Reproductive Rights Today

The Idaho House State Affairs Committee met Tuesday for the first time this legislative session by introducing a bill that would rewrite abortion-related laws by replacing any references to the word “fetus” with “preborn children.” 

Most abortions are banned after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Florida, and a six-week ban is pending, contingent on the outcome of a state Supreme Court ruling on the current law’s constitutionality.

Supporters of Ohio’s reproductive rights constitutional amendment say putting the issue before voters in 2023, instead of this year, was a key to the ballot measure’s success. 

Since the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, Americans in California, Michigan, Ohio and Vermont have voted to protect reproductive rights in their state constitutions. Kansas, Kentucky and Montana rejected anti-abortion constitutional amendments proposed by Republican-controlled legislatures. Abortion was a focal point of the 2023 Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Supreme Court races, where reproductive-rights supporting candidates prevailed. 

Maternal health advocates in Wyoming, a state with dwindling childbirth options, have posed various solutions to improve pregnancy outcomes. 

The Florida Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments next month over an abortion rights ballot initiative.

A new law in Maine eliminates copays for abortion care. 

Happy New Year — I hope you enjoyed the holidays.

Reproductive rights rose to prominence this year, dominating the political landscape in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Around the nation, Republican lawmakers passed myriad legislation that limited abortion with no or few exceptions. In Democratic-led states, they expanded access. Advocates on both sides sought out state and federal courts to arbitrate; and citizens launched ballot initiatives to embed reproductive rights in state constitutions.

Morgan Nuzzo, an advanced practice clinician nurse-midwife, started Partners in Abortion Care in Maryland about a year ago with Dr. Diane Horvath, an OB-GYN who specializes in complex family planning. The clinic is among the few in the U.S. that provides abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy. 

Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group, is behind nearly a dozen lawsuits challenging abortion and contraceptive access nationwide. 

Fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision extends beyond the medical field of obstetrics. Researchers say the patchwork of abortion legislation across the nation has affected family physicians, too.