Posts by Vicki Saporta
Lawsuit Filed To Block Anti-Abortion Ballot Initiative in Missouri
Mary Hickey, a St. Louis woman that is represented by lawyers for Planned Parenthood in Missouri, filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking to prevent a petition drive to place an anti-abortion initiative on the November 2008 Missouri ballot. The lawsuit argues that if enacted, the initiative would “render virtually all abortions unlawful,” and thus…
Read MoreBuffer zone challenged in Pittsburgh
A U.S. District Court heard arguments this week challenging a Pittsburgh, PA abortion clinic buffer zone ordinance containing two provisions: a 15-foot buffer zone around entrances to health care facilities, and an 8-foot personal bubble zone to prohibit protestors from approaching patients and health care workers. Mary Kathryn Brown filed the lawsuit claiming that the…
Read MoreOhio House Passes Ultrasound Bill
Wednesday the Ohio General Assembly approved a bill, which would require doctors to offer women seeking abortion care the option to view an ultrasound image of the fetus prior to the procedure. While a woman should have the option to view such an image, legislation mandating policies around ultrasounds is yet another intrusion by lawmakers…
Read MoreNAF’s Statement on the Arson of the Office of Curtis Boyd, MD, in Albuquerque, NM
On Friday, we released the following statement in response to the arson of the Office of Curtis Boyd, MD, in Albuquerque, NM on Thursday night: As the professional association of abortion providers, National Abortion Federation (NAF) is extremely concerned about protecting our members from violence. NAF has been tracking incidents of violence and disruption since…
Read MoreBritain’s Department of Health May Allow Private Doctors to Provide Medical Abortion Care
Britain’s Department of Health confirmed this week that they are conducting trials to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of providing early medical abortion care in private doctors’ offices. Under current regulations, abortions can only be provided at National Health Service hospitals and specialist clinics and require the approval of two doctors. Earlier this year, a…
Read MoreUrge Congress to Save Birth Control Now!
Millions of college students and low-income women have been drastically affected by the soaring cost of birth control, which has risen substantially this year because of a mistake made by Congress. For nearly twenty years, pharmaceutical companies have been able to voluntarily provide low-cost birth control to university health centers and other providers. Unfortunately, last…
Read MoreMassachusetts Governor Signs Buffer Zone Law
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed a law Tuesday expanding the buffer zone around reproductive health care facilities to 35 feet. In 2000, the state passed a law, which designated a “floating” zone of 6 feet, within a larger radius of 18 feet, inside which no one may approach a patient entering a clinic without her…
Read MoreAnti-Abortion Extremist Ordered to Remove Violent Threats from Website
Yesterday, a federal judge ordered an anti-abortion extremist in Pennsylvania to remove threatening content from his website and blog. For years John Dunkle has harassed and threatened abortion providers in person and on the Internet. One posting to his website, which featured an abortion provider’s name, photo, and address, encouraged readers to kill her by…
Read MoreNew York Times Profiles Abortion Provider
Today’s New York Times profiles an abortion provider who travels by plane to clinics across underserved regions in the Western U.S. Dr. Susan Wicklund recently wrote a book about her experience as an abortion provider aimed at encouraging more open discussion of abortion. “We don’t talk about it,” she said in a telephone interview. “People…
Read MoreLA Times Examines Legal Abortion in Mexico City
Since Mexico City legalized abortion in May, more than 3,400 women have obtained abortions at 14 of the capital’s public hospitals. The availability of safe, legal abortion care has helped reduce the public health concerns and stigma associated with abortion. “When people think of abortion, they no longer think of a hidden, shameful, illegal, clandestine…
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