Reproductive Rights Roundup

There are a number of reproductive rights issues in the news this week.  Here is a summary of the relevant stories.

ARIZONA

The ACLU is once again battling Joe Arpaio, the Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, in court.  Previous litigation between the parties resulting in the termination of Arpaio's policy of requiring female inmates to secure a court order before accessing abortion care.  However, Arpaio has now begun charging the inmates for transportation to the abortion providers.  The ACLU maintains that abortion is the only transportion for which a fee is assessed.  Representatives of the Sheriff's Deparment responds that inmates are charged for transportation for all off-site medical services.

OKLAHOMA

As we have previously discussed on the blog, Oklahoma recently passed a law requiring women seeking abortions to disclose information including age, race, and the reason for the abortion.  The law was slated to go into effect on November 1.  However, litigation has resulted in a TRO which will suspend the law until a hearing can be held.  The hearing is currently scheduled for December 4, 2009.  Opponents of the law fear that upon meeting this additional hurdle of disclosing private information, women will be reluctant to seek abortion services.  More information on the litigation can be found here, here, and here.

NEVADA

A conservative group in Nevada is attempting to add a "personhood" amendment to ballots in that state in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles.  We have previously written about such amendment here and here.  Many of the same arguments apply.

We will be certain to update you on these stories as events develop.

NLS