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Texas judge fines New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas A Texas judge on Thursday ordered a New York doctor to pay more than $100,000 in penalties for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, a ruling that could test “shield laws” in Democratic-controlled states where abortion is legal. Read more.

Why this matters: The ruling was handed down on the same day New York Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite the same doctor, Dr. Maggie Carpenter, who was charged in that state with prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor.   Pills have become the most common method of abortion in the U.S. and are at the epicenter of political and legal fights over abortion access following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ When does a heartbeat start? South Carolina Supreme Court again takes up abortion issue   What to know about proposals to ban abortion pills and punish women who seek abortion

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Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.

ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-sepsis-maternal-mortality-analysis?

Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did

A first-of-its-kind analysis by ProPublica found that the sepsis rate in second-trimester pregnancy loss hospitalizations increased by more than 50% after Texas’ near-total abortion ban went into effect in September 2021. The analysis also identified at least 120 in-hospital deaths of pregnant or postpartum women in 2022 and 2023 — an increase of dozens of deaths from a comparable period before the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-maternal-mortality-analysis-methodology?

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Researchers estimate 1 in 10 abortions provided by online-only clinics one year after Roe

In the first year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, an estimated 1 in 10 abortions were provided by online-only clinics, according to new data released Thursday by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that researches reproductive health and advocates for abortion access.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/01/researchers-estimate-1-in-10-abortions-provided-by-online-only-clinics-one-year-after-roe/?

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This Hospital System Fought COVID, Then a Far-Right Leader. Now It’s Taking on Idaho’s Abortion Ban.

With a steady but urgent cadence, Dr. Jim Souza told reporters what would become one of the most cited talking points in a protracted legal fight over Idaho’s abortion ban: Without a court order protecting emergency room doctors from prosecution, his hospital system was sending patients to nearby states when certain pregnancy complications meant termination might be necessary.

https://www.propublica.org/article/st-lukes-hospital-idaho-abortion-ban?

Texas midwife accused by state’s attorney general of providing illegal abortions

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas midwife has been arrested and accused of providing illegal abortions, marking the first time authorities have filed criminal charges under the state’s near-total abortion ban, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-illegal-abortion-charge-2ffba72c1d547afa87607bd0a3c32b92?

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Texas Starts Arresting Abortion Providers

The arrest of a midwife for allegedly providing illegal abortions is the latest attack on reproductive care.

https://theintercept.com/2025/03/18/texas-abortion-arrest-maria-margarita-rojas/?

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Abortion groups, doctors on 1-year anniversary of 6-week abortion ban declare: ‘We’re still here’

A year into Florida’s ban on most abortions after six weeks’ gestation, the network of groups and doctors providing access to pregnancy terminations hasn’t vanished. 

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/01/abortion-groups-doctors-on-1-year-anniversary-of-6-week-abortion-ban-declare-were-still-here/?

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Under Texas’ Abortion Ban, Where a Pregnant Woman Lives Can Determine Her Risk of Developing Sepsis

Nearly four years ago in Texas, the state’s new abortion law started getting in the way of basic miscarriage care: As women waited in hospitals cramping, fluid running down their legs, doctors told them they couldn’t empty their uterus to guard against deadly complications.

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-sepsis-rates-dallas-houston?

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Late abortions are rare. The US just lost a clinic that offered the procedure for over 50 years

To fellow travelers, Hannah Brehm likely looked like she was taking a belated babymoon well into her third trimester.

https://apnews.com/article/abortion-late-trimester-boulder-clinic-dobbs-56ff9a6998465e4f99b12a80e60b675c?

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Texas abortion

The fate of a woman suffering from a miscarriage may depend not just on the state where she lives, but the location of the hospital she visits. Texas enacted its abortion law in 2021, banning the procedure even in pregnancies that were no longer viable. The state also threatened to imprison doctors and punish hospitals for providing such care unless there was a life-threatening emergency. Since then, medical personnel have been restricted from helping women who were miscarrying until they could figure out a way to document that the patients were in mortal peril. Now, a new analysis by ProPublica showed that where the hospitals were located often determined if these women ended up suffering from sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to infection. Sepsis cases across Texas shot up more than 50% for women who lost their pregnancies in the second trimester after the state enacted its abortion ban. When these women went to hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where doctors were empowered to intervene before it was too late, that number dropped to 29%. Whereas in Houston, where hospitals' legal departments had advised doctors to delay treatment until they could document a serious infection, the sepsis rate surged to 63%.

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Hospital tells family brain-dead Georgia woman must carry fetus to birth because of abortion ban A pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain dead after a medical emergency has been on life support for three months to let the fetus grow enough to be delivered, a move her family says a hospital told them was required under the state’s strict anti-abortion law. Read more.

What to know: With her due date still more than three months away, it could be one of the longest such pregnancies. Her family is upset that Georgia’s law that restricts abortion once cardiac activity is detected doesn’t allow relatives to have a say in whether a pregnant woman is kept on life support.   Georgia’s “heartbeat law” is among the restrictive abortion statutes that have been put in place in many conservative states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade three years ago. Twelve states are enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy and three others have bans like Georgia’s that kick in after about six weeks.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Florida appeals court strikes down law letting minors get an abortion without parents’ consent   Challenge to Louisiana law that lists abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances can proceed   Missouri lawmakers approve referendum to repeal abortion-rights amendment

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Sponsor of Georgia abortion ban spared trauma of watching brain dead loved one carry fetus

By most common measures, the life of Adriana Smith ended three months ago, when a tragic series of undiagnosed blood clots left her brain dead, with no hope of recovery. Yet today, in a hospital room in Midtown Atlanta, Adriana’s body is still being kept alive by machines, without regard to her family’s wishes.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/24/sponsor-of-georgia-abortion-ban-spared-trauma-of-watching-brain-dead-loved-one-carry-fetus/?

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Montana Supreme Court declares 2021 abortion restrictions unconstitutional

Montana’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional several laws restricting abortion access, including a ban beyond 20 weeks of gestation. Read More.

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Abortion clinics are closing, even in states where abortion is legal The abortion funding system across the U.S. is battered three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to enforce bans. An initial surge of donations has subsided, scores of clinics have closed and advocates fear federal policy changes will result in more shutting down. Read more.

Why this matters: Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, advocacy group I Need An A, which operates a website providing information about abortion options, has tallied 105 clinics closing. There were 29 closures in states where abortion is now banned at all stages of pregnancy and 11 in states where the procedure is banned at about six weeks’ gestation, before many women realize they are pregnant. But 65 of the closures were in other states. At the same time, 34 clinics have opened or moved to states where abortion is legal.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Inside the legal fight over the telehealth clinics that help women defy abortion bans   ‘I was terrified I was going to die.’ Rape victims in Brazil struggle to access legal abortions

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A baby born to a brain dead mother: this is the horror of abortion bans | Moira Donegan

On Friday 13 June, a baby was born in an Atlanta hospital to a woman who had been dead for four months.

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/4094747725694-a-baby-born-to-a-brain-dead-mother-this-is-the-horror-of-abortion-bans-moira-donegan?