2019 Was a Banner Year for Abortion Laws—and Not the Kind You Think
People both supporting and opposing abortion protest at the Rhode Island statehouse on March 5.Jennifer McDermott/AP This year will be remembered for an unprecedented red-state assault on reproductive rights. From a wave of early-term abortion bans in the South and Midwest to a host of policies aimed at preventing providers from having open conversations with patients…
A New Federal Judge Appointed by Trump Has Fought Against Abortion, Fertility Treatments, and Surrogacy
Tom Williams/CQPHO/AP Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to confirm Sarah Pitlyk, who has argued against in vitro fertilization and surrogacy and touted the (debunked) “eugenic origins of the birth control movement,” to a lifetime judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. On Tuesday, Sen. Susan Collins was the only Republican to vote…
The Trump Administration Is Giving Family Planning Funds to a Network of Anti-Abortion Clinics
When I walked into the Obria clinic in Whittier, California, one evening in July, a woman in a modest floral-print dress organizing bundles of diapers in a back room greeted me hopefully. She thought I’d come for a class. Instead, I asked if I had come to the right place for birth control. Furrowing her…
The Democratic Candidates Have a Plan to Protect Abortion Rights
John Minchillo/AP When the moderators at the Democratic debate Tuesday night finally asked about abortion, many of the candidates were ready with a simple plan. Congress, they argued, should pass legislation codifying the right to an abortion established in Roe v. Wade—a move that could take the matter out of the hands of the Supreme Court…
California Becomes the First State to Require Public Universities to Provide Medication Abortion
Gov. Gavin Newsom Terry Pierson/ZUMA California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill today requiring the state’s public universities to offer medication abortions on campus. The new law, which will take effect in 2023, will apply to 34 schools—11 University of California campuses and 23 California State University campuses—that serve almost 750,000 students. “For four years, students have been…
SCOTUS Just took a Case that Could Challenge Abortion Rights—in the Midst of the 2020 Election
The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait to include the new Associate Justice, top row, far right, at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo The Supreme Court decided Friday to hear June Medical Services v. Gee, a Louisiana case that could…