Health Care
Louisiana lawmakers won’t allow for rape, incest exceptions to abortion ban
Louisiana lawmakers scuttled proposals Wednesday to carve out more exceptions to the state’s strict abortion ban this year, in spite of months of complaints from doctors and pregnant women that the law has unintended consequences. The Louisiana House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice voted down two bills that would have allowed more people […]
Post-Roe abortion bans force pregnant people with life-threatening complications to travel
Jennifer Adkins’ first pregnancy was near-perfect. She sailed through her appointments and screenings with no complications, ticking every box and making lists of all the right questions to ask her medical professionals. By the time her unmedicated labor was over and the nurses placed her newborn son on her chest, Adkins felt like a superhero. […]
Louisiana lawmakers scuttle most ‘pro-family’ tax credits proposed in wake of abortion ban
Louisiana lawmakers have quietly scuttled three of the four tax credits proposed to help pregnant people and adoptive parents in wake of the state’s strict abortion ban. A bill creating a tax deduction for parents who have miscarriages or are expected to give birth to a baby – referred to as the “unborn” child tax […]
Committee rejects bill to shield pregnancy outcomes from lawsuits, criminal consequences
A Louisiana House committee voted down a bill Monday that would have protected patients and medical professionals from lawsuits and criminal consequences if a pregnancy doesn’t result in a live birth. Opponents of House Bill 226 said it’s unnecessary because existing law already shields someone who is pregnant from being arrested for an abortion. The […]
From credit card restrictions to wastewater: What abortion foes have been up to since Dobbs leaked
Anti-abortion leaders could not stop paraphrasing Winston Churchill last June after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a victory that took 50 years to realize. “While we celebrate the momentous ruling in Dobbs, we must remember that overturning Roe was not the beginning of the end, but it was the end of the […]
Community paramedics don’t wait for an emergency to visit rural patients at home
GILLETTE, Wyoming — Sandra Lane said she has been to the emergency room about eight times this year. The 62-year-old has had multiple falls, struggled with balance and tremors, and experienced severe swelling in her legs. A paramedic recently arrived at her doorstep again, but this time it wasn’t for an emergency. Jason Frye was […]
Some could use support after abortion. But quality care can be hard to find.
Alex D. turned 23 on the day the U.S. Supreme Court released the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. She was visiting the Omaha Zoo in Nebraska on vacation, riding the chairlift over the rhino exhibit when she saw the news alert on her phone. She was also eight weeks pregnant and needed an abortion. […]
Anti-abortion legal strategy revives Comstock moral purity laws of late 1800s
When officials in a small New Mexico city sued the governor and attorney general over their ordinance placing restrictions on abortion clinics earlier this month, they argued that a late 19th century federal anti-obscenity law superseded state law. In March, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law a measure prohibiting public entities from interfering with […]
Louisiana House votes unanimously to weaken nursing home evacuation plan enforcement
The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 103-0 Tuesday to allow nursing homes to continue to operate even if their emergency preparedness and evacuation plans fail to meet state standards. House Bill 123 eliminates a provision added to state law just last year that forces the state to automatically shut down a nursing home if state […]
Louisiana’s proposed tax credit for anti-abortion pregnancy centers clears first hurdle
A proposed income tax credit for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers — one that could cost the state as much as $5 million annually — cleared its first hurdle Monday in the Louisiana Legislature. Senate Bill 41, sponsored by Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, would allow individuals and corporations to claim an income tax break of up […]
After SCOTUS ruling, disappointed abortion foes vow to keep attacking abortion pill
Though the U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked an effective ban on medication abortion, anti-abortion groups are not giving up on trying to fast-track a national abortion ban. And that means continuing to try to squash nationwide access to the most common form of abortion post-Roe, by whatever means necessary. “Obviously, the pro life community […]
Abortion-rights attorneys help patients and providers navigate legal chaos
These days Kylee Sunderlin is often the first person people will talk to about needing or wanting to terminate a pregnancy, even though she’s not a nurse or doctor or a loved one. She’s a lawyer. This is Sunderlin’s third year overseeing a national hotline dedicated to helping people navigate legal questions around abortion in […]