Family Law Prof Blog

Virgina Governor Signs Abortion Protections into Law

From CNN

Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed bills on Friday rolling back multiple abortion restrictions in the state, including some that had been in place for decades.

The new laws make Virginia the first state to codify new abortion protections in 2020, according to Elizabeth Nash, the senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health think tank.

The legislation removes longstanding regulations requiring abortion seekers to undergo an ultrasound at least 24 hours prior to receiving an abortion and to get counseling on alternatives to abortion. It also strikes the requirement that facilities providing more than five abortions per year be designated as hospitals.

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Ohio law protecting babies with Down syndrome from abortion challenged in court

From Life Site

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio, heard arguments Wednesday over an Ohio law banning abortions on babies based on a Down syndrome diagnosis.
Abortion supporters brought the legal challenge soon after Governor John Kasich (R) signed it into law in 2017.
Ben Flowers, arguing on behalf of the state of Ohio, said the law sends a message that these abortions “are so heinous and so inhumane that doctors can go to jail and lose their licenses” for committing them.

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Colombia Upholds Abortion Laws as Legalization Battle Shifts to Argentina

From Wall Street Journal 

Colombia’s top court Monday opted not to expand abortion rights but campaigners for the procedure now look to Argentina, where the new leftist president said he will propose a legalization bill to Congress by next week.
Both countries have become the focus of abortion legalization activists working to loosen Latin America’s strict laws against the procedure. But the effort in Colombia has for the moment been put on ice after magistrates of the Constitutional Court here voted 6-3 against a motion brought by the justice handling the case, Alejandro Linares, that sought to lift all restrictions on abortion through 16 weeks of pregnancy.
Arguing that abortion decriminalization was out of the purview of the court, the decision by the judges for now keeps intact a 14-year-old law here that permits abortion in three cases: rape, fetal abnormality or health risks to the mother.
The court’s move was a partial victory for conservative lawyers and politicians that had fought against efforts to expand abortion rights. But it also gave assurance to pro-abortion campaigners that the three broad grounds to legally perform the procedure would be protected.

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Virginia Democrats plan to remove many abortion restrictions Republicans have supported

From Daily Press

The General Assembly is slated to vote on two bills this week that would loosen restrictions on abortion, something Democrats including Gov. Ralph Northam have made a priority now that they control the legislature and the governor’s office for the first time in decades.

The bills, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer McClellan and Del. Charniele Herring, would eliminate the requirement that a women get an ultrasound before an abortion to determine the fetus’ gestational age and wait 24 hours after the ultrasound to get the abortion. It would also eliminate the requirement that the woman be offered an ultrasound image and the opportunity to hear the fetal heartbeat.

The bill also allows licensed physician assistants and nurse practitioners — not just physicians — to perform the abortion, and eliminates the requirement that women sit through mandated counseling that opponents called “biased.”

Last year, a federal judge in Richmond upheld the law that says only physicians could perform first-trimester abortions

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On Abortion Rights, 2020 Democrats Move Past ‘Safe, Legal and Rare’

From New York Times

The Democratic presidential field has coalesced around an abortion rights agenda more far-reaching than anything past nominees have proposed, according to a New York Times survey of the campaigns. The positions reflect a hugely consequential shift on one of the country’s most politically divisive issues.

Every candidate The Times surveyed supports codifying Roe v. Wade in federal law, allowing Medicaid coverage of abortion by repealing the Hyde Amendment, and removing funding restrictions for organizations that provide abortion referrals. Almost all of them say they would nominate only judges who support abortion rights, an explicit pledge Democrats have long avoided.

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Supreme Court Names Koch to Innovation Initiative

From WBIW.com

State Senator Eric Koch (R-Bedford) has been appointed to serve as a member of the Indiana Innovation Initiative established by the Indiana Supreme Court

The 13-member group appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court will work to foster innovation within the legal profession. The Court issued an order establishing the Indiana Innovation Initiative to maintain Indiana’s place as a national leader in legal reform.

“We must actively seek and cultivate opportunities to improve the practice of law and the justice system in Indiana, and that includes welcoming innovation,” explained Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush.

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Pro-life advocate says new California campus abortion pill law 'violates conscience rights' of workers

From Fox News 

The president of a pro-life group voiced concern Monday over California's new law that will require public universities to provide abortion pills at campus health centers.

“This is a first-in-the-nation law that is going to fundamentally alter what is happening at college campus health centers. Every state college campus in California will now be turned into an abortion facility,” president of Students for Life of America Kristan Hawkins told “Fox & Friends.”

Hawkins' comment came after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law Friday, making his state the first to require public universities to offer the RU-486 drug, beginning in 2023.

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Abortion Law Cases Stack Up in Supreme Court's 2019- 2020 Term

 

From Bloomberg

Abortion cases are coming to the U.S. Supreme Court, and they’re only getting harder for the justices to avoid.

The court next week starts a new term that will give the clearest indication yet of how eager the justices are to roll back the right to end a pregnancy. Rulings on major cases could come next June in the heat of the presidential campaign.

Abortion opponents are likely to get a more receptive audience now that Justice Brett Kavanaugh has replaced the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. The eventual goal is to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized the procedure nationwide.

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Federal Court Blocks Arkansas Abortion Ban

From CNN:

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Arkansas' 18-week abortion ban from going into effect on the grounds that it would cause "irreparable" harm to women seeking abortions.

