2:00 a.m., Friday, July 29, 2022
More people are opting to get sterilized — and some are being turned away
In July, a handful of people gathered in the shade of a large pine tree in Helena, Montana for a going-away party of sorts.
Their friend, Dani Marietti, was going to have her fallopian tubes removed.
It was a decision she had made after a draft of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion was leaked to the press.
The small group kicked off the "sterilization shower" for the 25-year-old by laying out chalk-written signs that said "See Ya Later Ovulater" and "I got 99 problems but tubes ain't one." They munched on cookies that had abortion-rights slogans, such as "My Body, My Choice," written on them in frosting.
Marietti is a full-time graduate student in Helena working toward becoming a therapist. She doesn't want kids to get in the way of her career. She had considered permanent sterilization before, but the possibility that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade pushed her to seek out an OB-GYN who would help her with a permanent method of contraception.
"'I want to do this as soon as possible,'" she recalled telling the doctor.
"I always knew I didn't want children, and of course when you say that as a younger person, everyone is like, 'Oh, you'll change your mind,' or, 'Just wait until you find the one,'" Marietti says. "I always kind of ignored that." Read more. — Ellis Juhlin, NPR
1:38 p.m., Thursday, July 28, 2022
A Texas teen raises over $700,000 for abortions after Rep. Matt Gaetz mocked her
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz attempted to humiliate a teenage girl after arguing that overweight and unattractive women don't need to worry about getting pregnant or needing abortions. That same girl has since raised over $700,000 for abortion care.
Nineteen-year-old political activist Olivia Julianna thanked Gaetz for his attack, which she credits for the wave of donations, and offered to send him a bouquet of flowers; one for every $100,000 raised. The money is being raised through Gen Z for Change, the nonprofit where Julianna serves as a political strategy specialist, but ultimately will be dispersed evenly to 50 abortion funds across the US.
During his speech at the Student Action Summit in Tampa, Fla., Saturday night, Gaetz said, "Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions?" Read more. — Dustin Jones, NPR
11:32 a.m., Tuesday, July 27, 2022
Indiana doctor says she has been harassed for giving an abortion to a 10-year-old
An Indiana doctor says she has faced harassment after the story of one of her patients — a 10-year-old Ohio girl who became pregnant as a result of rape — captured the nation's attention as a flashpoint in the debate over abortion rights.
In the weeks since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Dr. Caitlin Bernard has become a household name, with her face shown on right-wing television and her work criticized by public officials, including Indiana's attorney general, Todd Rokita.
She has worried about her own safety and the safety of her family, Bernard said Tuesday in an interview with NPR's Sarah McCammon. Read more. — Sarah McCammon, Becky Sullivan, NPR
2:04 a.m., Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Because of Texas abortion law, her wanted pregnancy became a medical nightmare
New, untested abortion bans have made doctors unsure about treating some pregnancy complications, which has led to life-threatening delays and trapped families in a limbo of grief and helplessness.
Elizabeth Weller never dreamed that her own hopes for a child would become ensnared in the web of Texas abortion law.
She and her husband began trying in late 2021. They had bought a house in Kingwood, a lakeside development in Houston. Elizabeth was in graduate school for political science, and James taught middle-school math. Read more. — Carrie Feibel, NPR
1:22 p.m., Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Michigan medical students walk out on an anti-abortion keynote speaker
On Sunday night at the University of Michigan Medical School's annual white coat ceremony, incoming medical students recited oaths, received their white coats – then dozens of them walked out.
At issue was the keynote speaker: Dr. Kristin Collier, a Michigan faculty member and primary care physician who has spoken publicly about her Christian beliefs and anti-abortion views.
In a video posted online, dozens of students can be seen walking out of the auditorium as Collier began her address. The video, recorded and posted by Detroit resident Brendan Scorpio, has been viewed more than 11 million times. Read more. — Becky Sullivan, NPR
2:00 a.m., Monday, July 25, 2022
Indiana may soon ban abortion if Republican lawmakers can agree on how far to go
Monday, lawmakers in Indiana are gathering at the Statehouse for a special session on banning abortion in the state, among other issues.
If the ban takes place, Indiana would join about a dozen other states that have banned abortion with very few exceptions.
