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Proposed first-ever federal standards for maternal care met with mixed response from hospitals
As part of President Joe Biden’s initiative to reduce maternal mortality rates and improve health outcomes in underserved communities, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced new policy proposals that would require hospitals to adhere to more rigorous maternal care standards or risk losing their ability to participate in Medicare. According to the proposed […]
Confusion, clinic closures may have caused big declines in contraception use, study shows
Clinic closures in the wake of the Dobbs decision and questions about the legality of emergency contraceptives, including disinformation that some are abortion drugs, may have contributed to a sharp drop in the rate of prescriptions for contraceptives in states with the most restrictive abortion bans, according to a University of California Los Angeles study. […]
U.S. Supreme Court ruling reinstates ability to perform emergency abortions in Idaho under ban
Emergency abortion care can continue in Idaho without fear of prosecution of physicians now that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Thursday remanding a case about emergency abortions in the state back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The 2022 case came soon after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that June that overturned […]
U.S. Supreme Court sends Idaho abortion case back down to lower courts
As expected after the court said it inadvertently uploaded the opinion prematurely on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Thursday remanding a case about emergency abortions in Idaho back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for now. The decision was 6-3, with conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissenting. […]
Document indicates Supreme Court will punt Idaho emergency abortion case for now
A document inadvertently uploaded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s website on Wednesday appears to indicate the court will send a case regarding emergency abortion care in Idaho back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rather than make a decision, according to reporting from Bloomberg Law. Rather than rule on the merits, the unofficial opinion, […]
Anti-abortion groups say Supreme Court’s mifepristone ruling won’t deter them
In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling Thursday to maintain current access to the abortion medication mifepristone, abortion-rights advocates and opponents vowed to continue their respective battles over the drug. Mifepristone is one of two drugs used to treat miscarriages and terminate a pregnancy during the first trimester, and is the most […]
States are already collecting more abortion data. And HIPAA won’t always keep it private.
Privacy experts worry about increasing moves to track data on pregnancy in an era of expanding abortion restrictions.
One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access
Correction: This article has been corrected to state that Opill was approved in July 2023. Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills weren’t sold in stores without a prescription in the United States. “My parents are immigrants from India, and it’s been over the […]
Supreme Court justices appear split over whether to protect abortion care during emergencies
U.S. Supreme Court justices spent two hours Wednesday morning debating whether a federal law about emergency treatment encompasses abortion care even in states with strict abortion bans, with no clear indication of how they may ultimately rule. A decision could come as soon as the end of June whether Idaho’s near-total abortion ban means doctors […]
U.S. Supreme Court urged to protect emergency room abortion care ahead of arguments
A doctor in Idaho recently saw a pregnant patient whose water broke at 15 weeks of pregnancy — something that normally happens at 38 weeks or later. It was about eight weeks before the fetus could be delivered and survive, even with medical intervention. Amniotic fluid, released when the water breaks, is critical to fetal […]
Loss of federal protection in Idaho spurs pregnant patients to plan for emergency air transport
Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided in January to consider a case about whether a federal law regarding emergency medical treatment supersedes an abortion ban in Idaho, air transports out of state for pregnancy complications at one of the state’s largest hospitals have increased from one in all of 2023 to six in the past […]
Idaho doctor who worked at closed maternity ward says abortion ban harmed recruiting
Caldwell’s West Valley Medical Center closed its labor and delivery and neonatal intensive care units April 1, citing declining birth rates and staffing issues. West Valley Medical Center is the third facility to close its maternity services in Idaho since the state enacted a near-total abortion ban in August 2022. Canyon County had more than […]