Latest news with #AbortionFinder
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tracking abortion laws across the United States
default The US supreme court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade may have abolished the national right to abortion, but the state-by-state battle for abortion rights is far from over. Since Roe was overturned in 2022, 12 states have enacted near-total abortion bans, while four states – Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and Iowa – have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Other states have enacted laws or held ballot referendums to protect abortion rights. default In a handful of other states, the future of abortion is in flux due to legal challenges. In May 2025, for instance, the Missouri state supreme court effectively reinstated the state's abortion ban by vacating lower-court orders that had allowed abortion providers to offer the procedure. Missouri is one of 10 states that held votes on abortion-related ballot measures during the November 2024 elections, with seven of them approving amendments to either overturn bans or enshrine existing rights. All of this tumult has led to a deeply uneven abortion landscape, with access to abortion clinics cut off across much of the south and midwest but standing strong on both coasts. The map below shows where state abortion laws stand as of 28 May2025. default Sources: Abortion laws come from Center for Reproductive Rights, AbortionFinder and state statutes. Note: Women of reproductive age data comprises women aged 15-49 from the 2020 US census. Although people who are not women and outside of these age ranges can get pregnant, this demographic is an approximation of the number of people affected. Additional research and fact checking by Ava Sasani. • This tracker, first published on 28 June 2022 and created by Jessica Glenza with reporting by Poppy Noor, is being regularly updated to ensure that it reflects the current situation as best as possible. The most recent update will have been made at the date shown at the top of the article. Any significant corrections made to this or previous versions will continue to be footnoted below in line with Guardian editorial policy. • This tracker was amended on 21 August to correct the details for Minnesota; in 2023, the state significantly expanded its abortion protections.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A Pregnant Woman, Adriana Smith of Georgia, Is Reportedly Being Kept Alive Due to a Abortion Ban—Despite Being Brain Dead
A woman named April Newkirk says she is being forced to keep her pregnant daughter, Adriana Smith of Georgia, alive due to the state's abortion ban, even though doctors have declared Smith brain dead. Smith, Newkirk's 30-year-old daughter, has been kept alive for more than 90 days through 'intensive medical intervention,' according to local Atlanta news outlet 11Alive. Doctors have reportedly informed Newkirk they believe they legally must keep her daughter alive until the baby can survive outside the womb. Newkirk says she was given no choice in the matter of her daughter's care due to the state's abortion ban. She told local news outlets that the past three months have been 'torture' as she visits her daughter in the hospital, knowing that she is gone. Here's everything we know about the case. According to 11Alive, Smith, a registered nurse and mom to a young boy, began experiencing intense headaches in early February. She was nine weeks pregnant at the time. The severity of the headaches indicated to Smith that "something was wrong," so she visited a local hospital. According to her mother, Smith was given medication and released without any additional tests. The next morning, Newkirk said Smith's boyfriend woke to her gasping for air in her sleep and making 'gurgling noises.' He called 911, and Smith was rushed to the hospital. She was later transferred to Emory University Hospital, where she worked. A CT scan revealed multiple blood clots in her brain, according to 11Alive. Her mother says she consented to a procedure that would 'relieve pressure,' but doctors later called her back saying that they could not move forward. Newkirk said she was told her daughter was brain dead. 'If they had done [a CT scan] or kept her overnight, they would have caught it," Newkirk said of Smith's initial hospital visit. "It could have been prevented.' Smith's mother says that doctors told the family they were not legally allowed to consider other options besides keeping her daughter alive due to Georgia's strict abortion law. According to Newkirk, doctors have decided to keep Smith alive for at least another 11 weeks, until she reaches about 32 weeks gestation, at which point the baby might be able to survive outside the womb. "She's been breathing through machines for more than 90 days,' Newkirk said. 'It's torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she's not there. And her son—I bring him to see her.' Newkirk said her grandson believes his mom is just 'sleeping.' Asked if she would have chosen to continue the pregnancy were she given the choice, Newkirk says she isn't sure. However, she said it was the inability to make medical decisions in a crisis that was the biggest blow, and added to the family's trauma. Georgia's 'heartbeat law,' which was passed in 2019, bans abortion after any cardiac activity in the fetus is detected, usually around six weeks. According to Abortion Finder, the law includes limited exceptions for rape, incest, or if the mother's life is in danger. However, Smith's case creates a legal gray area. As 11Alive reported, 'because she is brain dead—no longer considered at risk herself—her medical team is legally required to maintain life support until the fetus reaches viability.' Newkirk says that doctors have found fluid on the fetus' brain, and they're unsure what that will mean for his health. 'He may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he's born,' Newkirk said. 'Every day that goes by, it's more cost, more trauma, more questions.' She added, 'This decision should've been left to us. Now we're left wondering what kind of life [the baby] will have—and we're going to be the ones raising him." In addition to the emotional toll the situation has taken on her family, Newkirk said that she is worried about the mounting costs related to her daughter's months-long hospital stay. 'I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision,' Newkirk told 11Alive. 'And if not, then their partner or their parents." Originally Appeared on Glamour Abortion After Roe The abortion advocates turning pain into power The journey of an abortion in South Carolina Confused about the fetal personhood bill introduced in Congress? Let us explain A colleague of the doctor charged for a 'criminal abortion' says they aren't backing down
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A New York Doctor Was Just Indicted for Prescribing the Abortion Pill to a Patient in Louisiana
Getty Images In what appears to be a frightening first, a doctor in New York was indicted by a grand jury in Louisiana on January 31 for allegedly prescribing the abortion pill to a patient in the state. The Associated Press reports that Dr. Margaret Carpenter, her company, Nightingale Medical, PC, and a third person were charged with 'criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony.' Per Abortion Finder, abortion is illegal in the state of Louisiana with very limited exceptions; those include if the pregnant person's life or physical health is in danger or if the fetus is not expected to survive the pregnancy. There is no exception for rape or incest. This near total ban went into effect in the state in July 2022, just a month after Roe v. Wade was overturned. According to the AP, if someone knowingly possesses either the abortion pill mifepristone or misoprostol—which are taken in succession to induce a miscarriage—without 'a valid prescription for any purpose,' they could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. If convicted of providing abortion care, doctors in the state face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines, and loss of their medical license. Carpenter is a cofounder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, an organization that 'supports clinicians who make safe, timely, and affordable telemedicine abortion care available to patients in all 50 states,' according to its website. In a statement the group said, 'Make no mistake, since Roe v. Wade was overturned, we've witnessed a disturbing pattern of interference with women's rights. It's no secret the United States has a history of violence and harassment against abortion providers, and this state-sponsored effort to prosecute a doctor providing safe and effective care should alarm everyone.' In their statement ACT also referenced Shield Laws, passed in 2023. The attorney general of Texas sued Dr. Carpenter in December 2024, alleging that she was illegally providing abortion drugs across state lines and practicing telemedicine in the state without a Texas medical license. In June 2024 the New York Times reported that one-fifth of abortions were being done via telemedicine, with nearly half of those abortions taking place in states with severe restrictions or bans. That same month, the Supreme Court upheld access to mifepristone after anti-abortion groups attempted to undo the FDA's approval of the drug. Originally Appeared on Glamour Abortion After Roe The abortion advocates turning pain into power The journey of an abortion in South Carolina The TikTokers making GRWM videos of their abortions Abortion bans are literally killing us
