Reproductive Rights Prof Blog

Gov. McAuliffe Orders Review of Onerous Virginia TRAP Law

The Washington Post: Gov. McAuliffe calls for review of abortion clinic regulations in Virginia, by Laura Vozzella:

Gov. Terry McAuliffe moved to free Virginia’s abortion clinics from strict hospital-style building codes on Monday, loading up the state health board with abortion rights supporters and ordering it to review rules that clinic operators say threaten to put them out of business.

The Democratic governor is also looking for ways to soften or suspend the rules to keep clinics open during the health board’s review, which could take more than two years. The General Assembly approved the regulations in 2011; they are set to take effect as early as June. . . .

U.S. Teen Pregnancy, Birth, And Abortion Rates Reach Historic Lows

The Guttmacher Institute news release:  U.S. TEEN PREGNANCY, BIRTH AND ABORTION RATES REACH HISTORIC LOWS:

Teen Pregnancy Rates Declined in Every State and Among All Racial and Ethnic Groups

Rates of teen pregnancy, birth and abortion have declined dramatically in the United States since their peak in the early 1990s. In 2010, some 614,000 pregnancies occurred among teenage women aged 15–19, for a rate of 57.4 pregnancies per 1,000 women that age. This marks a 51% decline from the 1990 peak, and a 15% decline in just two years, from 67.8 in 2008, according to “U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions, 2010: National and State Trends by Age, Race and Ethnicity,” a new study by the Guttmacher Institute. Similarly, the teen birthrate declined 44% from the peak in 1991 (from 61.8 births per 1,000 to 34.4 per 1,000); and the teen abortion rate declined 66% between its 1988 peak and 2010 (from 43.5 abortions per 1,000 to 14.7 per 1,000). . . .

Emily Letts Explains Why She Filmed Her Own Abortion

The link to Letts's essay is here:

Cosmopolitan:  Why I Filmed My Own Abortion, by Emily Letts

TIME: Here's Why This Woman Filmed Her Own Abortion, by Charlotte Alter:

Emily Letts works as an abortion counselor at Cherry Hill Women’s Center in New Jersey, so when she herself got unexpectedly pregnant, she didn’t take long to decide she would terminate the pregnancy.

It wasn’t a difficult decision for her, she wrote in a Cosmopolitanessay, because she knew she wasn’t ready to have kids. But Letts took it one step further– she decided to film the abortion to show other women that it wasn’t scary. . . .

The Huffington Post:  Emily Letts' Abortion Video Garners Angry Reaction From Right-Wing Media, by Emily Thomas:

When Emily Letts found out she was pregnant last November she knew she would get an abortion. In an effort to help inform women facing a similar situation, the 25-year-old abortion counselor decided to film herself undergoing the procedure. Reactions to the award-winning clip, however, have been quite mixed. . . .

Sen. Lindsey Graham Plans To Link Push for 20-Week Abortion Ban to Anniversary of Gosnell Conviction

Politico: Graham plans push on abortion bill, by Burgess Everett:

Senate Republicans, led by Lindsey Graham, are planning to ramp up their advocacy for an abortion bill around the high-profile anniversary of a former abortion provider’s murder conviction.

The South Carolina Republican is organizing a group of his colleagues to speak in support of a bill that would federally ban abortions after more than 20 weeks of pregnancy, legislation that has the support of 41 Senate Republicans and has already passed the House. Graham is centering this legislative push on the May 13 anniversary of Kermit Gosnell’s conviction for killing infants that were born alive. . . .

The New York Times on the Real Motivation Behind TRAP Laws

The New York Times - editorial:  Real Goal of Abortion ‘Limits’: Bans:

Anti-abortion groups that saw a chance to get state legislatures to restrict women’s reproductive rights piously declared that all they wanted to do was to make women safer. This argument had little credibility then, and it has even less now. What has actually happened is that in state after state, with the enthusiastic support of Republican lawmakers, it has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for women to get safe and legal abortion care.

“In some parts of the country,” says Brigitte Amiri of the American Civil Liberties Union, “women will be living in a pre-Roe v. Wade situation, when those who weren’t wealthy or couldn’t travel long distances — especially the young and poor — couldn’t access safe and legal abortion services.” . . .

U.S. Anti-Choice Movement Provides Inspiration and Support to Activists in Europe

Many Europeans shake their heads in bemusement over anti-choice activists' fervent opposition to abortion by in this country.  But they may not be shaking their heads for much longer . . . .

Politico: U.S. anti-abortion groups inspire movement in Europe, by Sarah Wheaton:

U.S. abortion opponents are giving new life to the movement abroad, where once-stagnant European allies are pushing changes that could affect the whole continent.

A younger generation of anti-abortion activists has turned to the United States for legal advice, strategic training and transatlantic inspiration. They credit a distinctly American approach with forcing abortion, long a deeply private issue in Europe, into the public conversation. And for the Americans who travel overseas to assist, strengthening their cause internationally also strengthens their position at home. . . .

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Publicly Shames Ex-Fiance for her Alleged Abortion

Jezebel: Floyd Mayweather Posts Ex's Sonogram, Accuses Her of 'Killing Babies', by Erin Gloria Ryan: 

Earlier this year, boxer Floyd Mayweather got dumped by his fiancee Shantel Jackson after he allegedly cheated on her. But Mayweather has since apparently gone batshit insane, insisting that it was he who dumped her, and that he did it because she had "a abortion." To support this accusation, he posted what he claims are images from a sonogram Jackson had in December. Holy shit.

Mayweather posted the images — complete with identifying details and measurements, which we've blurred out — to Facebook this morning . . . .