(PBS, Nov. 3, 2023) Abortion access is expected to play a central role in the 2024 elections. The preview comes next week, when Ohio voters decide whether to enshrine reproductive rights in their state Constitution. Note: And, as elections showed Nov. 7, Ohio voters did enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution. Read Article >

(NPR, Nov. 8, 2023) In the six states where voters were asked to weigh in directly on abortion rights, they supported measures that protect those rights and rejected initiatives that could threaten them. In Ohio, voters approved a ballot initiative putting protections for reproductive health decisions in the state constitution, including abortion at least until fetal viability. In Vermont, voters approved a measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. In California, voters approved a measure to enshrine abortion rights in the [...]

(The Guardian Oct. 5, 2023) Book banning in public schools jumped by 33% this year, so a group of enthusiasts is tackling censorship with a bus tour. "Florida has overtaken Texas as the state with the highest number of titles pulled off the shelves and accounts for just under half of the nationwide bans. Consistently, this censorship targets materials dealing with themes like physical abuse, sexual assault, race and LGBTQ+ identities."

(New York Times, Oct, 24, 2023) A lower court is now expected to hear arguments on the broader question of whether the right to privacy in the state constitution protects a right to abortion. "With North Carolina now banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, South Carolina after six weeks, and Florida doing the same, pending a legal challenge, the ruling ensures that abortion will be largely inaccessible in the Deep South, forcing women there to travel farther [...]

(New York Times, Oct. 23, 2023) Hospitals are playing a growing role in abortion access, as pregnant women with certain health issues travel to seek care that clinics can't provide. "At the end of last year, Illinois abortion providers met with state officials to suggest a program to better serve the sickest abortion patients.In July, the state awarded them a $600,000 grant to start the Complex Abortion Regional Line for Access, or CARLA. Two full-time nurses now coordinate [...]

(The Guardian, Oct, 24, 2023) The average number of abortions performed each month in the United States rose in the year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, according to the first full-year count of abortions provided nationwide. In states with near-total or six-week bans, abortions plummeted. Providers in those states performed 114,590 fewer abortions than they would have if Roe had not been overturned, according to data collected by the research group, WeCount. At the same [...]

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 >