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Abortion Rights and Reproductive Access

State abortion bans, federal prosecution threats against providers, mifepristone litigation, and the post-Dobbs legal landscape

Senators urge Trump to remove Moms.gov abortion facility links

Illustration accompanying article: Senators urge Trump to remove Moms.gov abortion facility links
  • Eleven U.S. senators led by Bernie Sanders sent a letter Wednesday urging President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove from Moms.gov any links directing pregnant women to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers.
  • The lawmakers wrote that the site, launched on Mother's Day, "directs pregnant women to unregulated and often non-medical anti-abortion facilities" and "raises profound concerns about the health, safety and privacy of people who access this government website."
  • The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that CPCs "represent themselves as legitimate reproductive healthcare clinics" but "aim to dissuade people from accessing certain types of reproductive health care, including abortion care and even contraceptive options."
  • A Government Accountability Office report published earlier this year estimated between 2,400 and 2,800 crisis pregnancy centers were operating in the U.S. in 2025.
  • A White House spokesperson called the senators' objections the work of "Far-Left lunatics" and said Moms.gov is a "comprehensive, one-stop shop for information on federal resources for maternal and infant health."
 2026-06-24 · 4 MIN READ

U.S. abortions nearly double since Dobbs, fueled by telehealth pills

Illustration accompanying article: U.S. abortions nearly double since Dobbs, fueled by telehealth pills
  • The number of U.S. abortions nearly doubled between 2021 and 2025, with telehealth accounting for 29% of all abortions by December 2025, according to the Society of Family Planning.
  • Providers said a federal appeals court order in May temporarily blocking the mailing of mifepristone prompted thousands of patients to choose a misoprostol-only regimen rather than forfeit care.
  • Anti-abortion groups are pressing the Trump administration to restrict mifepristone, but telehealth providers say they can switch to misoprostol-only if needed, a legal alternative that law professor David Cohen said would be difficult to block.
  • The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project ships abortion pills to about 3,500 patients each month nationwide, and its director said recent media attention has driven a spike in demand from states with abortion bans.
 2026-06-22 · 3 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Black women killed at disproportionate rates in domestic violence cases

Scottish Parliament rejects assisted dying bill for terminally ill adults

2026-03-16

Scottish lawmakers on Tuesday rejected legislation that would have allowed terminally ill adults in Scotland to seek help ending their lives. The vote in the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament was 69-57 against the bill, with one abstention, after a debate that lasted about three hours and included emotional exchanges among members.

Your Hawaii lei’s orchids are from Thailand, lawmakers weigh labeling push

2026-03-12

Honolulu lawmakers and lei-industry figures are debating whether Hawaii should require clearer labeling for leis made with imported flowers, after a report that many of the purple orchid garlands tourists receive are grown in Thailand. The proposals include a state purchasing rule to favor in-state flowers and a potential work group in the Senate bill to study how to protect local growers.

Wyoming governor signs abortion ban after about six weeks

2026-03-10

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed a law Monday that bans most abortions after embryonic “cardiac activity” can be detected, generally at about six weeks’ gestation. In a letter to lawmakers, Gordon said he has misgivings about the measure because it does not include exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

Novartis settles with Henrietta Lacks’ estate over use of HeLa cells

2026-02-27

Novartis has settled a lawsuit brought by the estate of Henrietta Lacks over allegations that the company unjustly profited from HeLa cells taken from her tumor in 1951 without her knowledge. The settlement, finalized this month in federal court in Maryland, ends the case, though the terms were not made public.

Florida executes second inmate this year for 1986 grocery store killing

2026-02-24

Melvin Trotter, 65, was executed Tuesday for the June 1986 stabbing and strangling death of Virgie Langford, a 70-year-old grocery store owner in Palmetto near Tampa Bay. The execution at Florida State Prison near Starke marks the state's second execution in 2026 and continues Florida's acceleration of capital punishment, which carried out 19 executions last year—more than any other state and the most in a single year since Florida reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

New Mexico lawmakers approve investigation into forced sterilization of Native women

2026-02-22

New Mexico lawmakers have approved an investigation into forced and coerced sterilizations of Native American women in the 1970s and how the practice has continued to affect families, according to a measure passed this week. The investigation will be carried out by the state Indian Affairs Department and the Commission on the Status of Women, with findings expected for the governor by the end of 2027.

New Mexico to investigate forced sterilization of Native women

2026-02-20

New Mexico lawmakers approved a measure this week to investigate forced and coerced sterilizations of Native American women by the Indian Health Service and other providers. The state Indian Affairs Department and the Commission on the Status of Women are expected to deliver findings to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham by the end of 2027.

