U.S. Repro Watch provides periodic updates of news of interest on U.S. reproductive rights. Here are six recent updates you won’t want to miss:

Lawmakers threaten mifepristone

1. Federal lawmakers are attempting to ban mifepristone.

• Republican Senator Josh Hawley and other lawmakers are urging the FDA to rescind its approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, despite its decades-long safety record.
• The Trump administration is also conducting its own politically-motivated safety review of mifepristone, citing a debunked “study” released by anti-abortion advocates.
• Abortion pills now account for most abortions in the U.S., making them a central target of anti-abortion efforts. Learn more about the threats they face.

GA woman charged with murder

2. A Georgia woman was charged with murder for allegedly taking abortion pills.

• A 31-year-old Georgia woman has been charged with murder, after allegedly taking abortion pills beyond six weeks of pregnancy.
• If prosecutors move forward with the case, it will be one of the first instances in Georgia of a woman being charged for ending her own pregnancy since the state banned abortion beyond six weeks of pregnancy.
• According to jail records, the woman has been incarcerated in Camden County for over two weeks.

FL court-ordered C-sections

3. Courts are ordering women in Florida to have C-sections against their will.

• A new ProPublica investigation details how two Florida women were forced to undergo cesarean sections against their will, after doctors sought court orders while they were mid-labor.
• Pregnancy is the only condition where Florida courts have ruled that a patient can be forced to undergo unwanted treatment.

WY bans abortion

4. Wyoming lawmakers have banned abortion again, just two months after the Wyoming Supreme Court struck down the state’s abortion bans.

• Wyoming legislators approved a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Wyoming abortion providers quickly filed a lawsuit to block the law.
• In January, the state’s high court voted 4-1 to strike down the state’s previous bans, writing that, “A woman has a fundamental right to make her own health care decisions, including the decision to have an abortion.”

Deceptive KS ballot measure

5. Kansas lawmakers are trying to trick voters into banning abortion through a deceptive ballot measure.

• Even though Kansas voters rejected an anti-abortion ballot measure in 2022 by a wide margin, Kansas lawmakers are now attempting to ban abortion through a ballot framed as an “equal rights” measure.
• According to its text, the amendment would change the constitution to “clearly guarantee the equal rights of men and women, beginning at conception.”
• Kansas voters will also decide on a separate constitutional amendment in August 2026 that would change how Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected, which would place the Court’s precedent protecting abortion rights under threat.

HHS investigates 13 states

6. HHS is investigating 13 states that require insurance plans to cover abortion.

• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it is “investigating” 13 states–California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington–over allegations that they are “coercing” health care entities into participating in abortion care.
• If these requirements are eliminated, millions of people could lose coverage for abortion care. The states have 20 days to respond to the letter from HHS, setting up a fight over whether they will keep, modify, or eliminate these state requirements.

Did you know?

Did you know?

Abortion bans are increasingly driving people to move. A new storytelling series highlights families, workers, and business leaders who have relocated because they could not safely access reproductive health care. In one story, a physician left a state after realizing she could no longer provide the full scope of care her patients needed. In another, a family moved out of state during a complicated pregnancy after doctors warned they might not be able to intervene in the case of serious risks. These accounts underscore how abortion bans are reshaping state economies, health care systems, and workforce decisions.

Massachusetts now provides abortion care to more out-of-state patients than residents, largely through telehealth services that mail medication abortion nationwide. Strong legal protections and shield laws protecting doctors have enabled rapid growth, positioning the comparatively small state as a key access point for people in states that ban abortion.

Coming up

Coming up

April 7: World Health Day

• This year’s World Health Day campaign highlights science and evidence-based approaches to protect health.
• In the U.S., attacks on science-based health care have escalated as state officials spread misinformation, from the risk of autism with Tylenol use during pregnancy to questioning the safety of abortion pills.

Learn more