Vice President Kamala Harris is headed to Indianapolis to meet with some of those lawmakers on reproductive rights amid the debate, but the special session could run for a few weeks. Read more. — Brandon Smith, IPB News
2:00 a.m., Monday, July 25, 2022
Corporate America reckons with its role in reproductive rights
When Senate Bill 8 took effect in September of last year, banning abortions after about 6 weeks in Texas, Match Group's then-CEO Shar Dubley sent a letter to her employees.
"I wanted to let you know that I am setting up a fund to ensure that if any of our Texas-based employees or a dependent find themselves impacted by this legislation and need to seek care outside of Texas, the fund will help cover the additional costs incurred," the letter said.
Match Group, based in Dallas, owns the biggest global portfolio of dating apps and websites, which includes Tinder, Match.com, OkCupid and Hinge. Read more. — Lauren Hodges, NPR
2:00 a.m.. Monday, July 25, 2022
The role of independent funds to help people access abortion is growing
Kim Floren has spent the last several weeks trying to comfort people panicking about the end of Roe v. Wade.
"Everybody has been on the spectrum from just being in tears to total panic about what they're going to do," said Floren, who runs South Dakota's Justice Through Empowerment Network, one of more than 100 independent abortion funds around the country.
Abortion funds raise and distribute money to people who need help paying for abortions, including procedure and travel costs. In 2020, funds across the country helped nearly 45,000 people pay for abortions. Read more. — Ryan Levi and Dan Gorenstein, NPR
2:00 a.m., Friday, July 22, 2022
3 common myths about the abortion debate that many people get wrong
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the federal right to abortion, things are more than a little confused.
As lower courts grapple with rapidly changing state laws, patients wonder from day to day if abortion is still legal, and even if legal, whether it is still available in their states. Health professionals in states with abortion bans fear prosecution by state authorities for performing abortions or by federal authorities for not performing them in life- or health-threatening situations.
Even employers are caught between conflicting state and federal rules about what can, cannot, and must be covered by insurance. Read more. — Julie Rovner, NPR
5:00 a.m., Thursday, July 21, 2022
Even before the Dobbs ruling, more Americans were traveling for abortions
Even before last month's Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, a growing number of people were traveling across state lines for abortions.
Nearly 1 in 10 abortions in 2020 were provided to patients who'd crossed state lines, according to a report released Thursday by the Guttmacher Institute. That's up from 6% in 2011. As the report notes, the increase occurred as a growing number of states were passing abortion restrictions.
Interstate travel for abortion is expected to continue to increase as more states enact abortion bans in response to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, issued on June 24. Read more. — Sara McCammon, NPR
2:04 a.m., Thursday, July 21, 2022
Infertility patients fear abortion bans could affect access to IVF treatment
After battling with infertility for several years, Melissa says she finally saw a glimmer of hope through in vitro fertilization. She and her husband started working with a fertility center in Grand Rapids, Mich., in March 2021 and have produced and frozen several embryos.
Melissa hopes to eventually get pregnant for the second time this winter. But when the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade came down, she started to worry.
"I'm sitting here desperate for babies — desperate," she says. "And this can seriously impact whether I can grow my family, whether I can afford to, whether I want to risk it." Read more. — Michelle Jokisch Polo, WKAR
1:54 p.m., Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Colleges navigate confusing legal landscapes as new abortion laws take effect
If a University of Michigan student walks into the school's Ann Arbor health center and learns they're pregnant, the health worker's response is never exactly the same.
"It's easy to list: 'Well, you can continue a pregnancy, or you can consider a medication abortion or ... a surgical procedure,'" says Dr. Susan Dwyer Ernst, chief of gynecology at the University Health Service. "But we take those conversations in the context of the human being who's sitting in front of us."
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, Ernst has been thinking a lot about how those conversations with students will change. Michigan is one of several states with long-standing abortion laws that weren't enforced while Roe guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion. Now, as abortion-banning state laws take effect, university health centers across the U.S. are trying to figure out their rights and responsibilities when counseling students.
1:52 p.m., Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Indiana's AG could face a lawsuit by the abortion provider for 10-year-old rape victim
An Indiana doctor who provided an abortion for a 10-year-old abuse victim from Ohio is taking a key step toward a possible defamation lawsuit against Indiana's Republican attorney general, Todd Rokita.
