Trump and DeSantis’ rivalry intensifies as Florida governor formally enters 2024 presidential race
May 25, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Ron DeSantis ’ entry into the 2024 White House race against former President Donald Trump sets up a clash of the Republican Party’s two leading figures as the Florida governor attempts to topple a man who has dominated the GOP for the last seven years.
Haley commits to federal abortion ban but says it’s unlikely without more Republicans in Congress
May 24, 2023 GMTMANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Wednesday pledged to sign a federal ban on abortion but noted that passing one would be highly unlikely without more Republicans in Congress.
South Carolina moves closer to abortion ban, a Southern trend that puts pressure on Virginia
May 24, 2023 GMTRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — South Carolina became the latest state to move toward a near total abortion ban Wednesday with legislation that if enacted would leave Virginia an outlier in the South as a place that allows relatively permissive access to abortions amid a rapid rise in restrictions in the year since Roe v.
Here are all of the abortion debates happening this week in US courts and statehouses
May 24, 2023 GMTLawmakers in South Carolina passed an abortion ban while a judge in Montana was weighing restrictions there in the latest developments in the shifting landscape of law since the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v.
South Carolina ready to renew abortion ban around 6 weeks of pregnancy after Senate vote
May 24, 2023 GMTCOLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Abortion will soon be severely restricted in one of the last bastions for legal access in the U.S. South.
The South Carolina Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would ban most abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy — before most people know they are pregnant — and sent it to the Republican governor who has promised to sign the bill into law as soon as possible.
As abortion battle shifts, Planned Parenthood to boost regional affiliate funds, cut national staff
May 23, 2023 GMTPlanned Parenthood is shifting funding to its state affiliates and cutting national office staff to reflect a changed landscape in both how abortion is provided and how battles over access are playing out.
Nebraska woman pleads guilty to burning fetus after abortion
May 23, 2023 GMTOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman pleaded guilty Monday to burning and concealing a fetus after she took medication to end her pregnancy, while prosecutors move forward with a criminal case accusing her mother of illegally helping with the abortion.
Minnesota Legislature adjourns after passing $72B budget; Democrats celebrate as GOP hits tax hikes
May 23, 2023 GMTST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Legislature put the final touches on a $72 billion state budget and adjourned for the year Monday night as Democrats celebrated enacting an ambitious agenda that ranged from protecting abortion rights, to providing more resources for education, to legalizing marijuana.
Nebraska governor signs 12-week abortion ban, limits on gender-affirming care for minors
May 22, 2023 GMTLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a bill Monday that bans abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and restricts gender-affirming medical care for people younger than 19.
The abortion ban takes effect immediately, while the ban on gender-affirming care takes effect on Oct.
WASHINGTON (AP) — One woman had to carry her baby, missing much of her skull, for months knowing she'd bury her daughter soon after she was born. Another started mirroring the life-threatening symptoms that her baby was displaying while in the womb.
Takeaways from AP’s report on secretive networks helping women circumvent Honduras’ abortion ban
May 20, 2023 GMTTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — In remote mountain villages, urban neighborhoods, along the Caribbean coast — despite Honduras’ national abortion ban and amid suffocating social and religious opposition, women are terminating pregnancies with the help of clandestine networks seeking to make the procedure as safe as possible.
Burner phones, aliases, code words: How secret networks help women circumvent Honduras’ abortion ban
May 20, 2023 GMTTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Inside a little wooden house among the pine and oak forests of western Honduras’ coffee-growing mountains, a woman opened a tiny package of pills, delivered to a nearby town.
How one North Carolina lawmaker’s defection from the Democratic Party upended abortion protections
May 19, 2023 GMTRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Mere weeks before North Carolina's GOP-controlled legislature enacted a 12-week abortion limit over the Democratic governor's opposition this week, state Republican lawmakers appeared just one vote shy of an override.
Rhode Island governor signs bill to fund abortion coverage for state workers and Medicaid recipients
May 19, 2023 GMTPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee signed a bill into law Thursday that would let state funds be used to pay for health insurance plans that cover state workers and Medicaid recipients seeking abortions.
