Alabama has one of the country's highest maternal mortality rates. Now, three hospitals plan to stop delivering babies, putting some pregnant women at even higher risk. “People are going to show up delivering in the ER, and you’re going to have bad outcomes,” said Dr. Jesanna Cooper, an OB-GYN who formerly worked at Princeton Baptist Medical Center, the Birmingham hospital closing its maternity services. “If you show up with a very premature baby and deliver [...]

(Times of Malta, Sept. 30, 2023) Speaking to those present at the protests, activist and academic Andrea Dibben from the Women's Rights Foundation explained why the courts were used as a backdrop. She said protesters assembled at the courts after a mother and a victim of domestic violence were prosecuted by the police and charged with having an abortion. "For us, you are not a criminal. You are our sister. You are one of us. [...]

(ProPublica, Oct. 3, 2023) Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Idaho's GOP-led legislature has disbanded a maternal mortality committee, failed to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage, and turned down federal grants for child care. Read Article >

(New York Times, Sept. 20, 2023) NARAL Pro-Choice America is now Reproductive Freedom for All, as the post-Roe landscape reshapes the policy fights over abortion access. NARAL’s new name is intended to align the group’s goals with a different argument than choice: In the post-Roe era, the battle for abortion access is a fight for fundamental freedoms. Read Article >

(The Independent, Sept. 21, 2023) The British Social Attitudes polling, of more than 2,000 people, found 76 percent of those surveyed support a woman’s right to have an abortion. In 1983, just 37 percent of those surveyed held the same view, but by 2005 the proportion had risen to 60 percent before increasing to 70 percent in 2017. Note: Abortions are still deemed a criminal act in England, Scotland and Wales under the 1967 Abortion [...]

(ANGELUS, Oct. 2, 2023, a Catholic news service) California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his appointment of Laphonza Butler, president of the pro-choice group Emily's List, to California's U.S. Senate seat left vacant after the death of Sen. Diane Feintstein. Butler will be the first person who identifies openly as LGBTQ+ to represent California as a U.S. senator. Note: Uplift International wants to show accurate news from other viewpoints. It shows how other sides frame the [...]

(Reuters, Oct. 4, 2023) Argentina's presidential election race is putting abortion access and women's rights in the spotlight, sparking fierce debate in a country that has been a pioneer in expanding reproductive rights in Latin America. The election frontrunner, economist Javier Milei, opposes abortion and wants to hold a referendum on whether the 2020 legalization of abortion before the 14th week of pregnancy should be repealed. He also wants to shut the ministry of women, [...]

(New York Times Magazine, Sept. 12, 2023) Popular support for abortion rights is stronger than expected in some red and purple states. In Kansas, Kentucky and Montana, measures brought by abortion opponents to further restrict the procedure failed. In Michigan, voters passed an initiative to overturn the state’s abortion ban. This November, voters in Ohio will decide on an initiative to safeguard abortion rights, which polls show has wide support. And campaigns are underway in [...]

(Washington Post, Sept. 20, 2023) Activist group Shout Your Abortion posted billboards about abortion rights along Interstate 55, directed at drivers heading north to Illinois. Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri — all of which contain portions of I-55 — banned abortions to some degree or another. Illinois is one of the closest states where the procedure is still accessible. Note: Arkansas instituted a near-total abortion ban, only allowing the procedure to save the life [...]