All posts tagged: abortion

Tierra Walker died after she couldn’t get an abortion. Her family is suing Ken Paxton

Tierra Walker died after she couldn’t get an abortion. Her family is suing Ken Paxton

Published by Sam Flores

This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra of The 19th. Meet Shefali and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. The family of a woman who died after she could not get an abortion in Texas is suing doctors and state officials including Attorney General Ken Paxton. It is the first lawsuit over a death linked to an abortion ban.  “It’s horrible that she’s gone and she was taken from us this way. It’s horrible that she’s not here anymore,” said LaTanya Walker, Tierra Walker’s aunt and the lead plaintiff in the case, in a press conference Wednesday. She added: “I want justice for her. I want it to not happen to anyone else. It needs to stop.” The case, filed Tuesday in state court by a malpractice firm and the abortion rights group Amplify Legal, argues that Texas’ abortion bans violate both the state and U.S. Constitution. This case is also the first to directly sue Paxton, who has taken a leading role in enforcing Texas’ ban. Paxton is locked …

Abortion is on the ballot again in these two states: From the Politics Desk

Abortion is on the ballot again in these two states: From the Politics Desk

Published by Sam Flores

Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today’s edition, Adam Edelman previews two under-the-radar ballot measures that voters will decide on in next week’s primaries. Plus, our Capitol Hill team has the latest on Todd Blanche’s confirmation saga. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here. — Adam Wollner Abortion is on the ballot again in two states Analysis by Adam Edelman Following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion rights advocates brought the fight to the states — including red ones. That year, Kansas voters overwhelmingly struck down a proposed constitutional amendment that would have removed language enshrining abortion rights in their state — the first victory that year in what quickly became a clean sweep in six states. Two years later, Missouri voters approved a ballot initiative that effectively protected abortion rights until fetal viability — one of seven states …

The race to unseat Susan Collins is resetting around abortion

The race to unseat Susan Collins is resetting around abortion

Published by Sam Flores

This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra and Grace Panetta of The 19th. Meet Shefali and Grace and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. BANGOR, Maine — As Maine Democrats vie to replace Graham Platner in their state’s Senate race, abortion — a key weakness for Republican Sen. Susan Collins — is set to shape the next phase of the contest, which Democrats view as a prime pick-up opportunity. Collins, whose home state voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents up for election this year. She has held onto power despite Maine’s blue tilt in large part by branding herself as an independent, and by highlighting her support for healthcare and abortion rights. But Democrats have sought to challenge that narrative, pointing to Collins’ 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who four years later joined a 5-4 majority to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case. Collins criticized the decision at the time, calling it …

‘It is comforting to be haunted’: how attitudes to abortion have changed through the ages

‘It is comforting to be haunted’: how attitudes to abortion have changed through the ages

Published by Sam Flores

The physical fact of my abortion caught me off guard. I had been so accustomed to defending abortion as an abstract right – as a right to privacy, to healthcare, to autonomy – that when it came to having one, I was surprised by the brutality of it. Fasting for hours before. Clammy and light-headed, my hands freezing and damp, in the clinic waiting room. Waves of contracting pain afterwards, the blood and the vomit from the anaesthesia, the days of cramping and bleeding. Soaking through pads. Cold sweat. I thought having an abortion would feel like the exercise of the hard-won autonomy of generations of feminists before me. But mostly it just hurt. What do you do with the brute fact of pain? Of what Annie Ernaux describes, writing about her own abortion before legalisation in France, as an experience that sweeps through the body? I could not translate it easily into a feminist politics, into a slogan, into something I could shout or wanted to shout. It did not feel like the exercise …

Abortion, Without the Abortion Pill

Abortion, Without the Abortion Pill

Published by Daniella Wilson

Over the weekend, reproductive-health-care providers across the country confronted a puzzle they had never before needed to solve at scale: how to offer medication abortion without mifepristone. The drug, also known as the abortion pill, is the first in a two-pill regimen that the FDA approved for pregnancy termination in 2000. Last Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked providers nationwide from prescribing it online or mailing it to patients, delivering the most sweeping shock to U.S. abortion policy since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Some abortion providers suspended telehealth services immediately. Others moved toward using only misoprostol, the second pill in the usual protocol, which can end a pregnancy on its own. Misoprostol-only abortion has long existed at the edges of American abortion care; now, for providers, it could serve as a strategic hedge against an unstable legal future. Already, the Supreme Court has issued a one-week stay on the Fifth Circuit’s order, allowing mifepristone to once again be administered via telehealth. But mifepristone has been in the crosshairs of anti-abortion activists …

