Indiana abortion clinics stop providing abortions ahead of near-total abortion ban taking effect
Indianaโs six abortion clinics have stopped providing abortions ahead of the stateโs near-total abortion ban officially taking effect and as a petition is pending before the stateโs high court asking it to keep the ban on hold while legal action continues.
Planned Parenthood plans mobile abortion clinic in Illinois
Planned Parenthood officials have announced plans for a mobile abortion clinic, a 37-foot RV that will stay in Illinois but travel close to the borders of adjoining states that have banned abortions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.
Arizona abortion clinics send women to other states
Women seeking abortions across Arizona were forced to find alternatives beyond the stateโs borders after a court ruling last week cleared the way for prosecutors to charge doctors and others who help a woman end a pregnancy unless her life is in danger.
New SC abortion law remains on hold under judge's order
South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. โ A new South Carolina law banning abortions will stay on hold following a judge's order on Friday to extend a temporary restraining order. Lewis initially suspended the โ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act โ on its second day in effect, following a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood. Federal law supersedes state law. Planned Parenthood has indicated they plan to oppose McMaster's request to take part in the case, according to the governor's attorneys.
Court to take up Trump immigration, abortion referral rules
FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020 file photo, the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. The Supreme Court will take up challenges to controversial Trump administration policies affecting family-planning clinics and immigrants, even though the Biden administration has announced it is reviewing them. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON โ The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up challenges to controversial Trump administration policies affecting family-planning clinics and immigrants, even though the Biden administration has announced it is reviewing them. Last month, Biden also ordered a review of Trump's restrictions on family-planning clinics that caused Planned Parenthood to withdraw from the funding program, rather than stop abortion referrals. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the rule, in a lawsuit filed by the city of Baltimore.
South Carolina abortion law suspended 1 day after passage
South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. โ South Carolinaโs new law banning most abortions was suspended by a federal judge Friday on its second day in effect. AdThe โ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act " is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. Federal law, which takes precedence over state law, currently allows abortion. AdPlanned Parenthood lawyers noted that South Carolina legislators this year did not change part of state law that said fetuses are considered viable in the 24th week of pregnancy.
SC governor signs abortion ban; Planned Parenthood sues
South Carolina Gov. Planned Parenthood immediately sued, effectively preventing the new law from taking effect. The โSouth Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. Moments after the Thursday vote, Planned Parenthood announced that it was filing a lawsuit. The South Carolina law, like those of other states that are currently being challenged, is โblatantly unconstitutional,โ said Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
US won't seek death penalty in Planned Parenthood case
DENVER โ Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they will not seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing three people and injuring nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in 2015. The move comes about a year after Dear was charged in federal court after his prosecution in state court stalled. The decision not to seek the death penalty follows the resumption of federal executions under the Trump administration and as the Justice Department continues to seek the death penalty in other cases in the administration's waning days. The death penalty has usually been taken off the table in cases in which mental illness is a factor, such as in the Unabomber case, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Prosecutors who are not seeking to pursue the death penalty for political reasons need to consider whether they are likely to succeed in convincing a jury to impose the death penalty in expensive and complicated death penalty cases prone to appeals, he said.
Supreme Court changes fuel moves to protect abortion access
A vast swath of West Texas has been without an abortion clinic for more than six years. That law led to the closure of more than half the stateโs 41 abortion clinics before the Supreme Court struck down key provisions in 2016. Women in Lubbock faced a 310-mile (500-kilometer) drive to the nearest abortion clinic in Fort Worth. Texas is one of several red states where Planned Parenthood has sought to expand abortion access. Missouri, for example, bars the use of telemedicine for abortion services, a policy that has sharply limited the number of medication abortions.
Doctors ask Supreme Court to strike down Trump abortion rule
WASHINGTON โ The nation's largest doctors' group on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to strike down a Trump administration rule that's had a far-reaching impact on family planning by prohibiting taxpayer-funded clinics from referring women for abortions. But the changes to Title X, as the federal family planning program is known, are already in effect โ and getting much less attention. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden promises to rescind the Trump administration's family planning rule and also supports allowing federal programs to pay for abortions. But the AMA says regardless of who wins the election, it believes the Supreme Court should address the issue and overturn the Trump administration rule. โWe can't afford to walk away from that progress.โJoining the AMA's petition are the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, and Essential Access Health, which administers the Title X family planning program in California.
