Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

Pelosi denied Holy Communion by San Francisco archbishop for pushing abortion rights

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will no longer be able to receive communion in her hometown of San Francisco after the local archdiocese said her vow to make abortion legal crossed a line the Catholic church could not ignore.

In an announcement that he also tweeted out, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone notified Pelosi that her staunch support of abortion and her refusal to personally explain her position to him forced his hand.

“After numerous attempts to speak with Speaker Pelosi to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion,” he said.

More:Explosive leaked draft in abortion case reveals Supreme Court on verge of overturning Roe

Pelosi has been a vocal advocate of abortion rights for decades. But her decision in September to bring to the floor a bill making Roe v. Wade the law of the land following passage of a Texas law that effectively bans terminating pregnancies beyond six weeks proved a bridge too far for her local archdiocese.

Two Americas': Aid groups prepare for more women needing to cross state lines for abortions

An Overview of Abortion Laws

Since the Supreme Court handed down its 1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, states have constructed a lattice work of abortion law, codifying, regulating and limiting whether, when and under what circumstances a person may obtain an abortion. The following table highlights the major provisions of these state laws. More detailed information can be found by selecting the table column headings in blue. Except where noted, the laws are in effect, although they may not always be enforced.

Visit our state legislation tracker for policy activity on all sexual and reproductive health topics.

This is the hill I will die on': Readers react to a potential ban on abortion | Cognoscenti

Highlights

Physician and Hospital Requirements: 36 states require an abortion to be performed by a licensed physician. 19 states require an abortion to be performed in a hospital after a specified point in the pregnancy, and 17 states require the involvement of a second physician after a specified point.
Gestational Limits: 43 states prohibit abortions after a specified point in pregnancy, with some exceptions provided. The allowable circumstances are generally when an abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.
“Partial-Birth” Abortion: 21 states have laws in effect that prohibit “partial-birth” abortion. 3 of these laws apply only to postviability abortions.
Public Funding: 16 states use their own funds to pay for all or most medically necessary abortions for Medicaid enrollees in the state. 33 states and the District of Columbia prohibit the use of state funds except in those cases when federal funds are available: where the patient’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. In defiance of federal requirements, South Dakota limits funding to cases of life endangerment only.
Coverage by Private Insurance: 12 states restrict coverage of abortion in private insurance plans, most often limiting coverage only to when the patient’s life would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term. Most states allow the purchase of additional abortion coverage at an additional cost.
Refusal: 45 states allow individual health care providers to refuse to participate in an abortion. 42 states allow institutions to refuse to perform abortions, 16 of which limit refusal to private or religious institutions.
State-Mandated Counseling: 18 states mandate that individuals be given counseling before an abortion that includes information on at least one of the following: the purported link between abortion and breast cancer (5 states), the ability of a fetus to feel pain (13 states) or long-term mental health consequences for the patient (8 states).
Waiting Periods: 25 states require a person seeking an abortion to wait a specified period of time, usually 24 hours, between when they receive counseling and the procedure is performed. 12 of these states have laws that effectively require the patient make two separate trips to the clinic to obtain the procedure.
Parental Involvement: 37 states require some type of parental involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion. 27 states require one or both parents to consent to the procedure, while 10 require that one or both parents be notified.

Young people are leading the movement toward just and safe communities for all.

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Abortion Out Loud

Abortion Out Loud, formerly the 1 in 3 Campaign, harnesses the power of storytelling, grassroots organizing, leadership development, and policy advocacy to end abortion stigma and strengthen support for young people’s access to abortion. Activists leading the Abortion Out Loud project in their community host abortion speaks out, lead public education campaigns, and work with campus and local officials to strengthen young people’s access to abortion services.

How Abortion Laws Around The World Compare To The U.S. : Consider This from NPR : NPR

Abortion Law and Policy

In 1973, the Supreme Court made abortion legal in every state with its decision in Roe v. Wade. Since then, anti-abortion activists have conducted an all-out war on abortion access in every state and at the federal level, using inaccurate information and heightened rhetoric to bolster their attacks. Under the Trump Administration, these attacks have worsened, leading to hundreds of restrictions a year, many of which are blatantly unconstitutional. All types of restrictions have a greater impact on young people because young people have lower income, less ability to travel, and often learn they are pregnant later due to irregular periods. Read on to learn more about some of the laws and policies which impact abortion care. The majority of states – thirty-six as of June 2019 – currently enforce laws that require a young person to notify or obtain consent from one or both parents before they can receive abortion care. Most young people faced with an unintended pregnancy choose to involve their parents. But for those who can’t, those who do not have access to their parents, those afraid to anger or disappoint, or who face the threat of violence in their homes—it is best for them to seek the advice of a trained medical professional than to face the situation alone and afraid. Young people are the experts of their own lives and are most equipped to decide whom they involve in their care. Research has shown that these laws, which disproportionately impact young women of color and immigrant youth, often delay or prevent young people’s access, endangering their health and safety. A majority of Americans support young people’s self-autonomy and right to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health without their parent’s involvement.

The symptoms and causes of monkeypox infections, which CDC calls an ’emerging issue’

More than 85 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 11 countries across Europe and North America, and in Australia, a rare occurrence for a virus largely confined to central and western Africa.

The U.S. comfirmed its first monkeypox case of the year on Wednesday — a man in Massachusetts — followed by a second on Friday in New York City.

As of Friday, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands have each confirmed one recent case, Canada has reported two and Belgium and Italy three. The U.K.’s case total is up to 20, Portugal’s 23 and Spain’s 30. Australia reported one case Friday, in a traveler who recently returned from Britain. Most of those countries have more suspected cases awaiting confirmation.

“This is the most important outbreak in the history of monkeypox in the Western Hemisphere,” said Anne Rimoin, an epidemiology professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

The last time the Western Hemisphere saw a monkeypox outbreak of this magnitude was in 2003, she said, when the U.S. identified 47 cases.

Those patients had been in contact with infected pet prairie dogs, and none died. But disease experts haven’t pinpointed precisely how the virus is currently spreading.

“What we’re facing right now seems to be at least a subset of cases that don’t have any history of travel to one of those countries in Africa where the monkeypox virus naturally occurs, and also don’t report any exposure to someone who has been diagnosed with monkeypox. So what we’re seeing right now is unusual,” said Dr. Agam Rao, a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.

Although monkeypox does not spread easily between people, the CDC is preparing for additional cases in the U.S., Rao said.

“We are telling people this is an emerging issue,” she said. “Some emerging issues end up becoming benign in the end. Other ones escalate. As an emerging issue, we’re asking people to keep it top of mind at the moment.