Early Pregnancy Tests Drive Abortion Decisions In States With Bans
In many states with abortion bans that kick in during the early weeks of pregnancy, patients may not have the opportunity for follow-up diagnostic testing before having to make a decision about abortion.
AP:
Post-Roe V. Wade, More Patients Rely On Early Prenatal Testing As States Toughen Abortion Laws
In Utah, more of Dr. Cara Heuser’s maternal-fetal medicine patients are requesting early ultrasounds, hoping to detect serious problems in time to choose whether to continue the pregnancy or have an abortion. In North Carolina, more obstetrics patients of Dr. Clayton Alfonso and his colleagues are relying on early genetic screenings that don’t provide a firm diagnosis. The reason? New state abortion restrictions mean the clock is ticking. (Ungar and Seitz, 2/12)
Abortion news from Texas, Virginia, Utah, and Michigan —
Reuters:
National Planned Parenthood Org Says It Can't Be Sued In Texas Fraud Case
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the nationwide body that supports the reproductive rights organization's regional affiliates, told a federal appeals court Monday that it cannot be liable in a $1.8 billion lawsuit accusing it of defrauding Texas's Medicaid program. The group in a brief urged the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, that it must face trial along with the regional and local Planned Parenthood chapters named in the lawsuit, which was brought by an anonymous individual and the state of Texas. (Pierson, 2/12)
Bloomberg Law:
Abortion Pill Case Highlights Supreme Court Flip On Who Can Sue
Conservative and liberal US Supreme Court justices have flipped their positions on standing over the years, with conservatives now more apt to find it exists in order to allow them to take up challenges to hot-button issues. The change is evident in how the current conservative-led court has handled student loan forgiveness and separation of powers. The legal battle over the availability of the abortion drug mifepristone presents one of the clearest examples of how the justices can manage procedural questions to get at an issue and obtain desired results, or leave courts out of it altogether. (Robinson, 2/12)
WRIC ABC 8News:
Bill To Prevent Virginia From Extraditing Women, Doctors Over Abortion Passes Senate
Senate Democrats have passed a bill to protect women who come to Virginia for an abortion, as well as their doctors. A bill sponsored by State Senator Barbara Favola (D-Arlington), which passed along party lines Monday, would prevent Virginia from extraditing women who come to the Commonwealth for an abortion from states in which the procedure is illegal. (Englander, 2/12)
Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah Legislature: 'Misleading’ Anti-Abortion Programs Could Get $400K From Taxpayers
Clearfield Republican Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, a frequent sponsor of anti-abortion legislation and fixture in anti-abortion circles, is asking her colleagues for hundreds of thousands of dollars year-after-year to fund controversial anti-abortion crisis pregnancy programs. Those faith-based programs, which critics say give inaccurate medical information and promote “abortion reversal” treatments that can be dangerous, could cost taxpayers $400,000 a year. (Anderson Stern, 2/12)
Detroit Free Press:
New Michigan Laws: Abortion, Gun And Labor Laws Take Effect
New Michigan laws approved by Democrats take effect Tuesday, ushering in changes to a slew of policies from labor to abortion rights. These laws received little or no Republican support in the state Legislature. For laws to take effect immediately after the governor signs the legislation, at least six GOP votes in the state Senate are needed under the current partisan makeup of the chamber. The Democratic bills didn't meet that threshold, meaning they instead went into effect 90 days after lawmakers adjourned their legislative session last year early. (Hendrickson, 2/13)
Also —
AP:
Court Uphold Life Sentences For Atlanta Olympics And Abortion Clinic Bomber
A man sentenced to life imprisonment for fatal bombings at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and an Alabama abortion clinic will not get a chance at a new sentence, an appeals court ruled Monday. A three-judge of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that Eric Robert Rudolph remains bound to the terms of his 2005 plea agreement in which he accepted multiple life sentences to escape the death penalty. (2/12)
St. Louis Public Radio:
First Child Is Surrendered To Mehlville Fire Station's Baby Box
A baby girl who was several hours old became the first child to be surrendered in the Safe Haven Baby Box at the Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2 in south St. Louis County last week. The baby box at the fire station in Mehlville opened in August 2023 and is the first of its kind in Missouri. Fire Chief Brian Hendricks shared a message with the anonymous person who surrendered the baby on Feb. 8. The child is beautiful and healthy, he said. (Wimbley, 2/13)
