Abortion Bans Shine Spotlight On What Exactly Gestational Age Means
A report in Stat notes that the gestational age of a fetus could mean abortion is legal in one state, but illegal in another — yet it's not an absolute. Also: in South Carolina, efforts to pass a stricter abortion ban failed Wednesday, and abortions in Illinois reportedly increased after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
Stat:
How Abortion Bans Make Gestational Age Even Less Precise
If you want to understand the fickleness of pregnancy and the American laws that regulate it, one place to start would be a gas station in Iowa City, where a 31-year-old sat in the passenger seat of a gray Hyundai, making frantic calls. (Boodman, 11/10)
On abortion access in South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, and Georgia —
AP:
Effort To Further Restrict Abortion Fails In South Carolina
After a dozen meetings and sessions over the summer and fall, South Carolina efforts to pass a stricter abortion law failed Wednesday after senators rejected a House-backed proposal and House members didn’t return for another meeting to try and work out a compromise. A number of Republicans thought now was the time in South Carolina to ban almost all abortions and called a special session after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (Collins, 11/9)
St. Louis Public Radio:
Reports Finds Illinois Abortions Increased After Roe Overturned
For months, abortion providers in the Metro East have described a surge in patients since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. A national report from the Society for Family Planning has documented that increase. It notes that Illinois clinics performed nearly 30% more abortions in August than in April, even as the total number of procedures fell across the United States. (Fentem, 11/10)
Columbus Dispatch:
What Do Abortion Access Victories Elsewhere Mean For Ohio?
"When voters have the opportunity to vote directly on abortion, they vote for their bodily autonomy and for their rights," said Lauren Blauvelt-Copelin, vice president of government affairs and public advocacy for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio. "We are confident that (Ohioans) are going to make the same decisions that their neighbors did from Kentucky to Michigan." (Balmert, 11/9)
AP:
Jane Fonda: Nonprofit’s Work ‘Far More Important’ After Roe
Jane Fonda says the work of the Georgia-based nonprofit organization she founded to prevent teenage pregnancies has become “far more important” in the months since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion it guaranteed to women in the United States. The activist and Oscar winner has been an outspoken critic of the court’s decision, previously calling it “unconscionable.” (Sanz, 11/9)
