Ohio Lifts Block On Law Banning Abortions After 6 Weeks
News outlets from Ohio report on the impact of a ban on abortions in Ohio after fetal cardiac activity can be detected at about six weeks — including cancelled appointments and referrals to out-of-state facilities. Other abortion news from across the Midwest and South East of the country is also reported.
Cincinnati Enquirer:
Ohio Bans Abortions After Six Weeks Following Roe V. Wade Ruling
Abortions in Ohio are now illegal once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The news came Friday evening in the form of a ruling from a federal court judge who lifted the nearly three-year injunction on the law following the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade on Friday morning. Judge Michael Barrett granted the state's request to lift an injunction in place since 2019. (Staver and Knight, 6/24)
Columbus Dispatch:
Canceled Appointments, Out-Of-State Referrals: 6-Week Ban Uproots Ohio Abortion Access
A 15-year-old girl laid flat on an examination table at the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, staring at a swirling blue pond with lotus flowers and koi fish on the ceiling above her head. She's about 14 weeks pregnant and visited the Cuyahoga Falls clinic on Friday as access to abortion fell away in much of the country. The teen is too far along to have a medication abortion, so she scheduled a surgical procedure for next week. Hours later, Ohio's six-week abortion ban became law. The girl's appointment was canceled. (BeMiller and Marshall, 6/25 )
From Michigan and Minnesota —
CBS News:
Whitmer Says "With The Current Legislature I Have, There Is No Common Ground" On Abortion
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned Sunday that the current political makeup of state legislature makes it difficult to find common ground on reasonable restrictions on abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's seismic decision rolling back the constitutional right to an abortion. "What I'm trying to fight for is the status quo in Michigan and there are reasonable restrictions on that," Whitmer said in an interview with "Face the Nation." "With the current legislature that I have, there is no common ground, which is the sad thing. They've already introduced legislation to criminalize and throw nurses and doctors in jail. They've all endorsed the 1931 law. All of the Republican people running for governor, they want abortion to be a felony, no exceptions for rape or incest. That's the kind of legislature that I'm working with." (Quinn, 6/26)
KHN:
‘It’s Not A Haven’: With Limited Capacity For Abortion Care, Minnesota Clinics Brace For Influx
A few minutes west of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport sits a brick, one-story building with opaque windows. From the nearby freeways, most drivers wouldn’t recognize it as the location of one of the few clinics in the state that provide abortions. Should they approach its entrance, just off an Interstate 35 on-ramp, they might see anti-abortion placards propped against the pine trees that border the parking lot. Those who arrived on a recent Wednesday confronted declarations that included “Demand to see your ultrasound,” “Pregnant? We will help you,” and “Abortion kills a human being.” (Pradhan and Saint Louis, 6/24)
From Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina —
AP:
Providers Argue Florida's Privacy Measure Protects Abortion
A state court is being asked to block a new Florida law which bans most abortions after 15 weeks just days after a conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority overturned a landmark case that had provided constitutional protections for women seeking abortions for almost 50 years. Planned Parenthood centers in Florida and other reproductive health providers on Monday are asking a Florida judge in Tallahassee to issue a temporary, emergency injunction stopping the new law passed by a GOP-controlled Florida Legislature from taking effect on Friday. (6/25)
The Hill:
Abrams Says It Is ‘Very Dangerous’ For Women In Georgia Following Abortion Ruling
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) on Sunday called a six-week abortion ban now poised to go into effect in her state in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade “horrendous,” arguing that it makes it “very dangerous” for women. ... “I would tell anyone, whether you are a business or a citizen thinking about being in Georgia, to take into very real consideration the danger that Brian Kemp poses to the life and welfare of women in the state,” she said. (Schonfeld, 6/26)
KHN:
A Post-‘Roe’ World In Georgia Will Mean More Restrictions — And More Political Battles
Jerisha Morton didn’t realize she was pregnant until about six weeks into her pregnancy. She soon started feeling waves of intense nausea. “I can’t smell anything. You’re so weak that you have to lay down all the time. It’s rough,” Morton, 27, said recently as she sat in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Atlanta. Morton was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, or severe nausea during pregnancy. She thought she couldn’t handle nine months of being sick, she said, so she chose to have an abortion. (Whitehead, 6/24)
North Carolina Health News:
Carolina Abortion Fund Helps Patients Afford Care
Anna wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a mom. She was sure that she wasn’t happy with her part-time job — which didn’t offer health insurance — and that she and her partner were in a rough spot in their relationship. A northern transplant to the Triangle in her late twenties, everything felt messy and in flux. On top of all that, she’d just missed her period. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 6/27)
