U.S. Repro Watch: Six Updates You Won’t Want to Miss, 06.23.25

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.

1. The Montana Supreme Court struck down several abortion restrictions as unconstitutional.

• The restrictions that were struck down include a law banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and multiple restrictions on medication abortion, including a ban on telemedicine and a 24-hour waiting period.  
• The Montana Supreme Court ruled that the restrictions violate the constitutional right to abortion, a right they first recognized in 1999. Last year, Montana voters further solidified these abortion protections, approving a measure to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution. An anti-abortion group is now seeking to overturn the voter-approved initiative. 
• The Montana Supreme Court is also considering challenges to other abortion restrictions, including a scheme of regulations designed to shut down abortion clinics.

2. Four states urged the Food and Drug Administration to lift restrictions on the abortion pill. 

• The attorneys general of New York, California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey filed a citizen’s petition asking the FDA to lift all remaining restrictions on mifepristone.
• The petition argues that mifepristone has been proven to be safe and effective for 25 years, and that restrictions are “no longer justified by science or law.” 
• The FDA recently confirmed it planned to review data on mifepristone in response to a junk study released by an anti-abortion group.

3. Maine enacted a new law allowing prescribers to remove their names from abortion pill labels.

• The law adds a layer of protection for providers as hostile politicians try to target anyone mailing medication abortion into their states.
• This makes Maine the fifth state to pass such a law.

4. A congressional committee approved efforts to repeal a law protecting reproductive health clinics and patients from violence.

• The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill to repeal the FACE Act—a 30-year-old law prohibiting violence against patients, reproductive health care workers, and medical facilities. 
• The bill now heads to the full House floor for a vote. Abortion rights advocates warn that repealing the FACE Act will encourage even more attacks and violence against patients and providers. 
• Earlier this year, the Trump administration pardoned 23 people who were convicted of violating the FACE Act and said it would not enforce the law.

5. The Trump administration knows hospitals are violating EMTALA, but is refusing to hold them accountable. 

• EMTALA, or the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act, is a federal law that says emergency rooms must provide “stabilizing treatment”—including abortion care—to patients in medical emergencies.
• The Trump administration recently cited a Texas hospital for their treatment of Kyleigh Thurman, who nearly died after being repeatedly denied an abortion for an ectopic pregnancy. That means hospitals nationwide must provide emergency abortion care to patients with ectopic pregnancies. 
• But at the same time, the U.S. Department of Health said that an Arizona hospital did nothing wrong when it turned away Wendy Simmons—who was refused care despite facing a life-threatening infection. 

6. In other state news:

• An anti-abortion group in Nebraska is working on a ballot measure to ban all abortion. The group attempted a similar measure in 2024 but failed. 
• Louisiana lawmakers passed a bill allowing pregnant people to sue out-of-state doctors who prescribe or mail abortion pills.
• A West Virginia lawyer cautioned residents that they could face criminal charges over miscarriages after hearing how other prosecutors interpret the state’s total abortion ban.

Pregnant people in states that restrict abortion are less likely to have access to health care—including routine medical care.

Compared to pregnant people in states that protect abortion, these patients were significantly more likely to be uninsured; to be unable to afford a doctor (and therefore to forgo care); and to lack a personal health care provider, according to a new study from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

The states with the highest rates of uninsured pregnant people all ban abortion: Texas (21%), Arkansas (19%), and Florida (19%). Researchers attribute the lack of access to these states’ inadequate Medicaid programs.

June 24: Third Anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

• June 24 marks three years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
• In that time, 17 states have banned abortion entirely or very early in pregnancy.