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a new ban on the type of abortion most commonly used after 15 weeks of gestation until he can hear arguments on the law next week.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A ballot question seeking to make it more difficult to amend the Ohio Constitution was cleared for an August ballot on Thursday, and teams of Republican and Democratic lawmakers assigned to write pro and con arguments, respectively, to be presented to voters.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Lawyers seeking to preserve pregnant women's access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion got pushback Wednesday from appellate judges with a history of supporting abortion restrictions.
Illinois Democrats say abortion-access protections are a promise: ‘You’re safe here’
May 17, 2023 GMTSPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Access to abortion is essentially locked down in Illinois. But Democrats are looking for ways to further protect the practice and its availability, including to outsiders who potentially face home-state penalties for seeking treatment here.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan companies will be prohibited from firing or otherwise retaliating against workers for receiving an abortion under a bill signed Wednesday by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that amends the state's civil rights law.
Mark Gietzen, abortion foe who forced recount of Kansas vote, dies in plane crash at 69
May 17, 2023 GMTWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Mark Gietzen, a longtime conservative Republican and anti-abortion activist in Kansas who forced a recount of the state's decisive vote affirming abortion rights last year has died in a plane crash.
Trust in Supreme Court fell to lowest point in 50 years after abortion decision, poll shows
May 17, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Confidence in the Supreme Court sank to its lowest point in at least 50 years in 2022 in the wake of the Dobbs decision that led to state bans and other restrictions on abortion, a major trends survey shows.
Planned Parenthood asks Montana judge to block law that bans 2nd-trimester abortion method
May 17, 2023 GMTHELENA, Mont. (AP) — Planned Parenthood of Montana on Tuesday asked a state judge to temporarily block a law that bans the abortion method most commonly used after 15 weeks of gestation, arguing it is unconstitutional.
Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized Donald Trump for implying that Florida's new six-week abortion ban is “too harsh,” going after the former president as DeSantis prepares to challenge him for the 2024 Republican nomination.
Abortion after 12 weeks banned in North Carolina after GOP lawmakers override governor’s veto
May 17, 2023 GMTRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Legislation banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy will become law in North Carolina after the state’s Republican-controlled General Assembly successfully overrode the Democratic governor’s veto late Tuesday.
Democrats keep Pennsylvania House majority, positioning party to prevent limits on abortion rights
May 17, 2023 GMTHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats maintained their narrow Pennsylvania House majority Tuesday by winning a special election and along with it continued control over how the chamber will handle abortion, gun rights and election law legislation.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Abortions would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy under a bill debated early into Wednesday morning by the South Carolina House in a development that follows months of Republicans in the chamber insisting instead on a near-total ban that the state Senate recently rejected.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three conservative appeals court judges, each with a history of supporting restrictions on abortion, will hear arguments May 17 on whether a widely used abortion drug should remain available.
Payback? Project funds axed after Kansas lawmaker defies governor on abortion, trans rights
May 15, 2023 GMTTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' Democratic governor vetoed state funding on Monday for a project long advocated by a Democratic lawmaker who broke ranks to override the governor's vetoes and give Republicans crucial support for laws restricting abortion and rolling back transgender rights.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Conservative Nebraska lawmakers are taking what could be an all-or-nothing bet by proposing to merge two of the legislative session’s most contentious proposals — one to restrict abortion and another that would ban gender-affirming care for minors.
Biden endorses Democrat in special election with Pennsylvania House control at stake
May 15, 2023 GMTHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Democrat running for a vacant seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives received President Joe Biden's endorsement Monday in a race likely to determine control of the legislative chamber, with implications for abortion rights, the 2024 presidential contest and Gov.
A Texas woman was fatally shot by her boyfriend after she got an abortion, police say
May 15, 2023 GMTDALLAS (AP) — A man who didn't want his girlfriend to get an abortion fatally shot her during a confrontation in a Dallas parking lot, police said.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In front of an exuberant crowd, North Carolina’s Democratic governor vetoed legislation Saturday that would have banned nearly all abortions in his state after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Missouri lawmakers fail to raise bar to amend constitution, easing path for abortion rights
May 13, 2023 GMTJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chaos in Missouri's Republican-led Senate on the final day of session Friday meant the failure of a longtime GOP priority to make it harder to amend the state's constitution, which lawmakers predicted could ease the path to restoring abortion rights in the state.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A boycott by Republican state senators in Oregon threatens to derail hundreds of bills, including on gun control, gender-affirming care and abortion rights, as a deadline looms that could also upend the protesters' political futures.