Telehealth Abortion Is Still Possible Without Mifepristone

Telehealth Abortion Is Still Possible Without Mifepristone

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Abortion provider Carafem’s phones were ringing nonstop over the weekend after a US federal appeals court reinstated a nationwide requirement that the drug mifepristone, one of two pills used for a medication abortion, must be obtained in person. The decision, handed down on Friday, left patients unsure if they could gain access to their treatment through telehealth. “People are afraid, and they’re angry,” says Carafem’s chief operations officer, Melissa Grant. “I had people contact us saying, This can’t be true. Do you still have the medication available? Can’t you just give it to me? They were bargaining.” With the restriction in place, Carafem quickly pivoted to a backup approach. Instead of prescribing the two-drug protocol typical for a medication abortion—mifepristone, which blocks progesterone and prevents the pregnancy from progressing, and then misoprostol, which causes the uterus to contract—the organization began prescribing misoprostol on its own. While slightly less effective than the dual-pill option, it’s been widely used in the past. “We feel comfortable prescribing it,” says Grant. Some Planned Parenthood clinics also pivoted to the …

Why are doctors showing women scans without their consent in abortion clinics?

Why are doctors showing women scans without their consent in abortion clinics?

Published by Daniella Wilson

Whether a woman should or should not have an abortion is a choice that people make and others like to have opinions about. We know this – and have done for some time. Hence, terminations are still illegal in many parts of the world, including Malta, El Salvador, and Egypt, and highly restricted in even more – the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022 has enabled 26 US states to have either hostile or illegal policies against it. Sometimes, the people who are trying to influence your decision are a little closer to us. It might be your partner, a family member, or a friend. One person it really shouldn’t be, though, is your doctor. And yet, far too often this seemingly obvious fact is being ignored. We see this reality reflected in the first episode of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Apple TV’s latest comedy drama starring Elle Fanning, adapted from Rufi Thorpe’s novel of the same name. The show tells the story of Margo, a college student who gets pregnant after sleeping with …

The Revolution in Abortion Access | Amy Littlefield

The Revolution in Abortion Access | Amy Littlefield

Published by José Betancourt

Brianna knew her husband would claim the pregnancy was an act of God. Their marriage was falling apart. She was fed up with his infidelity and with managing their kids and home on her own. The couple had recently separated when she realized her period was late. Deciding to get the abortion was easy. Beyond the trouble at home, Brianna’s doctor had warned her that because of her history of C-sections, another pregnancy could lead to fatal complications. She could not fathom leaving her three daughters without their mom.1 But the barriers to ending her pregnancy seemed insurmountable. Her home state, Texas, had banned abortion in 2022. She couldn’t drive to the nearest clinic—an eighteen-hour round trip to New Mexico—without taking time away from her kids and work and risking her husband finding out about the pregnancy. She knew her family wouldn’t help, either; they would try to talk her into staying with her husband and having the baby. When Brianna went online in search of options, she stumbled on a Reddit forum about medication …

Abortion stigma persists at moderate levels in high-income countries

Abortion stigma persists at moderate levels in high-income countries

Published by José Betancourt

A systematic review of 19 studies examining abortion stigma in high-income countries found that it is present at moderate levels. Abortion stigma was stronger in males, people with lower income, political conservatives, and religious individuals. The paper was published in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. Abortion stigma refers to the social discrediting and negative labeling of individuals who seek, provide, or support abortion services. It operates through moral judgments that frame abortion as deviant, irresponsible, or sinful. Stigma can be expressed interpersonally through gossip, shaming, exclusion, or hostility. It also functions through restrictive laws, institutional barriers, and policy discussions. Individuals experiencing abortion stigma may internalize shame, guilt, or secrecy. This internalization can affect mental health, help-seeking behavior, and disclosure decisions. Stigma may vary across cultural, religious, and political contexts. It can be amplified in highly polarized environments where abortion is framed as a moral identity issue. Healthcare providers may also experience stigma, sometimes referred to as “courtesy stigma,” for offering abortion services. Study author Jana Niemann and her colleagues wanted to examine the situation with …

Christina Applegate Had an Abortion at 19, Memoir Reveals

Christina Applegate Had an Abortion at 19, Memoir Reveals

Published by Daniella Wilson

Christina Applegate is opening up about her life, career and battle with MS thus far in her memoir, You With the Sad Eyes, published on Tuesday. One revelation from the memoir is that she had an abortion when she was 19 amid an abusive relationship “In late April 1991, I fell pregnant,” she writes in her memoir per Entertainment Weekly. “I want to turn away from what happened, but it’s all recorded in my diary. There are moments in my life that are too painful to force into narrative or meaning, so I’ll let my voice from back then speak.” Her memoir includes excerpts from old journals, one of which reportedly details the moment she learned she was 6 1/2 weeks pregnant at the time. “Two days before I found out, I got into a car accident on the way to the gynecologist. My car didn’t survive, but luckily, I did,” she wrote, as detailed by EW. “I knew I was pregnant. I couldn’t understand why even though I was watching my eating I still …