Arizona Senate Rescinds Abortion Ban With Little Help From GOP Lawmakers
Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is expected to sign the measure, which then would reinstate the law allowing for elective abortions up to 15 weeks. Meanwhile, women are reeling after Florida's strict six-week abortion law takes hold.
Arizona Mirror:
Arizona Senate Repeals 1864 Abortion Ban After Two Republicans Join Democrats
A 160-year-old abortion ban written before Arizona became a state that punishes doctors with prison time is now one step away from being repealed after a pair of Republicans in the state Senate on Wednesday crossed party lines to join Democrats in voting it down. (Gomez, 5/1)
Abortion news from Florida —
South Florida Sun Sentinel:
‘Women Are Scared And Angry:’ The Reality Of The Florida’s New Six-Week Abortion Law Sets In
On Tuesday, the reality of Florida’s new six-week abortion ban hit the radar of pregnant women seeking care. At a Planned Parenthood clinic in West Palm Beach, doctors scrambled to provide abortions for anyone pregnant beyond six weeks. Women crowded into a waiting room, returning for a pill or surgical procedure. ... Yet, even with the scramble, the clinic turned some women away, a glimpse into the future of reproductive care in Florida. (Krischer Goodman, 5/1)
NPR:
A 6-Week Abortion Ban Gives A Woman 2 Weeks To End A Pregnancy. Here's Why
Florida's abortion ban after six-weeks gestation is in effect as of May 1. That means the time a person has to decide whether or not to have an abortion in Florida is – at most – two weeks. What? It has to do with how the medical community dates a pregnancy. (Simmons-Duffin, 5/1)
The New York Times:
Kamala Harris Looks To Make Trump The Face Of Florida’s Abortion Ban
On the day that Florida began to enforce its six-week abortion ban, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a searing attack on former President Donald J. Trump in Jacksonville, calling the measure “another Trump abortion ban” and saying he was forcing women to live a “horrific reality” without access to essential medical care. “As much harm as he has already caused, a second Trump term would be even worse,” Ms. Harris said to about 200 supporters at a convention center in a historically African American neighborhood. (Nehamas, 5/1)
From North Carolina and New Hampshire —
Reuters:
US Judge Blocks Some North Carolina Restrictions On Abortion Pill
A federal judge has struck down parts of a North Carolina law restricting patients' access to the abortion pill mifepristone, which has become the subject of legal battles nationwide. Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles on Tuesday struck down the state's requirements that mifepristone be prescribed only by doctors and only in person, as well as a requirement that patients have an in-person follow-up appointment. She said the requirements conflicted with federal law because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously considered and rejected them. (Pierson, 5/1)
The Boston Globe:
Abortion Data Mandate Up For Debate In New Hampshire
Lawmakers in the New Hampshire House will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a proposal that sparked contentious debate in the Senate over whether health care providers should be required to report certain abortion data to the state. Republican senators approved a version of Senate Bill 461 that would require providers to report the date and place of each abortion they perform, the pregnant patient’s age and state of residence, the abortion method used, any prescriptions written to induce abortion, and the gestational age of the aborted fetus. (Porter, 5/1)
Today marks two years since the Dobbs leak —
AP:
Abortion Consumes US Politics, Courts Two Years After SCOTUS Draft Leak
Two years after a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion signaled that the nation’s abortion landscape was about to shift dramatically, the issue is still consuming the nation’s courts, legislatures and political campaigns — and changing the course of lives. The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case was released officially on June 24, 2022, upending nearly 50 years of abortion being legal nationwide. But the world caught a glimpse of it about six weeks earlier, on May 2, after a news outlet published a leaked draft. (Mulvihill, 5/2)
The Hill:
Partisan Gap On Abortion ‘Larger Than Ever:’ Analysis
The divide between Democrats and Republicans on abortion is at its starkest point in years, according to a new survey on the issue that’s poised to play a big role in the 2024 presidential race. There’s a 50-point gap between the two major parties, a figure that is “larger than ever,” according to research from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). (Mueller, 5/2)
