Reproductive Rights News Roundup – March 22nd 2024

Florida

Florida Amendment 4 and abortion referendum. What to know as Supreme Court decision ahead
By Tyler Vazquez, Florida Today
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned nearly two years ago, many states, including Florida, have cracked down on restrictions over abortions, prompting pushback from women and pro-choice activists.

Abortion opponents urge Florida Supreme Court to take up ballot amendment
By Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida
With the Florida Supreme Court deciding whether an abortion-rights constitutional amendment should go on the November ballot, Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office and abortion opponents are urging justices to consider another part of the state Constitution that they say could apply to “unborn children.”

How Abortion Could Tip the Scale in Florida’s Elections, According to Experts
By Rocío Magnani, Latin Times
A referendum could motivate a greater number of Hispanic voters to head to the polls in November if it ends up on the ballot, according to Democratic strategists.

What Are The Legal & Medical Status of Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Technologies in Florida Today?
By Shelley Reback, WMNF Tampa Bay
On Wednesday, Mar. 20, MidPoint hosted surrogacy lawyer Roia Barrios and reproductive endocrinologist and OBGYN fertility specialist Dr. Carolina Sueldo M.D., for a very informative discussion reviewing the current legal and medical status of reproductive rights and assisted reproductive technologies.

Why Florida might sue Maine over abortion, transgender health care shield law. What to know
By Tyler Vazquez, Florida Today
Florida’s attorney general is one among many from red states across the country threatening Maine with legal action as the New England state considers a shield law that would protect those seeking abortions and health care from criminal repercussions in Florida.

Born to die: Florida’s infant mortality crisis
By Cindy Krischer Goodman, South Florida Sun Sentinel
For 24 hours in a Jacksonville hospital, Tiffanie Williams clutched her son to her chest, stroking his face gently and singing him hymns.

Whitney Fox continues attack on Anna Paulina Luna over IVF issue
By Janelle Irwin Taylor, Florida Politics
Congressional candidate Whitney Fox is again calling out the Republican incumbent she hopes to face in November over what she describes as a “fake bill” protecting women’s access to in vitro fertilization treatments.

University of Central Florida students advocate for free emergency contraception on campus
By McKenna Schueler, Orlando Weekly
Access to abortion care in Florida and across the country remains precarious, and in some states, is no longer accessible at all. Students at the University of Central Florida, eyeing this issue with concern, are advocating for ways to help young people prevent unwanted pregnancy — and no, it’s not through the failed strategy of promoting abstinence only.

National

Trump suggests he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy
By Michelle L. Price, Associated Press
Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy, voicing for the first time support for a specific limit on the procedure.

After Alabama’s IVF turmoil, patients in other states are making contingency plans
By Shefali Luthra, States Newsroom
Mary Dolan doesn’t live in Alabama. But she isn’t taking any chances.

Standard pregnancy care is now dangerously disrupted in Louisiana, report reveals
By Rosemary Westwood, NPR
In the wake of Louisiana’s abortion ban, pregnant women have been given risky, unnecessary surgeries, denied swift treatment for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, and forced to wait until their life is at risk before getting an abortion, according to a new report first made available to NPR.

Montana Supreme Court says abortion ballot proposal can move forward
By Blair Miller, States Newsroom
The Montana Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the Attorney General’s Office incorrectly stopped a proposed constitutional amendment ballot initiative to protect abortion rights, clearing the way for the proposal to move forward.

Medication Abortion Accounted for 63% of All US Abortions in 2023—An Increase from 53% in 2020
By Rachel K. Jones and Amy Friedrich-Karnik, Guttmacher Institute
New Guttmacher Institute research from the Monthly Abortion Provision Study shows that there were approximately 642,700 medication abortions in the United States in 2023, accounting for 63% of all abortions in the formal health care system.

How Crisis Pregnancy Centers Reproduce Sexual Violence, According to a CPC Victim
By Kylie Cheung, Jezebel
How Crisis Pregnancy Centers Reproduce Sexual Violence, According to a CPC Victim
In 2013, Maleeha Aziz was 20 years old when she immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan and soon found herself with an unplanned pregnancy.