"He is wrongly accusing her of misconduct in her profession, so we want that smear campaign to stop," attorney Kathleen DeLaney said in an interview Tuesday with NPR. "We want him and his office to stop intimidating and harassing healthcare providers generally who are simply doing the job that they went to medical school to do."
In a letter sent to Rokita and other Indiana state officials on Tuesday, Bernard's attorney says she believes her client has suffered harm as a result of Rokita's recent public statements about Bernard and her work as an abortion provider, after she spoke publicly about caring for the 10-year-old patient.
2:25 p.m., Monday, July 18, 2022
Your Dobbs ruling questions answered by legal experts
The Supreme Court of the United States' decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning abortion protection granted under Roe v. Wade sent shockwaves as it upends nearly 50 years of legal precedents.
Now, abortion advocates and people seeking abortions will have to contend with 50 different state constitutions, which have differing views.
Several states are looking to amend their constitutions through ballot measures either to grant legal protection for abortions or to ban them. Experts say the legal uncertainties surrounding the Dobbs decision could linger for years to come. Read more. — Alex Nguyen, KPBS North County Multimedia Producer
12:49 p.m., Friday, July 15, 2022
House making 1st attempt to protect abortion in post-Roe era
The House has voted to restore abortion access nationwide.
It's the Democrats' first legislative response to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion.
But the House bill approved Friday has little chance of becoming law, with the necessary support lacking in the 50-50 Senate.
The vote marks the beginning of a new era in the abortion debate as lawmakers, governors and legislatures grapple with the impact of the Supreme Court decision.
The House also passed a separate bill to prohibit punishment for a woman or child who decides to travel to another state to get an abortion. — Associated Press
9:43 p.m., Thursday, July 14, 2022
Doctor told the state she performed abortion on 10-year-old girl, document shows
A new document obtained by NPR confirms that an Indiana doctor reported to state officials that she had performed an abortion last month on a 10-year-old rape victim.
The release of the document comes after Indiana's attorney general said he would investigate the physician, claiming without providing evidence that she has a history of failing to report abortions as required under Indiana law.
In the document released by the Indiana Department of Health and reviewed by NPR, Dr. Caitlin Bernard says she provided a medication abortion to a 10-year-old girl at Indiana University Health Medical Center in Indianapolis on June 30. That procedure uses pills to induce an abortion and involves a two-drug protocol approved for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. Read more. — Sarah McCammon, NPR
2:32 p.m., Wednesday, July 13, 2022
A rape, an abortion, and a one-source story: A child's ordeal becomes national news
A July 1 news report that a pregnant 10-year-old girl from Ohio sought an abortion in neighboring Indiana has drawn intense national attention in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month striking down Roe v. Wade.
Abortion rights proponents — including President Biden — pointed to the incident as evidence of the cruel consequences of the court's decision. But in the initial absence of any public corroborating details beyond an Indianapolis obstetrician's account, opponents of abortion rights repeatedly cast doubt on whether the incident happened at all.
Then, Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Ohio's attorney general — an anti-abortion Republican — slammed the Indianapolis Star for first reporting the story, law enforcement officials in Franklin County, Ohio, arraigned a 27-year-old man in the rape of the girl. Read more. — David Folkenflik and Sarah McCammon, NPR
10:41 a.m., Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Abortion pills will soon be available on California campuses
As California’s efforts to enshrine abortion access continue, the University of California and California State University are working to provide medication abortions on all campuses by Jan. 1.
So far, none of the Cal State campuses offer medication abortions, and access within the UC system varies from campus to campus. Both university systems, however, say they are on track to implement a law passed in 2019 requiring their student health centers to provide access to the pills.
As many as 6,228 students could seek medication abortions on UC and Cal State campuses each year, once they are available, according to Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, a research program at the University of California San Francisco. Read more. — Malika Seshadri, CalMatters
2:03 a.m., Wednesday, July 13, 2022
In Michigan, the future of abortion rights could soon be up to voters
As states grapple with the future of abortion, Michigan could become one of the first in the nation to let voters decide the matter.
A proposed constitutional amendment there would override a 90-year-old state law that makes abortion a felony, even in the case of rape or incest.
