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  WATCH

News This Week: 11/28 - 12/4

This week, the highest court for human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean issued a landmark ruling that established standards to help protect people seeking reproductive health care, including abortion.

• The ruling establishes that health care staff can no longer refer women to law enforcement who come to the hospital seeking abortion care and other reproductive health services.
• The ruling by the Court applies to countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The case--Manuela v. El Salvador--was brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners in El Salvador.
• Between 2000 and 2019, 181 people in El Salvador who experienced obstetric emergencies were criminally prosecuted for abortion or aggravated homicide, which can be punished with up to 50 years in prison. Manuela, the plaintiff in this case, was one of these people.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the Center’s case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which will decide the fate of abortion rights in the U.S. Thousands rallied outside the Court during arguments.

• The state of Mississippi asked the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion entirely. Many court watchers and journalists are speculating that the Justices might do just that, based on the questions they asked during arguments.
• The decision is expected sometime next spring, likely in June, when the Court tends to release its most impactful decisions. 

A new Texas law (S.B. 4) that bans the use of medication abortion after seven weeks of pregnancy went into effect yesterday, Dec. 2. The limit set by this law is significantly before the ten-week limit permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

• According to the Guttmacher Institute, medication abortion accounted for 39% of all abortions in the U.S. in 2017. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, that number has increased to over 50%.
• The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule on another Texas law that bans abortion after six weeks gestation (S.B. 8). The law has been in effect since Sept. 1.

Coming Up

Appeals Court to rehear Tennessee abortion bans case

• The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted this week the state of Tennessee’s request to rehear the Center and partners’ case challenging several abortion bans in Tennessee. 
• The bans were previously blocked by a panel of judges in September.

Did You Know?