U.S. Repro Watch, September 20

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. South Carolina abortion providers, represented by the Center and its partners, filed a new challenge seeking clarity over the state’s six-week ban.

• The lawsuit, filed September 14, asks the South Carolina Supreme Court to clarify its decision on August 23 upholding a law banning abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy.

2. Abortion-related actions in the states continued.

• In Nevada, abortion rights advocates proposed a ballot measure to enshrine the right to abortion into the state constitution.
• The Ohio Supreme Court ruled to leave “intentionally misleading” language on the upcoming ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot in November.
• In Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood announced it would resume providing abortion services after after a judge ruled that an 1849 law that seemingly banned the procedure actually didn’t apply to abortions.
• California lawmakers passed a bill that would strengthen protections for health care providers in the state who provide both abortion services and gender-affirming services, sending it to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

Maternity Mistreatment in the U.S.

One in five U.S. women said they had been mistreated and nearly one in three said they had experienced discrimination while receiving maternity care, according to a new survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For women of color, the rates were even higher: 30 percent of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial women said they had been mistreated, while 40 percent of Black and multiracial women reported experiencing discrimination. Almost half of the women surveyed said they had held back from sharing questions or concerns with their maternity care provider.

Maternal mortality rates in the U.S. are among the highest in the industrialized world, with rates two to three times higher among Black and Native American women. Studies have found that 80 percent of these deaths are preventable. Read more about the CDC’s findings here.

Sept. 21 @ 9 a.m. ET: Hearing on provisions of North Carolina’s 12-week abortion ban.

• A federal district court will be hearing arguments over whether to block portions of North Carolina’s recently enacted 12-week ban that is scheduled to take effect on October 1.

Sept. 27: Hearing on Ohio’s six-week abortion ban.

• The Ohio Supreme Court will hear arguments over the state’s six-week abortion ban, which has been blocked for over a year.