California parole board doctors warn unreliable drug tests derail addiction care

2026-02-19

California’s parole board uses drug-test results from the state’s medication-assisted treatment program in decisions on whether to release incarcerated people, a group of prison physicians and state-appointed attorneys say. They warn the tests can produce false positives and that those errors are undermining participation in life-saving addiction treatment and contributing to more denials of parole. The concerns come as California tries to reverse a rise in fatal overdoses among the people it serves.

Texas Tech cancels OB-GYN talk on late-pregnancy abortion ethics

2026-02-19

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center canceled a scheduled Jan. 26 talk by an OB-GYN author focused on medical and ethical considerations surrounding later-pregnancy abortions, university officials said. The cancellation followed public pressure from anti-abortion activists and Turning Point USA-linked students, while abortion-rights advocates disputed the claim that hosting the event would be illegal on a public campus.

US prenatal care declines, especially for Black mothers

2026-02-19

The share of U.S. births to women who began prenatal care in the first trimester dropped from 78.3 percent in 2021 to 75.5 percent in 2024, according to data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The decline reverses steady improvements that had occurred between 2016 and 2021.

New biodegradable Mardi Gras beads aim to add a green touch to New Orleans

2026-02-16

Mardi Gras season returns to New Orleans with a new option for parade-goers: biodegradable “PlantMe Beads” designed by researchers at Louisiana State University. The beads, 3D-printed from a starch-based material and filled with okra seeds, are being offered this Carnival season through multiple krewes.

Zambia woman freed after denied abortion and prison sentence

2026-02-15

A Zambian woman, Violet Zulu, says she was turned away from legal abortion care and later sentenced to seven years in maximum-security prison after she admitted procuring her own abortion. Rights groups helped her file an appeal, and she was freed last month, according to The Associated Press. In an interview with AP, Zulu, 26, described delivering the pregnancy in a toilet and placing the fetus in a sack after what she said was desperation and barriers to legal services.

Paxton backs ivermectin doctor in Texas Medical Board fight

2026-02-14

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he filed to intervene in a lawsuit challenging a Texas Medical Board reprimand of Houston doctor Mary Talley Bowden over her prescribing ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient at a Fort Worth hospital.

Puerto Rico governor signs law recognizing fetus as human being

2026-02-13

Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González signed a bill on Feb. 12 that amends the territory’s penal code to recognize a fetus as a human being, drawing warnings from doctors and civil-rights groups about criminal-law and health-care repercussions. The law, Senate Bill 923, was approved without public hearings, according to opponents who said it could affect how doctors treat pregnant and potentially pregnant patients.

What to know about atrial fibrillation, symptoms, and treatments

2026-02-08

Atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, is an irregular or quivering heartbeat caused by the heart’s upper chambers beating out of sync with the lower chambers. It can come with symptoms such as a pounding heartbeat or shortness of breath, and it can raise the risk of blood clots, stroke and heart failure. Experts say diagnoses are increasing, and they cite new detection tools along with greater awareness.

Arizona judge blocks old abortion limits conflicting with 2024 ballot amendment

2026-02-07

Phoenix-area Maricopa Superior Court Judge Greg Como ruled Friday that Arizona must stop enforcing older abortion restrictions that predate and conflict with a 2024 voter-approved constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights. Como ordered the state to halt enforcement of provisions that he said create unnecessary obstacles for patients and restrict how medication abortions can be provided.

Houston doctor indicted for falsifying medical records in liver transplant case

2026-02-06

A Houston doctor, Dr. John Stevenson Bynon Jr., has been indicted on federal charges that he falsified medical records for five patients in a way that made them ineligible for liver transplant consideration, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors announced the indictment Thursday. Prosecutors said three of the patients died while two others later received liver transplants at different hospitals.

Texas lawsuit targets California doctor over abortion pill mailing

2026-02-03

A man filed a lawsuit in Texas accusing a California doctor of violating the state’s anti-abortion law by providing abortion medication. The case tests a Texas legal model that allows private citizens to sue abortion providers for mailing the pills, according to a legal group defending the doctor.

Planned Parenthood dismisses lawsuit over Trump Medicaid abortion cuts

2026-02-03

Planned Parenthood has moved to voluntarily drop its legal challenge to Trump administration Medicaid cuts that it said would end funding for abortion providers across the U.S. The organization said it took the step after a federal appeals court ruling in December allowed the administration to keep withholding the Medicaid payments, and as a separate challenge by mostly Democratic states continues.

