Women’s Rights
House Speaker Mike Johnson has long opposed abortion and LGBTQ+ rights
Before the newly elected U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was in public office, the Louisiana Republican’s restrictive stances on gender identity, abortion and sexuality were honed at the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, where he served as a senior spokesperson and attorney. Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF, is the legal force behind dozens […]
Women workers could bear economic brunt as federal child care funding ends
A huge chunk of pandemic relief funding that kept child care programs afloat for the past few years is set to run out Saturday, and policy advocates say the economic impact will be profound, with the ripple effect hurting labor force participation and consumer spending at a time when the country is still trying to […]
Women with serious pregnancy complications sue over state abortion bans
Women and physicians in Idaho and Tennessee have sued their home states after they say they were denied abortion care despite being diagnosed with serious, life-threatening medical conditions while pregnant. The lawsuits are led by the Center for Reproductive Rights, an advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., which also helped a patient in Oklahoma file […]
Anti-abortion Democrat runs for president to show graphic imagery in campaign ads
The morning of March 25, 2022, had started out like any other workday for Terrisa Bukovinac, as she and fellow anti-abortion rights activist Lauren Handy headed over to protest the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C. — until they asked the driver of a medical waste truck for a box that would change their lives. Inside […]
A men’s movement takes reins in a nationwide quest to end abortion
Wendell Shrock doesn’t believe in condoms. “We should leave the uterus to God,” the street preacher from Tennessee tells States Newsroom, in front of an abortion clinic outside of Atlanta, mid-morning in late July. Sweat drips from his cowboy hat into his salt-and-pepper beard that stretches halfway down his red-plaid shirt. The retired police officer […]
Anti-abortion ‘abolitionists’ take slavery rhetoric to the next level
The first time Tina Marshall heard anti-abortion protesters call themselves “abolitionists,’” she said she burst out laughing. Marshall, a Black woman who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, was counter protesting at an abortion clinic when a mostly white group — save one Black woman — surrounded her and told her they were abolitionists. “I rolled […]
Abortion-ban states pour millions into pregnancy centers with little medical care
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Louisiana Republican state Sen. Beth Mizell looked for a way to address her state’s abysmal record on infant and maternal mortality, preterm births and low birth weight. Louisiana has one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Mizell […]
Study cited by Texas judge in abortion-pill case under investigation
Pharmaceutical sciences professor Chris Adkins was perusing news on his computer in December when he came across an item that fascinated him: Anti-abortion groups had sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to force a recall on a commonly used abortion drug. Adkins teaches future pharmacists at South University School of Pharmacy in Savannah, Georgia. […]
Health care providers sue Alabama officials over threats of prosecution in abortion aid
A group of health care providers Monday sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and district attorneys in the state, seeking to stop them from prosecuting those who aid Alabamians seeking to access abortion care in states where it is legal. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Alabama filed the lawsuit on […]
National abortion ban eyed as group marks ‘Siege of Atlanta’ protests 35 years ago
Members of a national anti-abortion religious organization called Operation Save America are in Atlanta this week to protest at a local abortion clinic and to discuss new strategies for achieving a national prohibition on abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Operation Save America began as Operation Rescue in 1986 and became more well known in […]
In post-Roe Louisiana, mothers will soon be able to recover half of pregnancy expenses from fathers
Louisiana mothers will be able to recover half of their out-of-pocket, pregnancy-related medical expenses from the fathers of their children starting in August. Gov. John Bel Edwards signed the bill Wednesday after it advanced unanimously through the Legislature. The law’s author, Rep. Larry Frieman, R-Abita Springs, framed his proposal as a way to address some […]
Louisiana will start issuing commemorative certificates for miscarriages
Louisiana will start offering “commemorative certificates” – a document similar to a birth certificate – for miscarriages under a new law approved by Gov. John Bel Edwards and state lawmakers this month. The measure encourages doctors to tell people who lose pregnancies at 20 weeks or earlier that they are entitled to a government-issued certificate […]