Judge tosses Trump rule on billing for abortion coverage
WASHINGTON A federal judge in Baltimore on Friday struck down a Trump administration rule that abortion rights advocates called a maneuver to restrict access but officials defended as merely following the law. The judge's ruling means insurers can continue to make the charge for abortion coverage a line item on their monthly bill, or just give policyholders notice that it's included. Abortion opponents cried foul, saying separate bills should be mandatory because that would clearly reflect the intent of the law. The Trump administration, which takes its lead on social issues from religious conservatives, agreed. They argued that the requirement to send separate bills could prompt insurers to drop coverage for abortions and would create confusion for policyholders.
Treasury chief refusing to disclose recipients of virus aid
(Al Drago/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON Building ramparts of secrecy around a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program for small businesses, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has moved from delay to denial in refusing outright to disclose the recipients of taxpayer-funded loans. About 10 weeks after the program was launched, the SBA says it has processed 4.5 million loans worth $511 billion. While the SBA administers the program, Mnuchins Treasury Department has ultimate control over it. We believe that thats proprietary information, and in many cases, for sole proprietors and small businesses, is confidential information, Mnuchin said during the hearing by the Senate Small Business Committee. Praise for the small-business loan program flowed to Mnuchin and Carranza at the hearing from senators from both parties, who cited the positive economic impact across the country.
Ruling means Missouri's last abortion clinic stays open
Missouri Administrative Hearing Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudis decision means Missouri will not become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since 1974, the year after the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade decision. Therefore, Planned Parenthood is entitled to renewal of its abortion facility license, Dandamudi wrote. A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood said the organization will have comment later Friday. William Koebel, director of the section of the health department responsible for abortion clinic licensing, testified that the clinic failed to provide a "complication report." That led the health department to launch an investigation of other instances where women underwent multiple procedures to complete an abortion, Koebel said.
Planned Parenthood's political arm to spend $45M
Getty Images(CNN) - Planned Parenthood's super PAC kicked off a $45 million electoral program targeted toward battleground states for the 2020 election, the reproductive rights giant announced on Wednesday. "Who we elect will determine our access to birth control, cancer screenings, sex education, abortion access and more," said Kelley Robinson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, in a statement. Planned Parenthood is among the plaintiffs in lawsuits challenging such laws in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri and Ohio. Anti-abortion leaders decried Planned Parenthood's election efforts, accusing the group of looking to protect its own finances and lamenting its federal subsidies. Planned Parenthood received $563.8 million in government funding in 2018, according to its annual report.
Planned Parenthood opens massive Illinois clinic
Planned Parenthood's Anita Murphy works in the new Illinois facility ahead of its mid-October opening. (CNN) - As Missouri teeters on the brink of becoming the first state with no abortion clinics, a new Planned Parenthood center just across the Illinois border could help take patients who can't get abortions back home. Planned Parenthood said it is opening a new 18,000-square-foot health center in Fairview Heights, Illinois -- just 15 miles from Missouri. "We are thrilled to be able to better serve our patients through this new center, both in Southern Illinois and around the region," said Yamelsie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. It could see an influx of patients from Missouri, which this year passed a law that bans most abortions after eight weeks.
Artists join Planned Parenthood's 'Bans Off My Body' campaign
Getty Images(CNN) - Planned Parenthood's "Bans Off My Body" campaign has gathered nearly 140 musicians to join its campaign to battle restrictions on legal abortion. Planned Parenthood plans to raise awareness about restrictive anti-abortion measures that have passed in several states over the last year. The organization hopes to gather a whopping 500,000 signatures for its online petition to raise awareness about abortion rights. "Abortion access and reproductive health and rights are under attack like never before, and we need everyone to fight back," Planned Parenthood's president, Alexis McGill, said in a statement. "Planned Parenthood is grateful to these artists for using their incredible platforms to declare that our bodies are our own -- if they are not, we can never be truly free or equal."
Providers react to Planned Parenthood's Title X withdrawal
I talked to the Planned Parenthood Idaho state director, Mistie Tolman. The rule disallows Title X recipients of letting physicians refer women to an abortion provider or suggest where to get one. Withdrawing from Title X does not mean Planned Parenthood will lose all of its federal funding, they also receive money from Medicaid, according to the New York Times . But it does mean providers like Stanton may be eligible for Title X funding. In some rural areas, Planned Parenthood is the only provider of services like STI testing, birth control, and pregnancy testing.