Roe v Wade
Arkansas Legislature saw wide range of maternal and reproductive health legislation in 2023
Prenatal and postpartum healthcare policies rose on Arkansas’ priority list after abortion became illegal in the state, but did not rise high enough, according to advocates for the well-being of pregnant and newborn Arkansans. Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, introduced several bills to bolster this area of healthcare during the 2023 legislative session. Some made it […]
Arkansas legislators file two bills related to abortion during Spring Break
Arkansas legislators filed two bills Wednesday morning pertaining to abortion, which is all but illegal in the state. Arkansas has one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans, Act 180 of 2019, with the sole exception “to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency.” The act went into effect in June 2022, […]
Bill to create anti-abortion monument at Arkansas Capitol heads to governor’s desk
A bill to create a “monument to the unborn” on the grounds of the Arkansas Capitol is on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ desk after it cleared the state Legislature on Tuesday. Senate Bill 307 passed the Senate on March 1 and the House on Tuesday with support solely from Republicans. All legislative Democrats except one […]
Doctors recount ‘heart-wrenching’ stories in new study on medical care post-Roe
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) are trying to piece together how the end of Roe v. Wade has so far transformed pregnancy-related medical care in America, and the yet-to-be-released preliminary data are alarming, the lead principal investigator told States Newsroom in an exclusive interview. The team has already received dozens of […]
Democratic governors in 20 states form reproductive rights alliance
Democratic governors from 20 states across the U.S., led by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have formed a Reproductive Freedom Alliance to safeguard and improve abortion and reproductive health care access “in the face of an unprecedented assault by states hostile to abortion rights,” according to a joint statement. The announcement represents another divide in the […]
Suspect science and claims at center of abortion-pill lawsuit
Emergency rooms across America are teeming with women and girls bleeding from abortion drugs in such copious amounts that it’s exacerbating the national blood shortage. Or, at least, that’s the grim – but false – narrative a group of small conservative Christian medical associations have painted for a federal judge in Texas. Their mountain of […]
Arkansas committee OKs required paid maternity leave from employers that cover abortion costs
A proposed Arkansas law would require companies that pay for employees to receive abortions in other states to also provide 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. The bill passed the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee unanimously on Thursday and will go to the House floor for a vote. Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R-Knoxville) said […]
Abortion debate ramps up in states as Congress deadlocks
Anti-abortion advocates are pressing for expanded abortion bans and tighter restrictions since the Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion. But with the debate mostly deadlocked in Washington, the focus is shifting to states convening their first full legislative sessions since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Although some state GOP lawmakers have filed bills […]
Bill protecting same-sex marriage gains bipartisan support in U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate cleared a key hurdle to passing a marriage equality bill Wednesday, garnering even more than the 60 senators from both political parties needed to move past a legislative filibuster. The bill, which could win final passage in the Senate as soon as this week, would ensure same-sex and interracial couples […]
Even red-state voters back abortion rights via ballot questions, rejecting court ruling
WASHINGTON — Voters in five states — including GOP-dominated Kentucky — backed abortion rights Tuesday, signaling that while the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority no longer believes the procedure is protected within the U.S. Constitution, many Americans want their states to do just that. California, Kentucky, Michigan , Montana and Vermont residents voted to support […]
Arkansas opens new application period for pregnancy center grants
A new application period for the state’s Pregnancy Resource Center Grant opens today, Oct. 24, according to Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. The deadline for submitting applications is Nov. 23. Applicants will be vying for a share of $546,000, the amount remaining after 14 organizations were awarded $454,191 in […]
A new justice at the U.S. Supreme Court, and an Idaho wetlands case up first
When the U.S. Supreme Court opens its fall term on Monday, a few things will be different. A Black woman, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, will hear oral arguments for the first time ever. And the public will be allowed into the room for the first time since early 2020. The content of the term’s first […]