U.S. Repro Watch, June 26

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

1. June 24 marked two years since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion.

• Since then, extremist politicians have banned or severely restricted abortion in almost half the U.S. states—and they’re pushing to ban abortion nationwide.
• That’s why the Center for Reproductive Rights is in courthouses and statehouses across the country, using the power of law to challenge these extreme bans and protect reproductive freedom. Learn more about the Forward Fight to reclaim our rights.

2. The Supreme Court threw out a case that threatened to upend access to medication abortion.

• The June 13 decision in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA ruled that the plaintiffs suing the FDA did not have standing, allowing the widely used medication mifepristone to remain accessible through telemedicine and pharmacies.
• “I have both relief and anger about this decision,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center. “Thank goodness the Supreme Court unanimously rejected this unwarranted attempt to curtail access to medication abortion, but the fact remains that this meritless case should never have gotten this far.”

3. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on its second major abortion case of the term.

• This case will determine if states banning abortion can override federal law and deny pregnant patients emergency abortion care.
• The dispute involves the State of Idaho’s near-total abortion ban, which conflicts with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)—a federal law that requires hospital emergency rooms to provide “stabilizing treatment,” including emergency abortion care.
• Studies show that at least one-third of pregnancies involve a visit to the emergency room and up to 15% include potentially life-threatening conditions.

4. Hawaiian midwives testified in state court, fighting a law that prevents indigenous midwives from serving their communities.

• The court heard four days of testimony beginning June 10 in Kahoʻohanohano v. State of Hawaiʻi, the Center’s case against Hawaiʻi’s midwifery restriction law.
• The plaintiffs argue that the law essentially erases the apprenticeship model used and sought by pregnant Native Hawaiians and midwives.
• “The practices are being regulated out of existence,” Senior Staff Attorney Hillary Schneller told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

5. An equal rights measure—which will protect abortion rights—will appear on the November ballot in New York.

• The measure, known as the Equal Rights Amendment, would codify abortion rights in the state constitution.
• Abortion-related measures are approved to appear on the ballot later this year in at least four other states—Colorado, Florida, Maryland, and South Dakota—and measures in additional states are advancing.

6. A Missouri judge rejected a lawsuit that challenged the state’s abortion ban on religious freedom grounds.

• The case, rejected June 15, was filed by more than a dozen Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist leaders, who argued that the lawmakers who passed the ban were trying to impose their religious beliefs on everyone in the state.

7. The U.S. Senate failed to pass a bill that would have protected IVF access nationwide.

• The vote came June 13, just weeks after another U.S. Senate bill that would have protected nationwide access to contraception failed on June 5.

8. Reports of reproductive coercion doubled after the overturn of Roe, according to new data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH).

• Reproductive coercion—or actions that prevent someone from making crucial decisions about their reproductive health—can include refusing to use contraception, restricting a partner from seeing a health care provider, or telling a partner they are not allowed to receive abortion care.
• “A lot more people are now citing some sort of reproductive issue as part of their experience [with domestic abuse],” Marium Durrani, vice president of public policy at the NDVH, told The 19th. “Dobbs is having a huge impact on not only all individuals around the country, but survivors in particular.”

Out-of-state travel for abortions—either to have one or to obtain abortion drugs—more than doubled in 2023 compared with 2019 and made up nearly a fifth of recorded abortions. This is according to a new report by the New York Times, “171,000 Traveled for Abortions Last Year. See Where They Went,” showing what states people traveled to and from to obtain abortion care.

July 1: A Tennessee law designed to stop young people from leaving the state for abortions will take effect.

• In May, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee approved a bill criminalizing helping young people travel out of state for an abortion, making Tennessee the second state to pass such a law. The law takes effect on July 1.
• Idaho passed a similar law last year, which is currently blocked through litigation.