Judge Cancels Trial Over North Dakota Abortion Ban, Might Dismiss Lawsuit
In other news, a ballot measure to protect abortion rights will be intentionally vague when it is put to New York voters because the State Board of Elections couldn't agree on how to interpret the amendment. More news about abortion rights and bans comes from South Dakota, Iowa, and Florida.
AP:
Trial Canceled In North Dakota Abortion Ban Lawsuit As Judge Ponders Dismissal
A trial looming in a lawsuit challenging North Dakota’s abortion ban was canceled Monday as the judge in the case weighs whether to throw out the lawsuit. It was not immediately clear why the trial was canceled. State District Judge Bruce Romanick issued a notice to parties regarding trial saying the Aug. 26-30 trial is canceled and will be removed from the calendar. The notice comes nearly a week after the state and plaintiffs, who include the formerly sole abortion clinic in North Dakota, made their pitches to the judge as to why he should dismiss the two-year-old case, or continue to trial. (Dura, 7/29)
AP:
A New York Ballot Referendum Meant To Protect Abortion May Not Use The Word
A proposed amendment to New York’s Constitution that’s intended to protect abortion rights might appear on the ballot this fall without any mention of the word “abortion.” That’s partly because of sharp disagreements about what the so-called Equal Rights Amendment would actually do, if passed. The state’s Board of Elections, which is charged with writing easy-to-understand explanations of proposed laws appearing on the ballot, decided Monday that rather than try and interpret the amendment, they would simply repeat its somewhat unclear language in material given to voters. (Izaguirre, 7/29)
USA Today:
Inside An Iowa Planned Parenthood Clinic Before Abortion Ban Starts
Thursday marked what many clinic staff believed could be one of the last days for what has been its normal operations. Soon, an Iowa law will go into effect that prohibits most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, dramatically changing how the clinic cares for its patients. “It's really demoralizing, and actually is such an invasion into the practice of medicine and the patient-physician relationship that really doesn't belong,” said Dr. Sarah Traxler, the OB-GYN overseeing the clinic Thursday and the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood North Central States. (Ramm, 7/29)
Source NM:
South Dakota Father Is Leading Effort To Restore Abortion Rights In The State
Unlike other abortion-rights initiatives across the country, major reproductive rights groups haven’t backed the effort to restore access in South Dakota. But that hasn’t stopped Dakotans for Health — a ballot question committee behind a measure that is set to appear on the November ballot — from galvanizing voters in the state, where abortion is banned unless the mother’s life is at risk. South Dakota enacted a trigger law, first passed by lawmakers in 2005, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. States Newsroom spoke to Dakotans for Health leader Rick Weiland, a Sioux Falls resident who unsuccessfully ran for Congress three times as a Democrat, about the grassroots campaign. (Brown, 7/30)
The 19th:
Are Florida Abortion Patients Going Elsewhere For Access — Or Staying Pregnant?
Since the six-week limit took effect in Florida, the number of people using telemedicine services, while growing, does not appear to be keeping pace with expected demand, given the state’s population. Neither does the number of people traveling for abortions. (Luthra, 7/30)
KFF Health News:
Readers Weigh In On The Abortion Debate And Ways To Tackle The Opioid Crisis
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (7/30)
