Author: Carrie N. Baker

Carrie N. Baker, J.D., Ph.D., is the Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman professor of American Studies and the chair of the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College. She is a contributing editor at Ms. magazine. You can contact Dr. Baker at cbaker@msmagazine.com or follow her on Twitter @CarrieNBaker.

Female Athletes Sue University of Oregon for ‘Hurtful, Outrageous Sex Discrimination’

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Thirty-two current and former female student athletes at the University of Oregon filed a Title IX class-action lawsuit, alleging sex discrimination in athletic participation opportunities, financial aid, benefits and publicity.

“Title IX has been the law for more than 50 years. Oregon needs to comply with it, now,” said Arthur Bryant of the law firm Bailey & Glasser, which represents the plaintiffs. “The history of Title IX has shown: If women want equality, they need to fight for it. So that’s what the women at Oregon are doing.”

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Abortion Pill Case—Setting up an Abortion Ruling Before the 2024 Elections

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The Supreme Court granted a request by the Department of Justice and the abortion pill maker Danco Laboratories to review a Fifth Circuit Court decision drastically limiting access to the abortion pill mifepristone. At the same time, the Supreme Court denied a request by the anti-abortion group Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine to reinstate a Texas district court decision staying the 2000 approval of mifepristone.

The case will be heard this term, with a decision likely by summer—just months before the next election, where voters will decide on the next U.S. president and who will represent them in Congress. While the Supreme Court considers the case, the medication will remain available as it has been. 

GenBioPro Appeals to Federal Court to Block West Virginia Abortion Ban 

GenBioPro, the nation’s only generic manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, appealed the dismissal of a federal lawsuit challenging a West Virginia abortion ban that restricts access to the FDA-approved abortion medication mifepristone.

If successful, GenBioPro’s lawsuit could prevent states from banning mifepristone and could also protect access to other FDA-approved medications that have significant health benefits, such as vaccines.

The West Virginia court’s ruling could be helpful to people in states that still allow some abortions but block telemedicine abortion, such as Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. 

United Nations Condemns U.S. Failure to Address Discrimination Against Women, Directs U.S. to Ratify ERA and CEDAW

The United Nations Human Rights Committee directed the U.S. to address rampant discrimination against women in American law and society, including epidemic rates of violence against women and girls as well as violations of their sexual and reproductive rights.

The committee specifically directed the U.S. government to recognize the fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment.

There’s Been a Major Increase in Abortion Pill Access—Thanks to COVID-19 and Dobbs

Over the last several years, in anticipation of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and in response to the COVID pandemic, activists developed interstate telemedicine abortion services and community support networks that are now providing abortion pills to people living in all 50 states, including states with bans.

As a result, abortion pills are now more accessible and affordable than ever before.

Diverse Stakeholders Implore Supreme Court to Preserve Abortion Pill Access

On Thursday, Oct. 12, a wide range of organizations filed 14 amicus curiae briefs supporting a Justice Department petition asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn a Fifth Circuit decision imposing nationwide limits on access to the abortion pill mifepristone. 

The opposition has until Nov. 9 to file response briefs in the case. If the justices take up the case, they could hear oral arguments early next year and issue a decision by late June 2024, which would likely factor into the fall elections.

Brick-and-Mortar Pharmacies Begin Dispensing Abortion Pills Across the U.S.

In January of 2023, the FDA announced the new certification process for pharmacies to dispense mifepristone. Last week, the pharmaceutical company GenBioPro announced the names of 18 brick-and-mortar pharmacies that are now dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone.

They are the first pharmacies to publicly acknowledge doing so after the FDA in late 2021 finally loosened medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone that blocked pharmacy distribution for decades. 

California Brings First-of-its-Kind Lawsuit Against Anti-Abortion Movement’s ‘Abortion Pill Reversal’ Scheme

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s lawsuit charges RealOptions Obria, a five-site crisis pregnancy center chain in Northern California, and the Ohio-based Heartbeat International with violating California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition law by falsely advertising “abortion pill reversal” as safe and effective.

“Those who are struggling with the complex decision to get an abortion deserve support and trustworthy guidance—not lies and misinformation,” Bonta said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit.

California Becomes the Sixth State to Legally Protect Telehealth Abortion and Gender-Care Providers

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that protects healthcare practitioners located in California who provide telehealth services and dispense medication for abortion, contraception and gender-affirming care to out-of-state patients. California joins five other states with similar telehealth provider shield laws.

“With Gov. Newsom’s signing of SB 345, healthcare providers physically located in California will be able to offer a lifeline to people in states that have cut off access to essential care,” said state Sen. Nancy Skinner.

“We want people to know that unjust abortion bans are not stopping access: In all 50 states, people can receive these safe and effective pills by mail to take in the privacy of their own homes,” said Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C.

Billboards Throughout South and Midwest Advertise Abortion Access: ‘Pregnant? You Still Have a Choice’

For years, anti-abortion groups have dominated the American landscape with billboards. Now abortion rights supporters are battling back with their own.

Shout Your Abortion recently posted six abortion rights billboards along interstate 55 through five states that have banned abortion—from Memphis, Tenn., to Carbondale, Ill. The billboards include messages like, “God’s Plan Includes Abortion” and “Abortion is Okay: You Know What’s Best for You.”