Reproductive Rights News Roundup

(Some of the news stories below may require a subscription to read.) 

Epic debate ends in foregone conclusion: 15-week abortion ban passes FL House
By Imani Thomas
Florida Phoenix
Related AP story: Florida House passes GOP 15-week abortion ban
People came from all over the state filled the Florida House gallery during Wednesday’s final debate on the bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks. They watched emotional speeches on both sides during the six hours the chamber devoted to the discussion.

Florida House approves Republican measure to ban abortion after 15 weeks
By Caroline Kitchener
Washington Post
Florida’s House of Representatives early Thursday approved a Republican bill to ban abortion after 15 weeks, as the Supreme Court weighs whether to roll back or overturn the landmark decision that established a woman’s right to an abortion.

Florida abortions: What you need to know about bill making its way through Legislature
By Cheryl McCloud
Tallahassee Democrat
Will abortions after 15 weeks be banned in Florida?

Abortion Protestors Charged with Trespass
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says twenty five people were issued trespass notices early this morning as the Florida House was about to vote on a bill restricting abortions to fifteen weeks, down from 24, when protestors started shouting from the gallery.

Abortion-rights activists banned from Florida House after midnight protest
By Kirby Wilson
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Around midnight Wednesday, as Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, closed six hours of emotional debate over the abortion bill she was sponsoring, chants began to ring out from the Florida House gallery.

Florida health care workers show concern as an abortion limit advances in the Legislature
By Cathy Carter
WUSF Tampa Bay
To date, close to 700 Florida clinicians have signed an open letter opposing the abortion ban, calling it “bad medicine” and “bad policy.”

Central Florida activists react after Florida House passes 15-week abortion bill
By Marlei Martinez
WESH Orlando
In an easy victory, Florida’s Republican lawmakers pushed a controversial anti-abortion bill through the House early Thursday morning.

The only way to stop abortion bans like Florida’s is at the ballot box
By Barbara Zdravecky
Tampa Bay Times
As a single mom, a registered nurse and a community activist, I spent 24 years as the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.

15-week abortion ban hurts victims of rape and incest
By  Gail Markham
Fort Myers News-Press
The abortion ban moving rapidly through the Florida Legislature does not allow exceptions for rape, incest or human trafficking.

Florida 15-week abortion ban bill may present complications for genetic testing
By Hannah Dineen
WTSP Tampa Bay
A bill to ban abortions at 15 weeks in Florida now heads to the Senate.

Florida Seeks To Clear Way For Abortion Waiting Period
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
As Florida lawmakers consider blocking abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, the state also is seeking to scuttle a court challenge to a 2015 law that would require women to wait 24 hours before having abortions.

GOP Curbing Access to Medication Abortions Across the South
By Elisha Brown
Facing South
When the Food and Drug Administration announced in December that it would permanently allow the drugs used for medication abortion to be delivered through the mail, it seemed like a victory for abortion access—especially during the coronavirus pandemic, which has expanded the use of telemedicine for health care.

Roe Is Extremely Popular. Why Aren’t the Democrats Talking About This More?
By Molly Jong-Fast
Vogue
On September 1, Texas governor Greg Abbott functionally overturned Roe v. Wade by enacting S.B. 8 and effectively banning abortions after six weeks.

What If the Supreme Court Doesn’t Overturn Roe v. Wade?
By Ed Kilgore
New York Magazine
All signs point to the reversal of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court when the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization comes down, likely at the end of the current Supreme Court term.

Dems, despite their control, all but concede on federal abortion spending
By Alice Miranda Ollstein and Jennifer Scholtes
Politico
Though Democrats won’t publicly admit it, they’re soon set to concede defeat on federal funding for abortion.

She Thought She Knew What Pro-Choice Meant. Then She Volunteered at a Clinic.
By Rev. Katey Zeh
Rewire
On a steamy June morning in 2007, I made the one-mile drive from my apartment to the abortion clinic where I’d scheduled my appointment.

Anti-abortion movement’s big plan: Supercharged “crisis pregnancy centers” and data harvesting
By Kathryn Joyce
Salon
Oklahoma state Sen. George Burns, a Republican, introduced a new bill this month that would require anyone seeking an abortion in the state to call a designated hotline to receive counseling from “care agents” about abortion alternatives, and also to be screened for the possibility that they are victims of abuse, human trafficking or abortion coercion.

Abortion Pills Are Very Safe and Effective, yet Government Rules Still Hinder Access
By Claudia Wallis
Scientific American
Ever since it was approved in 2000 as an abortion pill, mifepristone has been regulated as if it were a dangerous substance.

Meet Abortion Bans’ New Best Friend—Your Phone
By Lil Kalish
Mother Jones
Let’s say you’re like me: a person between the ages of 18 and 50 with a uterus. Imagine you work a job that pays the bills, but you don’t have as much time off as you’d like, and working from home isn’t an option.

‘Companies can no longer look the other way’: Is it time for corporate America to take a stand on abortion?
By Meera Jagannathan
Marketwatch
In this first installment, we’ll dig into how companies are responding to the tenuous ground on which Roe v. Wade now stands, and how they might use their clout to ensure their own workers’ access to abortion services and effect broader policy change.

Abortion rights funds brace for impact ahead of court ruling
By Haleluya Hadero
Associated Press
In the past few months, the number of women who call Fund Texas Choice has doubled to more than 100 per week.