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News This Week: 5/29 - 6/4

On Thursday, the Center and partners filed a lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers in Florida, challenging the state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

• The law (H.B. 5) was passed by the state legislature earlier this year, and is scheduled to take effect on July 1. The extreme ban is nearly identical to the one currently before the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
• In a statement, the Center’s President and CEO Nancy Northup said, “The Florida Supreme Court has long held that their state constitution protects the right to end a pregnancy. That means even if Roe falls, abortion should remain protected in Florida, and this ban should be blocked.”
• You can watch a recording of the press call hosted by the plaintiffs here.

Last week, the Center and partners filed a case directly with the Oklahoma Supreme Court, challenging an Oklahoma law (H.B. 4327) that bans abortion in the state entirely and uses the same citizen-enforcement scheme as Texas.

• H.B. 4327 is the nation’s strictest abortion ban and has made Oklahoma the first state to completely outlaw abortion while Roe v. Wade still stands. Just weeks ago, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a different citizen-enforced law that bans abortion after six weeks in the state.
• Both laws are being challenged in the same suit. Plaintiffs have requested an emergency order blocking H.B. 4327 while litigation continues. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has yet to rule on the request.

On May 26, the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, issued a public apology to a woman named Francisca who was sterilized without her authorization after giving birth in a public hospital in 2002.

• During a Cesarean section, doctors unjustly performed a surgical sterilization on Francisca because she was HIV-positive. Last week’s apology came as a part of a lawsuit brought on her behalf by the Center and Vivo Positivo, a Chilean-based HIV/AIDS service organization.
• Representatives of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights – the highest court in the region – were present for the apology.

Las Vegas-based pharmaceutical company GenBioPro Inc, filed a federal lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s restrictions on mifepristone, the first of the two-pill regimen used for a medication abortion.

• The lawsuit takes aim at various state requirements including one that requires people to take abortion pills in the presence of a doctor. Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have many of these requirements for the pills, the lawsuit argues that restrictions “upset the balance that the FDA struck between risk mitigation and ensuring access to a safe and effective medication.”

Coming Up

Next Supreme Court Opinion Day (MONDAY)

• June 6 is scheduled as a Supreme Court decision day, meaning they will issue an opinion in at least one of their cases.

Hearing to block total abortion ban in Oklahoma (MOVED TO AUGUST 16)

• An Oklahoma state district court judge will hear arguments in the case challenging S.B. 612 (a total ban on abortion passed this session that would make it a felony to provide abortion care).
• The Center has requested the judge issue a temporary injunction to block the law before it can take effect while litigation continues. The law is scheduled to take effect August 27.

Did You Know?

A new report from the Pew Research Center shows that support for abortion rights is considerably higher among young Americans. Among 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed, nearly 75% believe abortion should generally be legal while Americans 65 and older expressed more tepid support. This age gap on attitudes about abortion contradicts past polling on this issue.