Tennessee lawmakers pass bill to require anti-abortion group video, or comparable, in public schools

Tennessee lawmakers pass bill to require anti-abortion group video, or comparable, in public schools

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee would become the latest state to require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable, under legislation that is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s desk. The GOP-dominated Senate passed the legislation Thursday, with the five Democrats in attendance and one … Read more

Florida’s stricter ban on abortions could put more pressure on clinics elsewhere

Florida’s stricter ban on abortions could put more pressure on clinics elsewhere

The drive to Bristol, Virginia, from Jacksonville, Florida, takes more than eight hours. It’s over 10 from Orlando and closer to 14 from Miami. Despite that distance, Bristol Women’s Health Center is preparing for an influx of women from Florida seeking abortions when a stricter ban kicks in next month. For many people who otherwise … Read more

Florida Supreme Court upholds state’s 15-week ban on most abortions, but voters will soon have a say

Florida Supreme Court upholds state’s 15-week ban on most abortions, but voters will soon have a say

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, while also giving voters a chance to remove restrictions in November and restore abortion rights in most cases. The court that was reshaped by former presidential … Read more

Michigan will become the last US state to decriminalize surrogacy contracts

Michigan will become the last US state to decriminalize surrogacy contracts

LANSING, Mich. — Rachael Lang and her husband share the same last name as their biological daughter, but are not listed on her birth certificate. Instead, it bears the name of a surrogate who carried their daughter due to Lang’s past cancer diagnosis. Michigan’s ban on paid surrogacy contracts — the only state with such … Read more

Bill that would have placed the question of abortion access before Louisiana voters fails

Bill that would have placed the question of abortion access before Louisiana voters fails

BATON ROUGE, La. — A bill that ultimately would have let voters decide whether abortions should be legal in Louisiana, a state with a near-total ban, failed after a Republican-controlled committee rejected it Monday. The legislation proposed an amendment to Louisiana’s constitution that would enshrine reproductive rights for women, including allowing contraceptives such as birth … Read more

Texas medical panel won’t provide list of exceptions to abortion ban

Texas medical panel won’t provide list of exceptions to abortion ban

DALLAS — A Texas medical panel on Friday rebuffed calls to list specific exceptions to one of the most restrictive abortions bans in the U.S., which physicians say is dangerously unclear and has forced women with serious pregnancy complications to leave the state. The head of the Texas Medical Board also said that wider issues … Read more

Trump suggests he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy

Trump suggests he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy, voicing for the first time support for a specific limit on the procedure. The Republican former president has taken credit for striking down a federally guaranteed right to abortion by appointing … Read more

Bill shelved that sought changes to Iowa law outlining penalties for terminating a pregnancy

Bill shelved that sought changes to Iowa law outlining penalties for terminating a pregnancy

DES MOINES, Iowa — A bill that would have made changes to Iowa’s fetal homicide law has been shelved after a Senate Republican joined Democrats in voicing concerns about the potential impact on in vitro fertilization after an Alabama court found frozen embryos can be considered children. The Senate declined to consider the bill, which … Read more

Mississippi will allow quicker Medicaid coverage during pregnancy to try to help women and babies

Mississippi will allow quicker Medicaid coverage during pregnancy to try to help women and babies

JACKSON, Miss. — A new Mississippi law will allow earlier Medicaid coverage for pregnant women in an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies in a poor state with the nation’s worst rate of infant mortality. The “presumptive eligility” legislation signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves will become law July 1. It … Read more

GOP lawmakers resist calls to tweak abortion bans. Some say they’ll clarify the laws’ few exceptions

GOP lawmakers resist calls to tweak abortion bans. Some say they’ll clarify the laws’ few exceptions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In Republican-led states across the U.S., conservative legislators are refusing to reevaluate abortion bans — even as doctors and patients insist the laws’ exceptions are dangerously unclear, resulting in denied treatment to some pregnant women in need. Instead, GOP leaders accuse abortion rights advocates of deliberately spreading misinformation and doctors of intentionally … Read more