Colorado Governor Signs Law Protecting Abortion Rights

Denver Post: Colorado Now Guarantees The Right To Abortion In State Law
Getting an abortion without government interference is now guaranteed in Colorado after Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Monday enshrining that right in state law. The Democratic governor signed HB22-1279, affirming that Coloradans who want reproductive care, including abortions, will be able to get that care in the state, regardless of whether the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that said the right to choose to have an abortion was protected by the Constitution. (Hindi, 4/4)

Colorado Sun: Colorado Legislature Moves To Adopt Its First Parental Leave Policy
When state Sen. Brittany Pettersen gave birth to her son, Davis, during the 2020 lawmaking term, the only way the Lakewood Democrat could take time off and avoid being docked pay was to have her pregnancy deemed a “long-term illness.” That’s because the statutes governing the legislature dictate that a lawmaker who misses more than a third of the 120-day session should have their salaries reduced unless the Senate president or House speaker designates their absence as being due to a chronic illness. “It’s obvious that these laws were not set up for women in the legislature,” Pettersen said. (Paul, 4/4)

In updates on abortion pills —

AP: Tennessee Advancing Bill Banning Abortion Pills By Mail
Tennessee Republicans are advancing legislation that would strictly regulate the dispensing of abortion pills, including imposing harsh penalties on doctors who violate them. The bill is part of a coordinated nationwide effort by anti-abortion groups responding to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent decision allowing women to pick up the abortion medication in person. (Kruesi, 4/4)

Axios: Pills Are The Next Big Abortion Battleground
As the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the fate of Roe v. Wade, advocates on both sides of the fight are already positioning themselves for the next battle, over medication abortions or so-called abortion pills. The pills for a medication abortion, mifepristone and misoprostol, are FDA-approved for use in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The FDA lifted long-standing restrictions in December and paved the way for doctors to prescribe them online and mail them to patients. (Reed, 4/4)

The 19th: Abortion Pills Are Growing More Expensive And Difficult To Provide
The most common method of abortion appears to be growing substantially more expensive thanks in part to new state-based restrictions that have made it more difficult and expensive to provide. The average price of a medication abortion — which last year accounted for the majority of all abortions — grew from $495 in 2017 to $560 in 2020, per a study published Monday in the journal Health Affairs. The authors expect that trend to have continued into 2022. At the same time, clinics are growing less likely to accept insurance that could help relieve some of that burden. (Luthra, 4/4)

In abortion news from Texas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere —

ABC News: Texans Seeking Abortions In Oklahoma After Ban May Soon Face New Challenge
In the seven months since Texas enacted a law that bans nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, its northern neighbor, Oklahoma, has felt the impact. "We are essentially having to turn the vast majority of people away from getting abortions because we just cannot keep up with the volume," said Dr. Christina Bourne, the medical director of Trust Women, which operates an abortion care clinic in Oklahoma City and one in Wichita, Kansas. "We could be doing abortions 24 hours a day and not keep up with the volume that is demanded of us." (Kindelan, 4/5)

In other news about reproductive health —

NPR: As Home Births Rise, Midwives Practice In Legal Gray Area
Mandy King laid back on a large, brown couch at Shiphrah Birth Services in Vinton, Iowa, as soft piano music streamed from a TV in the background. Her three young children — ages 3, 5 and 7 — played next to her as her midwife, Bethany Gates, examined her pregnant belly, applying pressure with her hands on different parts to identify the baby's position. On this early spring day, King was 38 weeks pregnant."Her head's not really moving a lot," Gates said. "She's kind of settling into the pelvis a little bit, but that's good. That's what we want her to do." (Krebs, 4/5)

Bloomberg: Gene-Edited Babies Likely Within 25 Years, Crispr Pioneer Says
It’s been 10 years since Crispr pioneer Jennifer Doudna published the landmark paper that landed a Nobel Prize for her and colleague Emmanuelle Charpentier, and the researcher already sees advancement toward some of its loftier goals. To some, the Crispr future has been disappointingly slow to develop. But scientists around the world are using the technology to develop potential cures for debilitating genetic conditions, create diagnostic tests, produce better crops and fight climate change. And editing the genes of babies, a controversial practice Doudna was “horrified” by when a Chinese scientist revealed he’d changed the genomes of twin girls, may arrive within our lifetimes, she said. (Peebles, 4/4)

Also —

The Washington Post: Anti-Abortion Activist Who Kept 5 Fetuses Pleads Not Guilty In DC Case 
An antiabortion activist who had five fetuses removed from her home last week by police pleaded not guilty Monday to federal civil rights violations. Lauren Handy, 28, was one of nine people indicted Wednesday for allegedly violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in 2020. That’s when the group used chain and rope in a blockade incident at the Washington Surgi-Clinic, an abortion clinic in Foggy Bottom. The FACE Act prohibits threats intended to interfere with reproductive health-care services. (Hermann, Jackman and Boorstein, 4/4)

AP: State Official Accused Of Faking Pregnancies Pleads Guilty 
A state official accused of faking multiple pregnancies and using at least one of those ruses to get out of work and be paid for the time off has pleaded guilty to identity fraud and making false statements, prosecutors said. Robin Folsom was sentenced to five years of probation, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Monday. Folsom, former director of external affairs for the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, was also ordered to pay more than $12,000 in restitution to the state. (4/4)