Ohio Woman Who Miscarried Charged With Felony, Her Lawyer Says
Brittany Watts has been charged with felony abuse of a corpse, according to court records filed in Ohio's Trumbull County. Watts miscarried, passing a nonviable fetus in her home toilet, in a case that's getting national attention. Other state abortion news comes from Texas, Florida, and elsewhere.
CNN:
A Woman Who Had A Miscarriage Is Now Charged With Abusing A Corpse As Stricter Abortion Laws Play Out Nationwide
An Ohio woman who had sought treatment at a hospital before suffering a miscarriage and passing her nonviable fetus in her bathroom now faces a criminal charge, her attorney told CNN. Brittany Watts, 33, of Warren, has been charged with felony abuse of a corpse, Trumbull County court records show. (Campinoti, Yan and Sylla, 12/19)
KERA News:
An El Paso Woman Is Suing Her Doctor For Negligence Over An Unwanted Pregnancy
Grissel Velasco didn’t want more kids. In 2014, Velasco — 31 years old at the time — was expecting her third child, and was receiving care at Sun City Women’s Health Care in El Paso, owned by OB-GYN and then-El Paso City Council member Dr. Michiel Noe. With Sun City staff’s guidance, allegedly at Noe’s recommendation, she paid to receive tubal ligation — also known as tube tying — at the same time she delivered her baby boy. Having any more C-section births in the future would be risky, she said she was told. (Osibamowo, 12/19)
The Texas Tribune:
Leaders In Texas City Continue Debate Over Abortion Travel Ban
The Amarillo City Council prolonged its debate over a so-called abortion travel ban on Tuesday, spending more than two hours in front of a packed room reviewing draft rules that would attempt to block access to Colorado and New Mexico, two states where a Texas woman could legally obtain an abortion. (Carver, 12/19)
Tampa Bay Times:
Florida Abortion Rights Group ‘Confident’ It Has Enough Signatures For 2024 Ballot
The group behind a constitutional amendment that would protect abortion access in Florida says it is “confident” it has enough signatures to qualify for the 2024 ballot. But even if it gets the required 891,523 verified petitions by the Feb. 1, 2024, deadline, the fate of the proposed ballot measure still depends on the state’s conservative Supreme Court. (Ellenbogen, 12/20)
Medill News Service:
Abortion Limits Complicate Choices For Pregnant Cancer Patients
The patient had already made the agonizing decision to start chemotherapy to address her colon cancer, even though she was 30 weeks pregnant. Within a day, the decisions got harder: her colon perforated, and the pain was excruciating. She would need urgent surgery — and she would have to undergo an emergency C-section immediately. (Pant, 12/20)
On the national landscape —
AP:
Some State Abortion Bans Stir Confusion, And It's Uncertain If Lawmakers Will Clarify Them
Currently, 14 states are enforcing bans on abortion throughout pregnancy. Two more have such bans on hold due to court rulings. And another two have bans that take effect when cardiac activity can be detected, about six weeks into pregnancy — often before women know they’re pregnant. Each state ban has a provision that allows abortion under at least some circumstances to save the life of the mother. At least 11 — including three with the strictest bans — allow abortion because of fatal fetal anomalies, and some do when the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. (Kruesi and Mulvihill, 12/20)
AP:
What To Know About Abortion Policy Across The US Heading Into 2024
Abortion is going to be a major issue in the U.S. again in 2024, the second full year after the nation's top court ended a right to abortion and making it largely a state issue. (12/20)
Also —
Reuters:
US Senate Looks To End Last Of Abortion-Related Military Promotion Blockade
The U.S. Senate will confirm this month the last of hundreds of military promotions held up for much of the year over a senator's protest of the Pentagon's payment of abortion-related travel costs, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday. "Before we leave for the Christmas holiday, the Senate will also finish confirming the last of the military nominees held up by Senator (Tommy) Tuberville," Schumer said in remarks opening the Senate. (Zengerle, 12/19)
NPR:
The Annual Abortion Onscreen Report Finds Most Depictions Are Unrealistic
Scripted television continues to be unrealistic when it comes to depictions of abortion, though there's some improvement, according to the annual Abortion Onscreen report released Tuesday by a research program on reproductive health based at the University of California San Francisco. There was a slight decline in the number of abortion plotlines on TV in 2023, which researchers attribute not to "a lack of interest" but rather the lengthy writers' and actors' strikes. (Blair, 12/19)
KFF Health News:
Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: The end of federal abortion protections could be making it more dangerous for Black women to be pregnant, and new Sesame Street videos aim to help kids understand addiction. (12/19)