The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade has revived that abortion ban — and galvanized abortion rights advocates to secure new protections. Read more. — Kate Wells, Michigan Radio
2:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Three things to know about health insurance coverage for abortion
Will your health plan pay for an abortion now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade?
Even before the June 24 ruling, insurance coverage for abortion varied widely. Now the issue is even more complex as states set varying rules — about half are expected to limit or ban abortion in almost all circumstances.
To be clear, though, the question of whether an insurance plan covers abortion is not the same as whether abortion is allowed in a state. Coverage issues are more complicated and governed by a wide variety of factors, including the level of abortion access a state allows. Read more. — Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News
2:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 13, 2022
A New Mexico clinic that offers abortions later in pregnancy braces for more patients
On a Friday afternoon outside Southwestern Women's Options in Albuquerque, N.M., a protester grips a cardboard box overflowing with small, plastic baby figurines. A man reclines in the driver's seat of a truck, a baseball cap over his eyes.
Inside, there is not a single empty chair in the pale pink waiting room of the clinic.
One woman covers her face, quietly sobbing. Another wearing a shirt that barely buttons over her belly calmly fills out paperwork.
Many patients here have traveled from other states because this clinic offers abortions later in pregnancy.
Since Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) went into effect in Texas last year, restricting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, the clinic has gone from seeing about 40 patients per week to more than 100. Almost all of those patients are in the second or third trimester. Read more. — Grace Benninghoff, NPR
1:23 p.m., Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Over-the-counter birth control? Drugmaker seeks FDA approval
For the first time, a pharmaceutical company has asked for permission to sell a birth control pill over the counter in the U.S.
HRA Pharma’s application on Monday sets up a high-stakes decision for health regulators amid legal and political battles over women’s reproductive health. The company says the timing was unrelated to the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Hormone-based pills have long been the most common form of birth control in the U.S., used by millions of women since the 1960s. They have always required a prescription, generally so health professionals can screen for conditions that raise the risk of rare, but dangerous, blood clots. Read More. — Associated Press
1:18 p.m., Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Why this key chance to getting permanent birth control is often missed
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, doctors say they're seeing a surge in the number of women who want to prevent future unintended pregnancies by getting their "tubes tied."
But a lot of patients fail to actually get this surgery, because an important window of opportunity — during hospitalization right after childbirth — is often missed. Read More. — Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR
2:00 a.m., Monday, July 11, 2022
Privacy advocates fear Google will be used to prosecute abortion seekers
When police are trying to solve a crime, they often turn to Google for help.
It makes sense since the Silicon Valley giant has grown into a nearly $1.6 trillion company on the strength of its most valuable asset: Data on billions of people.
And often, finding out where someone was at the time of a crime, or what they were Googling before a crime occurs, can be pivotal to investigators.
Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, privacy advocates fear Google will provide users' data to authorities who may try to target people seeking abortions.
When someone uses a Google service on their phone with location history enabled, Google logs that phone's position about every two minutes. The company can estimate the location of a person's device within nine feet, court testimony from the company has shown. Read more. — Bobby Allyn, NPR
10:20 a.m., Friday, July 8, 2022
A new executive order aims to preserve abortion access, but its reach is limited
President Biden signed an executive order Friday that takes incremental steps to preserve abortion access — but he underscored that it would take political change to restore the rights removed when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
At least nine states have banned abortion so far — including Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin. A dozen more states are expected to prohibit or restrict the procedure in the coming weeks.
"I'm asking the Justice Department that, much like they did in the Civil Rights era, to do everything in their power to protect these women seeking to invoke their rights," Biden said at the White House on Friday. Read more. — Juliana Kim, NPR
5:41 p.m., Wednesday, July 6, 2022
States move to protect abortion from prosecutions elsewhere
Democratic governors in states where abortion will remain legal are looking for ways to protect any patients who travel there for the procedure — along with the providers who help them — from being prosecuted by their home states.
The Democratic governors of Colorado and North Carolina on Wednesday issued executive orders to protect abortion providers and patients from extradition to states that have banned the practice.
