This Wednesday, Idaho will attempt to defend its extreme abortion ban at the Supreme Court. Like many other abortion bans in the United States, the Idaho law contains a so-called life exception, which purports to allow an abortion when “necessary to prevent the death” of the pregnant person. But do these exceptions actually preserve the lives of patients in practice? As Mayron Hollis, Amanda Zurawski, the family of Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick, and countless others can attest, the answer is no. And the truth is, they’re not designed to.
Category: Health
Arizona Republicans Are Divided Over Abortion. For Progressives, This Is a Political Opportunity.
The Arizona Supreme Court resurrected its zombie pre-statehood criminal abortion ban earlier this month, which is slated to go into effect as early as June.
The decision, which took many by surprise, has sent Republican lawmakers and antiabortion activists in the state into a strategic tailspin as they seek to prevent the widespread outrage over the decision from transforming Arizona into a state that priorotizes reproductive freedom during the November elections.
Idaho’s EMTALA Challenge Has Got Women Dead to Rights
On April 24, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Moyle v. U.S., a case that will determine whether individual states are allowed to exclude a single group from this basic protection: pregnant women.
The state of Idaho claims that it has the right to forbid pregnant women and girls—and only pregnant women and girls—from receiving emergency care that could save their lives.
Abortion Ranks Among Top Issues for Young Women Voters
The Harvard Youth Poll, the longest running survey of youth attitudes (18-29) related to politics and public service, was released on Thursday. By and large, the results show an engaged young electorate concerned about the state of affairs in the U.S. and aligned on issues of economic and gender equality.
Here are some of our top takeaways.
How ‘Dobbs’ Threatens the Future of Feminist Education
Dobbs hasn’t just restricted reproductive rights; it’s impacted the classroom. In some ways, this impact has been very direct. In 2022, the University of Idaho released a memo warning all faculty and staff to avoid counseling or referring anyone to abortion services while on the job to comply with a broad, unclear law preventing any state resources going toward abortion access.
This lack of clarity impedes feminist theorizing in women’s studies classrooms, especially, since women’s studies departments often serve as a locus for discussions of gender-based oppression on campuses.
As College Decision Day Nears, Students Should Consider States’ Abortion Access
May 1 is “National College Decision Day”—when college applicants traditionally must commit to their school of choice. With recent studies showing students are concerned about access to reproductive healthcare, students should be aware of state abortion laws before they make their final college decision.
“Abortion bans are affecting where students feel comfortable living and learning,” said Daisy Chin-Lor, president and CEO of IWPR. “They do not want to go to states that restrict their reproductive health choices, and their parents do not want to support states that limit women’s freedom.”
If SCOTUS Restricts Emergency Abortion Care, Poor and At-Risk Populations Will Suffer Most
On April 24, the Supreme Court of the United States will decide whether the Emergency Medical and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) will continue to require that patients be offered life saving abortion care regardless of a state’s conflicting abortion laws.
The implications for at-risk women, particularly those protected by EMTALA, cannot be ignored.
Will SCOTUS Allow Pregnant Women to Die? Survivors Share ‘Dobbs’-Related Near-Death Experiences with the Court
On April 24, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases, Idaho v. United States and Moyle v. United States, about whether states can prohibit doctors from treating women with life-threatening pregnancies until a patient’s condition deteriorates to the point where they are about to die.
Reproductive rights and legal advocates are collecting stories from over 100 women who almost died—and at least one who did—after being denied emergency abortion care.
Anti-Abortion Extremists Are Diverting Tax Dollars to Crisis Pregnancy Centers
Anti-abortion politicians are siphoning public dollars meant for low-income mothers and their children to fund anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) that coerce poor women and teens seeking an abortion to give birth, further condemning them to long-term economic hardship. Being denied a wanted abortion is a proven predictor of maternal and child poverty.
As the Biden administration advances a proposal to prohibit CPCs from future access to these federal funds, the anti-abortion movement is pushing back in force, claiming CPCs save taxpayer dollars and provide vital healthcare and safety net services to poor families. A first-time analysis of the CPC industry’s own reporting wholly contradicts these claims.
Keeping Score: Women’s Basketball Reaches New Heights; France Protects Abortion, While Florida Tightens Its Ban
In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.
This week: Women’s college basketball smashed viewership records; France passed a constitutional amendment protecting abortion; Florida will soon have a six-week abortion ban; Beyoncé makes history on the country album charts; IWMF honors Palestinian journalist Samar Abu Elouf; Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) managed to include $1 billion for childcare in the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills; federal employees will soon have access to insurance plans that cover fertility services; President Biden announced a new plan to cancel student debt; the Supreme Court allowed Idaho to maintain its ban on gender-affirming care for minors; and more.