Texas to expand data on pregnant inmates after scrutiny of jail harms

2026-02-02

Texas county jails held an average of about 430 pregnant inmates each month in late 2025, according to data being compiled under a budget rider that orders the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to study maternal health and mortality in custody. Advocates say the effort is meant to improve oversight after years of reports and lawsuits alleging medical neglect and other harms to pregnant people in county lockups.

Emergency birth exposes Maine's rural maternity care crisis

2026-01-26

Katie Gowell went into labor at her home in Patten, Maine, on June 1, 2025, expecting her family physician to deliver her fifth child. When a prolapsed umbilical cord—a medical emergency that cuts off oxygen—suddenly developed, her doctor, Dr. Rose Fuchs, kept the cord in position during transport. But the nearest hospital, Houlton Regional, had stopped delivering babies one month earlier, forcing an emergency diversion 40 minutes away.

NIH ends funding for research using abortion-derived fetal tissue

2026-01-24

The Trump administration said it will no longer allow human fetal tissue derived from abortions to be used in research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The policy announced Thursday expands restrictions that were imposed during the administration’s first term and later lifted by President Joe Biden’s administration.

Indiana syringe exchanges face July 2026 shutdown unless lawmakers act

2026-01-23

Indiana's syringe exchange programs face closure in July 2026 unless state lawmakers pass legislation to extend them, a decision point in a broader debate over harm reduction during the opioid crisis. The programs, operating in six counties, would shut down automatically if Senate Bill 91 fails to pass. The legislation, filed by Sen. Michael Crider, a Republican from Greenfield, would extend the exchanges for another decade.

Trump administration halts NIH funding for fetal tissue research

2026-01-22

The Trump administration announced Thursday that the National Institutes of Health will no longer fund research using human fetal tissue derived from abortions. The policy, long sought by anti-abortion groups, expands restrictions the administration imposed during its first term. Under the new rules, all NIH-funded research will be barred from using fetal tissue, though research using cell lines previously created from fetal cells will continue.

Planned Parenthood to resume vasectomies in Michigan amid abortion access changes

2026-01-22

Planned Parenthood of Michigan said it will begin offering vasectomies for patients in Grand Rapids, as abortion access has narrowed nationwide after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The nonprofit plans to provide the minor procedure for adults 21 and older at its Irwin/Martin health center, with additional locations expected to come online during the year.

Planned Parenthood offers vasectomies in Michigan as abortion access drops

2026-01-21

Planned Parenthood of Michigan announced it will offer vasectomy services at its Grand Rapids health center, responding to increased demand for permanent birth control alternatives following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision restricting abortion rights. The procedure will cost $800 without insurance and be available to adults 21 and older. The organization says it ceased offering vasectomies about a decade ago but is resuming services due to the surge in patient interest.

Newsom blocks Louisiana's extradition of Bay Area doctor charged over abortion pills

2026-01-15

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday he was blocking Louisiana's attempt to extradite a San Francisco Bay Area physician accused of mailing abortion pills, citing a 2022 executive order that bars state agencies under his administration from cooperating with other states' prosecutions of abortion providers. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, had sent extradition paperwork the day before seeking to bring the doctor "to justice." Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill identified the physician as Remy Coeytaux and said he faced a criminal charge of abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, with a potential sentence of up to 50 years in prison if convicted.

California governor to block Louisiana extradition of abortion pills doctor

2026-01-15

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will block Louisiana’s attempt to extradite a Bay Area doctor accused of mailing abortion pills. Newsom said the move would violate an executive order he signed in 2022 barring California agencies from helping other states prosecute abortion providers.

Alabama judge orders new trial for woman sentenced to 18 years after stillbirth

2025-12-30

An Alabama judge ordered a new trial for a woman sentenced to 18 years in prison after a stillbirth, citing new evidence presented by her attorneys. Lee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Tickal vacated Brooke Shoemaker’s 2020 conviction, court records say, and said the outcome likely would have differed had jurors heard the evidence about an infection.

Alabama judge orders new trial for woman sentenced to 18 years after stillbirth

2025-12-29

A judge has ordered a new trial for an Alabama woman sentenced to 18 years in prison after a stillbirth in 2017, after her attorneys presented new evidence that an infection caused the death rather than drug use. Lee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Tickal vacated Brooke Shoemaker’s 2020 conviction for chemical endangerment of a child resulting in death and said the outcome “probably would have been different” if the jury had heard the evidence.