Abortions are legal in North Carolina until fetal viability or in certain medical emergencies, making the state an outlier in the Southeast. Read more. — Associated Press
4:04 a.m., Tuesday, July 5, 2022
The Supreme Court is the most conservative in 90 years
In 2018 just after he announced his retirement, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who sat at the ideological center of the court for much of his 30-year tenure, met with a groups of reporters. Was he worried that some of the precedents he helped establish--the right to abortion and LGBT rights, for instance--might now be in jeopardy? No, he replied. He was confident that constitutional rights, once established would remain in place.
It took just four years, and the addition of one more Trump appointee to the Supreme Court, to prove him wrong.
There is simply no way to overstate what the Supreme Court did this term. No journalist or scholar alive can remember a term with so many earthquakes in the law. Read more. — Nina Totenberg, NPR
2:01 a.m., Sunday, July 3, 2022
Doctors weren't considered in Dobbs, but now they're on abortion's legal front lines
Historically, doctors have played a big role in abortion's legality. Back in the 1860s, physicians with the newly-formed American Medical Association worked to outlaw abortion in the U.S.
A century later, they were doing the opposite.
In the 1950s and 1960s, when states were liberalizing abortion laws, "the charge for that actually came from doctors who said, 'This is insane, we can't practice medicine, we can't exercise our medical judgment if you're telling us that this is off the table,' " explains Melissa Murray, law professor at New York University. Read more. — Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR
1:12 a.m., Sunday, July 3, 2022
Texas clinics halt abortions after state high court ruling
Clinics were shutting down abortion services in the nation's second-largest state Saturday after the Texas Supreme Court blocked an order briefly allowing the procedure to resume in some cases, the latest in legal scrambles taking place across the U.S. following the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
The Friday night ruling stopped a three-day-old order by a Houston judge who said clinics could resume abortions up to six weeks into pregnancy. The following day, the American Civil Liberties Union said it doubted that any abortions were now being provided in a state of nearly 30 million people.
Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman's Health, said the ruling forced an end to abortions in its four Texas clinics, and workers there were winding down abortion operations and having "heartbreaking conversations" with women whose appointments were canceled. Read more. — Associated Press
1:21 p.m., Friday, July 1, 2022
The Christian Right is winning in court while losing in public opinion
There's an influential minority of Americans who envision the United States as a Christian nation. Lately, this group has been making significant progress in its mission. Recent rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court reversing Roe v. Wade and protecting prayer in schools are chief among these victories.
These legal wins for the Christian Right, though, are happening at a time when a growing majority of Americans are strongly opposed to their views.
"This is the most disproportionate power that the Christian Right has had in my lifetime," says Robert Jones, CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute — a nonpartisan group that conducts research on the intersection of politics, culture and religion. Read more. — NPR
10:57 a.m., Thursday, June 30, 2022
Mexican abortion clinics bracing for influx of Americans
Mexican abortion providers expect to see more Americans crossing the border to seek abortion services after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Luisa Garcia, the director of Profem, one of Mexico’s largest abortion providers, said Americans already make up roughly 25% of all patients at their Tijuana clinic. Profem also has a clinic in Mexicali.
Most of the clinic’s American patients are from California and primarily go to Tijuana because abortion services are more affordable there. However, Garcia said in recent months the clinic has been getting more calls from women in Arizona and Texas. Read more. — Gustavo Solis, KPBS Investigative Border Reporter
5:17 p.m., Wednesday, June 29, 2022
California one step closer to constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights
On Monday, the California State Assembly voted to amend the state constitution to explicitly protect reproductive rights.
"The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions," the amendment begins.
After reaching the necessary supermajority votes in both the state senate and assembly, the fate of the constitutional amendment will be up to California voters in November. Read more. — KPBS Midday Edition
9:19 a.m., Wednesday, June 29, 2022
California budget won't cover out-of-state abortion travel
While Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to make California a sanctuary for women seeking abortions, his administration won't spend public money to help people from other states travel to California for the procedure.
Newsom's decision, included in a budget agreement reached over the weekend, surprised abortion advocates who have been working with the governor for nearly a year to prepare for a potential surge of patients from other states coming to California for abortions now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.
