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Slavery rhetoric has long been part of abortion debate. ‘Abolitionists’ take it to next level.
The first time Tina Marshall heard anti-abortion protesters call themselves “abolitionists,’” she said she burst out laughing. Marshall, a Black woman who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, was counter protesting at an abortion clinic when a mostly white group — save one Black woman — surrounded her and told her they were abolitionists. “I rolled […]
FDA approves first over-the-counter oral contraceptive
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it has approved the country’s first daily birth control pill that can be used without a prescription, a move that reproductive health advocates celebrated after more than 20 years of advocating for an over-the-counter option. The contraceptive, called Opill, is a progestin-only oral pill that could soon […]
Study shows sharp increases in maternal deaths over two decades
A study from the University of Washington released Monday shows maternal mortality rates more than doubled in some states between 1999 and 2019, with sharp increases for some racial and ethnic groups. Researchers touted it as the first study to provide such maternal mortality calculations for every state. Previous reports have not included rates for […]
Echoing history, reliance upon travel rises for abortion care post-Dobbs
Editor’s note: This report is part of a special States Newsroom series on abortion access one year after the U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down the federal right to abortion. When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs decision one year ago, people of childbearing age in states across the country suddenly faced what seemed […]
In Washington, FDA lawsuit is part of larger strategy to preserve abortion access
As the nation grapples with continuing changes in court rulings affecting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a drug used in abortion care, Washington state’s competing lawsuit and other offensive and defensive moves related to abortion are working exactly as officials and advocates say they intended. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office filed […]
Viable male birth control options could be on the horizon
Heather Vahdat has been advocating for male contraceptive options for nearly a decade, but she is the first to say it is a lonely space to occupy in the health science field. Vahdat is the executive director of the Male Contraceptive Initiative, based in Durham, North Carolina, which has been working with a single donor […]
Physicians react to ruling placing abortion pill use in jeopardy
A Texas federal judge with a history of anti-abortion beliefs has thrown into jeopardy the most common form of abortion since Roe v. Wade fell last summer. U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk released his decision on the cusp of Easter weekend to pause the Food and Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of the abortion drug […]
U.S. Department of Justice sues Idaho over abortion trigger ban
The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the state of Idaho over the state’s trigger law that will ban nearly all abortions. The law is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 25, unless the Idaho Supreme Court puts the law on a temporary hold after a hearing Wednesday. The lawsuit argues that Idaho’s trigger ban […]