The Tuesday ruling also blocks a new law barring providers from performing an abortion if the woman's decision to terminate the pregnancy was based on a diagnosis that the fetus has Down syndrome and another law requiring providers to be certified in obstetrics and gynecology. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in Juneagainst Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge challenging all three measures as unconstitutional.

 

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New Zealand Moves to Decriminalize Abortion

From BBC News:

New Zealand's government has proposed decriminalising abortion and allowing women to choose a termination up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy.

Jacinda Ardern's government issued details of a bill which would change abortion laws in force since 1977.

As things stand, a woman may only obtain an abortion if two doctors certify continued pregnancy would endanger her mental or physical health.

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Proposed Australian Abortion Law

From The Guardian:

The architect of a historic bill to decriminalise abortion in New South Waleshas hit out at opponents of the legislation, after a conservative MP wrongly claimed the bill would allow unrestricted abortion “until the moment of birth”.

The independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, tabled the bill on Thursday after it was delayed by a week by resistance within the Coalition government.

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British Court Invalidates Ruling Forcing Mentally Challenged Pregnant Woman to have an Abortion

From National Review:

A British appeals court on Monday reversed a previous ruling that would have forced a mentally disabled woman to abort her child against both her wishes and those of her mother.

Justice Nathalie Lieven ruled Friday that an unidentified London woman, who is in her twenties but is said by the court to have the mental capacity of a six-to-nine-year-old child, must abort her 22-week-old unborn baby on the grounds that carrying the child to term would damage her mental health.

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Illinois Establishes Abortion as a 'Fundamental Right' for Women

From Chicago Tribune:

Surrounded by dozens of female lawmakers, women’s rights organizers and reproductive health activists, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed into law sweeping abortion rights legislation that establishes the procedure as a “fundamental right” for women in Illinois.

“In a time when too many states across the nation are taking a step backward, Illinois is taking a giant step forward for women’s health,” Pritzker said in remarks at the Chicago Cultural Center before signing the bill. “Today, we proudly proclaim that in this state, we trust women.”

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All Male Council in Texas Vote to Ban Abortion

From The Guardian:

The entirely white male council of Waskom in Texas has voted to make the small town a “sanctuary city for the unborn”.

The five men on the town’s council voted this week to pass legislation known as an ordinance, which declared Roe v Wade, the landmark supreme court decision which legalized abortion, “unconstitutional”.

The move, which is itself unconstitutional, comes after a raft of abortion bans have passed in states from Missouri to Ohio.

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Rapists and Parental Rights

From The Washington Post:

When a young woman came to the Family Services of North Alabama office last year for help with trauma, saying she had been raped by her step-uncle when she was 15, rape crisis advocate Portia Shepherd heard something that “killed me, shocked me.”

The step-uncle, who was getting out of jail after a drug conviction, wanted to be a part of their child’s life. And in Alabama, the alleged rapist could get custody.

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Missouri may Soon Become the First State With No Abortion Clinics

From CNN News:

After a four-day reprieve, Missourians could soon learn whether their state will become the first with no abortion clinics.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer will have another hearing Tuesday before deciding whether the state's last abortion clinic, Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, can continue performing abortions.

 

The clinic is suing the state over its refusal to renew its license. That license was supposed to expire Friday. But the judge intervened during a hearing Friday, saying the license can stay in effect until another hearing Tuesday.

 

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Women Protest US Strictest Anti- Abortion Law

From Huffpost:

People across the country are devastated after the Alabama state Senate passed the country’s strictest abortion bill.

The state Senate on Tuesday night passed the Human Life Protection Act, an extreme anti-abortion measure that bans the procedure in all cases, including rape and incest. The only exception to the legislation is if the life of a pregnant woman is at risk.

The bill passed 25 to 6. All the yes votes were made by white male senators.

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US Government Extends Ban On Use of Aid to Promote or Subsidize Abortion in Foreign Nations

From The Daily Signal:

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced two key moves by the Trump administration that he said would “ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used to subsidize or promote abortions.” 

The United States spends about $9 billion a year on global health care programs, and President Donald Trump is determined that taxpayers’ dollars not go to foreign organizations that support or provide abortions, Pompeo told reporters Tuesday in the White House briefing room. 

In his first month in office, Trump reinstated the so-called Mexico City policy under which President Ronald Reagan in 1984 pursued the same objective.

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No Due Process Right to Perform Abortions

From The ABA Journal:

An en banc federal appeals court has upheld an Ohio law that bans the state from providing health funds to abortion providers.

In an 11-6 decisionissued Tuesday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati turned down a challenge by two Planned Parenthood affiliates. They had argued that the funding ban imposes an unconstitutional condition on public funding.

The Planned Parenthood affiliates “are correct that the Ohio law imposes a condition on the continued receipt of state funds,” Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote for the majority. “But that condition does not violate the Constitution because the affiliates do not have a due process right to perform abortions.”

Four judges in the majority were appointed by President Donald Trump, Politico reports.

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Judge Blocks Kentucky Fetal Heartbeat Law

From The New York Times:

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a Kentucky law that prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which typically happens around six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

The measure, which was signed into law on Friday by the state’s Republican governor, Matt Bevin, and was set to take effect immediately, was poised to become one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country.

But late on Friday, the judge, David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky, ruled the law was potentially unconstitutional. He halted enforcement for at least 14 days to “prevent irreparable harm” until he could hold a hearing.

Read more here.