California's operating budget, which is scheduled for a vote in the state Legislature on Wednesday, includes $20 million for an “Abortion Practical Support Fund” to pay for things like airfare, lodging, gas and meals for people seeking abortions in California. But the money can only be used to help people who already live in California, not people traveling from other states. The fund will accept private donations, but it’s unclear if that money can cover out-of-state travel expenses. Read more. — Associated Press
1:42 p.m., Tuesday, June 28, 2022
San Diego Planned Parenthood sees uptick in appointments, confusion following Dobbs decision
Friday’s Supreme Court announcement overturning the constitutional right to an abortion continues to reverberate across the country. Thousands of people protested the decision in San Diego County over the weekend.
Health care providers are expecting an influx of people to California from states where abortion is now illegal to obtain the procedure. Local abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood are already seeing an uptick in appointments for abortions.
Dr. Toni Marengo, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, joined Midday Edition Monday to talk more about what the organization is seeing now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Read more. — KPBS Midday Edition
3:46 p.m., Monday, June 27, 2022
California voters to weigh constitutional right to abortion
California voters will decide in November whether to guarantee the right to an abortion in their state constitution, a question sure to boost turnout on both sides of the debate during a pivotal midterm election year as Democrats try to keep control of Congress after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The court's ruling on Friday lets states decide for themselves whether to allow abortion. California is controlled by Democrats who support abortion rights, so access to the procedure won't be threatened anytime soon.
But the legal right to an abortion in California is based upon the “right to privacy” in the state constitution. The Supreme Court's ruling declared that a right to privacy does not guarantee the right to an abortion. California Democrats fear this ruling could leave the state's abortion laws vulnerable to challenge in state courts. Read more. — Associated Press
1:43 p.m., Monday, June 27, 2022
San Diego elected officials reaffirm stance supporting abortion rights
Three days after the Supreme Court's historic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending federal protection on abortions, emotions remain raw among female lawmakers in San Diego.
At a news conference Monday morning in front of the County Administration building, Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-La Mesa, said because of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, she will have fewer rights than her mother or grandmother.
She was in Washington D.C. on Friday to vote on a bipartisan gun safety bill — the first major gun legislation passed by Congress in nearly 30 years — when she heard the news. Read more. — Alexander Nguyen, North County multimedia producer
10:13 a.m., Monday, June 27, 2022
Poll: Majorities oppose Supreme Court's abortion ruling and worry about other rights
Majorities of Americans say they disagree with the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, think it was politically motivated, are concerned the court will now reconsider rulings that protect other rights, and are more likely to vote for a candidate this fall who would restore the right to an abortion, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.
Still, a majority opposes expanding the number of justices who could sit on the Supreme Court.
In overturning Roe on Friday, the Supreme Court reversed 50 years of precedent that had made abortion a right in this country. The right to regulate abortion now is in states' hands, and about half the states have already moved to severely curtail access to an abortion or ban the procedure outright. Read more. — Domenico Montanaro, NPR
7:42 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
In Photos: Protests erupt in San Diego following Supreme Court's Dobbs decision
San Diegans responded quickly after the Supreme Court overturned five decades of precedent on abortion rights on Friday. Most local elected officials condemned the 5-4 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, some religious groups celebrated but expressed mixed feelings, and by the evening hundreds of people took to the streets of downtown in protest. Read more. — Matthew Bowler, KPBS video journalist
5:37 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
WHO head 'concerned and disappointed' over US Supreme Court decision
The head of the World Health Organization says he’s “concerned and disappointed” about the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter that the ruling was “both reducing women’s rights and access to health care.”
He said there was “irrefutable” evidence that restricting legal abortions can drive women and girls to unsafe and sometimes deadly procedures.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that abortion is “a fundamental right for all women” that must be protected.
The French Foreign Ministry urged U.S. federal authorities “to do everything possible” to ensure American women can have continued access to abortion, calling it “a health and survival issue for young girls and women.” — Associated Press
5:16 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
Dobbs ruling gets mixed reaction from San Diego religious community
While some religious leaders are celebrating today’s Supreme Court decision, it's not so black-and-white for Phil Metzger, the pastor of Cavalry San Diego.
"My reaction is mixed, which you might not expect to hear from a pastor of a church," Metzger told KPBS a few hours after the ruling was announced.
While he called the day a victory for opponents of abortion, he said it’s also a day to remember those who are struggling with the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Read more. — Kitty Alvarado
2:29 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
NAACP calls Supreme Court decision 'egregious assault on basic human rights'
In Alabama, where a disproportionately large number of Black women seek abortions, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called the Supreme Court decision an “egregious assault on basic human rights.”
