Tag: Abortion Providers

Abortion providers can be independent clinics or affiliated with a hospital or larger healthcare organization. Each one provides safe, wanted abortions to pregnant people. Abortion providers often face harassment and violence, despite widespread support for abortion access.

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. 

Texas Supreme Court Overturns Ruling That Would Have Allowed Kate Cox to Terminate Nonviable Pregnancy

After a week of legal whiplash and threats of prosecution from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Kate Cox has been forced to leave Texas to get healthcare in another state, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) announced on Monday. Cox’s fetus has a fatal condition and continuing the pregnancy threatens her future fertility. “Her health is on the line,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO at CRR. “She’s been in and out of the emergency room and she couldn’t wait any longer.”

Paxton had petitioned the state Supreme Court just before midnight Thursday to intervene and stop a Dallas woman from having an abortion—after a Travis County district judge granted a temporary restraining order allowing Cox, 31, to terminate her nonviable pregnancy. Paxton also sent a letter to three hospitals, threatening legal action if they allowed the abortion to be performed at their facility. On Friday evening, the state Supreme Court temporarily halted the lower court’s order but did not rule on the merits of the case. The court said it would rule on the temporary restraining order, but did not specify when.

Texas Supreme Court Halts Emergency Order from Lower Court Judge Allowing Kate Cox to Abort Fetus With Lethal Abnormality

For the first time in at least 50 years, a judge has intervened to allow an adult woman to terminate her pregnancy.

Kate Cox, 31, at 20 weeks pregnant, has learned her fetus has a lethal abnormality that is almost always fatal at birth. After a 45-minute Zoom hearing Thursday, Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled that Cox should be allowed to terminate the pregnancy, and that Dr. Damla Karsan, a Houston OB-GYN, should be protected from civil and criminal penalties if she performs the procedure. The state cannot directly appeal Thursday’s order, since it is a temporary restraining order. Instead, the Office of the Attorney General would have to file a writ of mandamus petition, asking a higher court to take the extraordinary measure of overturning the emergency order.

Our Abortion Stories, a Provider’s Perspective: ‘I Wore a Bulletproof Vest When I Went to the Abortion Clinic’

Former abortion provider Dr. Steven Eisinger shares his decades-long experiences in this special edition of Our Abortion Stories.

“Abortion providers are often given advice on how to avoid attacks: Drive different routes; never allow your car to be boxed in; be acutely aware of your surroundings; never stand in a window; carry a whistle, a vest, or a gun.”

Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.

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.” 

Our Abortion Stories: ‘I Didn’t Have the Support I Needed to Be the Parent I Wanted to Be’

Last summer, the Supreme Court overturned the longstanding precedents of Roe v. Wade, representing the largest blow to women’s constitutional rights in history. A series from Ms., Our Abortion Stories chronicles readers’ experiences of abortion pre- and post-Roe. Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. (Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.)

“I wanted that baby, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

“The law was forcing this decision for me. I cried because I knew I needed to get an abortion but didn’t know how.”

“My life is better because of my decision.”

No, It’s Not True that People in Abortion Ban States Have ‘No Options’

Too often, we hear stories of people unable to obtain the abortions they desperately want and need—like Ashley, a 13-year-old rape survivor in Clarksdale, Miss., who was forced to continue her pregnancy due to financial constraints.

Resources like the National Abortion Hotline and other abortion funds could have helped Ashley and her mother understand their options, plan their travel and even cover the costs of gas, food and a place to stay during the trip. But Ashley’s doctor isn’t to blame for the incorrect and insufficient information given to Ashley and her mother—anti-abortion lawmakers and extremists are.