Reproductive Rights News Roundup

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

Governor’s race to decide future of reproductive rights in Florida
By Tiffany Rizzo and Joey Pelligrino
WINK News Fort Myers
Reproductive rights are poised to become one of the defining issues in the Florida governor’s race, with Democratic nominee Charlie Crist and incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis occupying diametrically opposed positions on abortion.

Val Demings’s Abortion Rights Advocacy Just May Sink Marco Rubio
By John Nichols
The Nation
Marco Rubio may be a bumbling excuse for a US senator, but when it comes to Florida politics, he’s no fool.

Abortion clinics ask FL Supreme Court to expedite review of 15-week ban
By Michael Moline
Florida Phoenix
The abortion providers challenging Florida’s 15-week abortion ban asked the Florida Supreme Court on Friday to block enforcement of the law — and to do so quickly because of the harm the ban is doing to their patients.

Florida amendment proposes near total ban on abortion
Staff Report
News Service of Florida
Amid debates across the country about abortion rights, a political committee has proposed a ballot initiative in Florida that would recognize a “God-given right to life of the preborn individual” to impose a near total ban on abortion.

DeSantis remains cautious on abortion; Fried says FL women need to know what governor will do
By Michael Moline
Florida Phoenix
With polls open across Florida on primary election day, Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed himself a brief gesture toward Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried during a Florida Cabinet meeting in Tallahassee on Tuesday: He crossed over to her and said, “Good luck.”

Anna V. Eskamani seeks new voters in pro-Roe ads
By Renzo Downey
Florida Politics
Progressive Rep. Anna V. Eskamani and her political committee are launching a new digital campaign leveraging the end of Roe v. Wade to inspire Floridians who support abortion rights to register to vote.

6 Florida women, tired of abortion stigma, share their stories
By Lauren Peace
Tampa Bay Times
At the center of abortion debates playing out in legislatures across the country are the personal stories of pregnant women.

They pledged not to prosecute abortions, but the reality is tougher. Ask the Florida state attorney DeSantis ousted
By Evan Peng
Bloomberg
When the U.S. Supreme Court toppled the constitutional right to abortion, some prosecutors in cities and counties across the country vowed to refrain from enforcing new state-imposed bans on the procedure. Such promises may be hard to keep.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor says she will not direct TPD to arrest those who have had or seek abortions
By Molly Ryan
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
This morning, Mayor Jane Castor said that she will not direct the Tampa Police Department  to arrest individuals who have had abortions which violate the state-mandated 15-week limit.

Did anti-abortion ruling lead to sitting Hillsborough County judge’s defeat?
By William March
Tampa Bay Times
Hillsborough County Democrats are exuberant about Nancy Jacobs’ defeat of Circuit Judge Jared Smith in Tuesday’s primary, saying it signals that backing reproductive rights will energize voters in November.

Florida bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Here’s how to know how far along you are
By Stephanie Colombini
WUSF Tampa
With Florida’s 15-week abortion ban in place, determining how far along a pregnancy is has heightened importance for women and transgender or nonbinary people seeking the procedure.

Tampa City Council passes abortion resolution that aims to respect privacy
By Daylina Miller
WUSF Tampa
The Tampa City Council passed a resolution to respect the privacy of people seeking abortions in the city after nearly three hours of debate and public comment.

Episode 04: Is 15 Weeks Too Long?
By Dara Kam
Deeper Dive with Dara Kam
Join a Deeper Dive with Dara Kam as John Stemberger and Dara take a deep dive into the future of abortion rights on Florida. J

The question shouldn’t be whether Florida teen is ‘mature’ enough for abortion
By Peggy Drexler
CNN
After determining a pregnant Florida teen wasn’t “mature” enough to make a decision for herself, a state court denied her a waiver to get an abortion without legal guardian notification and consent.

Yelp is flagging listings for crisis pregnancy centers as places that ‘provide limited medical services’ so users can tell them apart from abortion clinics
By Katie Anthony
Insider
Yelp is rolling out a new system to prevent confusion between anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers and actual abortion clinics.

Providing consumers with reliable information about reproductive health services
By Noorie Malik
Yelp
Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the ability to access safe abortion care has become more limited for millions of women across the U.S. – making access to information about businesses that offer reproductive health services more important than ever.

Is a Fetus a Person? An Anti-Abortion Strategy Says Yes.
By Kate Zernike
New York Times
Even as roughly half the states have moved to enact near-total bans on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, anti-abortion activists are pushing for a long-held and more absolute goal: laws that grant fetuses the same legal rights and protections as any person.

A person holds a mobile phone.
By Rebecca Kern and Ruth Reader
Politico
Social media companies are grappling with a flood of misinformation on an unexpected topic since Roe v. Wade was overturned: Posts promoting “abortion reversal pills.”

Kansas was just the beginning: Abortion-rights activists turn to states — and they’re winning
By Austin Sarat
Salon
In a surprising development last week, the South Carolina Supreme Court stopped the state from enforcing a law banning abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy.

Growing number of Georgia women traveling out of state for abortions
Staff Report
WSBTV Atlanta
A growing number of Georgia women are traveling out of state for an abortion.

Amid uncertainty and anger, Tennessee’s abortion ban takes effect
By Anita Wadwani and Dulce Torres Guzman
Florida Phoenix
Tennessee on Thursday became the latest state in the nation to ban abortion, implementing a strict new law with no exceptions for rape, incest or fatal fetal anomalies while subjecting doctors who choose to perform lifesaving abortions to the risk of criminal prosecution.

Federal judge sides with Texas, blocks HHS guidance on emergency abortions
By Jennifer Shutt
Florida Phoenix
A federal district judge has granted the Texas attorney general’s request to temporarily block guidance from the federal government that says federal law protects health care providers who perform abortions to save the life or health of pregnant patients in emergency situations.

Judge blocks prosecutors from enforcing Michigan’s ‘chilling and dangerous’ abortion ban
By Jon King
Florida Phoenix
An Michigan judge has ruled that an injunction on the state’s abortion ban will remain in effect, preventing local prosecutors from enforcing a 1931 law that prohibits doctors in Michigan from performing any abortions except to save the life of the “pregnant woman.”

Sex Ed across Florida very “inconsistent” with some districts still opting for abstinence only curriculums
By Katie LaGrone
WFTS Tampa Bay
Excerpt: For years, Florida advocates have been pushing decision makers to adopt more comprehensive sex education statewide. “It’s unfair that the quality of sex ed you get depends on where in Florida you are born and raised,” said Amy Weintraub of Progress Florida, a reproductive rights advocacy group.