“The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP believes that the ruling today will force Alabama women to make decisions that cause women to seek healthcare in backhouses,” said Benard Simelton, the state president.
Statistics from the Alabama Department of Public Health show more than twice as many Black women as whites sought abortions in 2020 despite Black people making up only about a quarter of the state’s population.
Alabama’s three women’s clinics stopped performing abortions after the ruling Friday because of concerns about being prosecuted under a 1951 state law that made it a crime to induce an abortion except to preserve the health or life of the mother.
The state said it would ask a court to let it begin enforcing a 2019 law that made it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The only exception would be when the woman’s health was at serious risk. — Associated Press
1:03 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
WATCH LIVE: Gov. Newsom announces action to protect women from other states seeking abortion in California
12:01 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
California, Washington and Oregon governors vow to protect reproductive rights
The Democratic governors of California, Washington and Oregon on Friday vowed to protect reproductive rights and help women who travel to the West Coast seeking abortions following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“California, Oregon and Washington are building the West Coast offense to protect patients’ access to reproductive care,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a video statement announcing the states’ plans along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
The three states issued a joint “multi-state commitment” saying they will work together to defend patients and medical professionals providing reproductive health care.
They also pledged to “protect against judicial and local law enforcement cooperation with out of-state investigations, inquiries, and arrests” regarding abortions performed in their states.
The liberal West Coast states anticipate an influx of people seeking abortions, especially as neighboring conservative states move to outlaw or greatly restrict the procedure. — Associated Press
11:43 a.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
Trump takes credit for Supreme Court decision
Former President Donald Trump is taking credit for the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned a landmark case making abortion legal throughout the United States nearly 50 years ago.
In a statement, Trump called the ruling “the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation.”
He says the rulings and others “were only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court. It was my great honor to do so!”
The Supreme Court on Friday issued the stunning decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. Three of the justices voting in favor were Trump appointees: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. — Associated Press
10:42 a.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
Biden urge 'peaceful' protest in wake of Supreme Court decision
President Joe Biden says people should be peaceful when protesting the Supreme Court opinion Friday that would allow states to ban abortion.
Biden says he knows many Americans are “frustrated and disillusioned” by the court decision. But he says that objections to the ruling should remain peaceful.
Biden said: “Violence is never acceptable. Threats and intimidation are not speech. We must stand against violence in any form, regardless of your rationale.”
Earlier this month, after a draft of the court opinion was leaked, a man carrying a gun, a knife and zip ties was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in Maryland after threatening to kill the justice. — Associated Press
10:39 a.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
Biden says Supreme Court on 'dangerous path'
President Joe Biden is warning that Supreme Court opinion that overturns access to abortion could undermine contraception and gay marriage rights.
The president objects to a concurring opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, who explicitly called on his colleagues to put the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage, gay sex and even contraception cases on the table.
Biden says, “This is an extreme and dangerous path the court is now taking us on.”
Thomas was part of the majority overturning Roe v Wade.
Biden says, “My administration will remain vigilant as the implications of this decision play out. I’ve warned about how this decision risks the broader right to privacy for everyone. That’s because Roe recognized the fundamental right to privacy that has served as a basis for so many more rights that we have come to take for granted.” — Associated Press
10:10 a.m., Friday, June 24, 2022
After Roe: What happens to abortion in California?
The constitutional right to abortion in the United States is no more. Today the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its landmark Roe v. Wade precedent in a 5-4 decision, ending nearly 50 years of guaranteed abortion access for American women.
The historic ruling has been expected since early May, when a draft of the opinion was leaked, and was widely anticipated long before that as conservative justices tilted the court. The fight over abortion rights now returns to the states, where it played out five decades ago, with the procedure immediately set to become nearly or entirely illegal in almost half of them and several more bans likely to follow.
California is moving in the opposite direction, ramping up legal protections for abortion providers and pouring resources into expanding access as clinics prepare for a possible surge of patients traveling from other states to terminate their pregnancies.
Read more about how how the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will play out in California. — Alexei Koseff and Kristen Hwang / CalMatters