Clergy: North Carolina’s proposed abortion restrictions are another effort to harm the state’s poor
May 12, 2023 GMTRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Clergy and other opponents of a bill further restricting abortion in North Carolina that's about to be vetoed by Gov.
Montana Supreme Court decides registered nurses and midwives can continue providing abortion care
May 12, 2023 GMTHELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana's Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday that advanced-practice registered nurses can continue to provide abortion care in the state, likely setting up legal clashes with the 2023 Legislature, which passed restrictive laws saying only physicians can perform abortions.
Kansas governor vetoes measures to aid anti-abortion centers, limit health officials’ power
May 12, 2023 GMTTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' Democratic governor on Friday vetoed Republican legislation that would have provided a financial boost to anti-abortion pregnancy centers and prevented officials fighting outbreaks of contagious diseases from prohibiting public gatherings or ordering infected people to isolate themselves.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Thursday was supposed to be the final day of the regular session for the South Carolina General Assembly.
What to know about Trump’s CNN town hall: Lies about election and abortion, attacks on accuser
May 11, 2023 GMTWILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's Democratic governor rallied residents and local doctors Wednesday in Wilmington as part of a last-minute bid to persuade at least one Republican lawmaker to sustain his expected veto of a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Louisiana rejected legislation Wednesday that would add exceptions in cases of rape and incest to one of the strictest abortion bans in the country.
Ohio Constitution question aimed at thwarting abortion rights push heads to August ballot
May 10, 2023 GMTCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio voters will get the chance to decide whether to make it harder to pass constitutional amendments just ahead of possible November vote on an amendment that would enshrine abortion rights in the state.
McConnell opposes Alabama Republican’s blockade of military nominees over Pentagon abortion policy
May 10, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that he won’t support a fellow GOP senator’s blockade of military nominees, backing Democrats and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who have said that the holdup is harming national security.
Republican Virginia Attorney General Miyares defends staying out of abortion pill case
May 10, 2023 GMTRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has defended his decision not to join most of his Republican counterparts around the country in supporting a lawsuit challenging the safety and approval of the abortion medication mifepristone.
Vermont governor signs 1st-in-nation shield bills that explicitly include medicated abortion
May 10, 2023 GMTVermont's Republican governor signed abortion and gender affirming shield bills into law Wednesday that are the first in the country to explicitly include protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S.
South Carolina Republicans advance new abortion restrictions
May 10, 2023 GMTCOLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Republicans are pushing new abortion restrictions in a late attempt to curtail access after a near-total ban failed last month.
Ohio constitution overhaul faces deadline, backlash
May 9, 2023 GMTCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An effort by a Republican faction in Ohio to make it harder to change the state constitution faces a critical juncture Wednesday, with action needed in the politically fractured Ohio House where the undertaking has so far stalled.
Anti-abortion group meets with Trump, weeks after criticism
May 9, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — The leader of a major anti-abortion group met with former President Donald Trump on the issue, just weeks after raising questions about his commitment to restricting access to the procedure.
Pennsylvania House battle hinges on Philadelphia suburbs
May 9, 2023 GMTHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats who reclaimed the Pennsylvania House majority in November and clung to a one-seat margin by sweeping three special elections earlier this year face yet another contest for control of the chamber next week, when voters will fill a vacancy in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Abortion-restriction effort reintroduced in Nebraska
May 9, 2023 GMTA new effort was introduced late Monday in the Nebraska Legislature to restrict abortion access in the state, less than two weeks after a bill that would have banned abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy failed to overcome a filibuster.
Abortion clinics in 3 states sue to protect pill access
May 8, 2023 GMTAbortion providers in three states filed a lawsuit Monday aimed at preserving access to the abortion pill mifepristone, even as the drug is threatened by a separate Texas lawsuit winding its way through U.S.
Abortion pill legal challenge threatens miscarriage care
May 6, 2023 GMTLess than a year after losing her daughter Emilia at five days old, Jillian Phillips suffered a miscarriage.
It was Halloween weekend in 2016, and her doctor said she could wait for it to end naturally, have a surgical procedure or take medication.