Reproductive Rights News Roundup – 5/10/2019

Abortion rights groups stave off abortion restrictions, but the battle will continue
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Florida Phoenix
Excerpt: “The defeat of anti-abortion bills, ranging from forced parental consent to abortion bans, means access to needed reproductive health care will remain the law of our state,” said Amy Weintraub, Reproductive Rights Program Director for Progress Florida. “One in four women in this country access abortion and yet the attacks on safe and legal care keep coming. And we’ll keep standing up to fight back.”

Georgia governor signs restrictive ‘heartbeat’ abortion ban
By Ben Nadler and Sanya Mansoor
Associated Press
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed into law one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, a measure that bans the procedure once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant.

Alabama abortion ban vote delayed after shouting breaks out
By Kim Chandler
Associated Press
Alabama lawmakers on Thursday postponed a vote on a proposed abortion ban after anger erupted in the state Senate when some Republicans stripped an exception for rape and incest from the bill.

On the issue of late-term abortion, Trump seeks to corner Democrats
By Cheyenne Haslett
Good Morning America
As Republican states across the country barrel toward more and more restrictive abortion legislation, President Donald Trump has homed in on a key issue for his 2020 platform that instead puts the focus on Democrats: late-term abortion.

‘Refusal of Care’ Rule Provides Potent New Tools to Deny Health Care and Discriminate Against Patients
By Adam Sonfield
Guttmacher Institute
On May 2, the Trump administration posted the final version of its long-expected “refusal of care” rule.

I Helped Patients Get Through Abortion Clinic Parking Lots. What I Saw Was Horrifying.
By Rachel Kershaw
Talk Poverty
In the first three months of 2019, more than 300 restrictive abortion bills were introduced, proposing everything from making abortion a felony to increasing restrictions on clinics.

How Racism Impacts Black Women’s Maternal Health
By Alejandra Martinez
WLRN Miami
In the U.S. more than 700 women die each year while pregnant or shortly after giving birth, and an alarming number of them are black.

Florida ranks low in best states to have a baby
Staff Report
Panama City News Herald
Well, we’re better than Alabama and Mississippi.

Mentally ill woman gave birth alone in isolated jail cell, Broward public defender says
By Charles Rabin and David Smiley
Miami Herald
A jailed and pregnant mentally ill woman was forced to deliver her child alone in an “isolation cell” last month as corrections officers ignored her cries for help, Broward County’s public defender charged on Friday.

Planned Parenthood Offering Healthcare For Transgender Patients In South Florida
Staff Report
CBS Miami
South Florida Planned Parenthood health centers will begin offering gender affirming hormone therapy for transgender patients.