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Judge suspends Michigan's dormant 1931 abortion ban

A judge on Tuesday suspended Michigan's dormant, decades-old ban on abortion, which means the procedure would not be illegal in the state even if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its historic Roe v. Wade decision. The Michigan law, which makes it a crime to assist in an abortion, has been on the books since 1931. The court, however, could throw out that landmark ruling before July, leaving abortion issues for each state to decide.

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Texas Supreme Court refuses to resume Planned Parenthood suit challenging abortion law

By Reese Oxner, The Texas TribuneThe Texas Supreme Court denied a request Monday from Planned Parenthood to resume its lawsuit, filed in a state district court, that challenges the state’s near-total abortion ban. The panel of five judges stopped the cases from continuing at the request of Texas Right to Life, a prominent anti-abortion organization that helped draft Texas’ abortion restrictions. The suit filed by Planned Parenthood asked the court to declare the abortion law, which bans the procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, unconstitutional. In that case, the court temporarily blocked Texas Right to Life from being able to sue Planned Parenthood for potential violations of the abortion law. Texas Right to Life applauded the Texas Supreme Court’s decision.

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Judge rejects bid by Planned Parenthood to stay in Medicaid, affecting health service for thousands of low-income Texans

Planned Parenthood cannot stop Texas officials from kicking it out of the state's Medicaid program, a state district judge ruled Wednesday. The decision is the latest in Texas officials’ years-long effort to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. A state district judge granted a temporary restraining order on Feb. 3, delaying the state from kicking Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid. The 2016 notice of termination never took effect, he said; Planned Parenthood has continued to treat Medicaid patients. Abbott, in a tweet deemed “false” by Politifact, has said “innocent lives will be saved” by ending taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood.

New SC abortion law remains on hold under judge's order

South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. – A new South Carolina law banning abortions will stay on hold following a judge's order on Friday to extend a temporary restraining order. Lewis initially suspended the “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act ” on its second day in effect, following a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood. Federal law supersedes state law. Planned Parenthood has indicated they plan to oppose McMaster's request to take part in the case, according to the governor's attorneys.

Court to take up Trump immigration, abortion referral rules

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020 file photo, the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. The Supreme Court will take up challenges to controversial Trump administration policies affecting family-planning clinics and immigrants, even though the Biden administration has announced it is reviewing them. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up challenges to controversial Trump administration policies affecting family-planning clinics and immigrants, even though the Biden administration has announced it is reviewing them. Last month, Biden also ordered a review of Trump's restrictions on family-planning clinics that caused Planned Parenthood to withdraw from the funding program, rather than stop abortion referrals. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the rule, in a lawsuit filed by the city of Baltimore.

South Carolina abortion law suspended 1 day after passage

South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s new law banning most abortions was suspended by a federal judge Friday on its second day in effect. AdThe “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act " is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. Federal law, which takes precedence over state law, currently allows abortion. AdPlanned Parenthood lawyers noted that South Carolina legislators this year did not change part of state law that said fetuses are considered viable in the 24th week of pregnancy.

SC governor signs abortion ban; Planned Parenthood sues

South Carolina Gov. Planned Parenthood immediately sued, effectively preventing the new law from taking effect. The “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. Moments after the Thursday vote, Planned Parenthood announced that it was filing a lawsuit. The South Carolina law, like those of other states that are currently being challenged, is “blatantly unconstitutional,” said Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

Planned Parenthood sues to block South Carolina abortion ban

South Carolina Rep. David Hiott, R-Pickens, says a prayer as the House votes on a bill that would ban most abortions in the state on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 in Columbia, S.C. The “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act,” like other similar laws currently being challenged, is “blatantly unconstitutional,” said Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that abortion is legal until a fetus is viable outside the womb — months after a heartbeat can be detected, Black noted. State bills to restrict or ban abortion “are plainly absurd,” Black said. The abortion ban would fall hardest on low-income women, who wouldn't be able to travel to a nearby state where abortion is still permitted, the suit says.

Texas Congressional Democrats urge Gov. Greg Abbott to let Planned Parenthood stay on Medicaid

Greg Abbott to reverse a yearslong effort to boot Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program, saying it jeopardizes thousands of low-income Texans’ ability to access nonabortion health services. Their plea comes just days after a state district judge temporarily stopped the state from excluding Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, a government health insurance program for the poor. Planned Parenthood has donated fetal tissue for research, which is legal. State health officials granted a 30-day grace period that was slated to end Feb. 3. Escobar and the other congress members have asked Abbott to allow Planned Parenthood to remain as a provider.

Planned Parenthood files emergency lawsuit to try to stop Texas from kicking it off Medicaid

Planned Parenthood on Wednesday said it filed an emergency lawsuit to stop Texas from kicking it out of Medicaid, in a last ditch effort to keep providing non-abortion services to some 8,000 low-income patients. AdIn Texas, Medicaid primarily provides health insurance for children, and those who have a disability, are pregnant or are parents. Planned Parenthood on Wednesday said it filed an emergency lawsuit to stop Texas from kicking it out of Medicaid, in a last ditch effort to keep providing non-abortion services to some 8,000 low-income patients. AdIn Texas, Medicaid primarily provides health insurance for children, and those disabled, pregnant or who are parents. A lower court blocked the state from removing Planned Parenthood from Medicaid in 2017.

In win for Planned Parenthood, U.S. Supreme Court wipes case law supporting Texas pandemic abortion ban from the books

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday voided rulings from lower courts that upheld a ban on most abortions in Texas early in the coronavirus pandemic. The high court vacated two rulings from the lower U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with Texas GOP officials arguing that Gov. The executive order ended over the summer, allowing abortions in the state to resume, but Planned Parenthood has said leaving the lower court rulings on the books would set harmful legal precedent for abortion rights advocates. Disclosure: Planned Parenthood has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Low-income Texans struggle to find new doctors as state officials boot Planned Parenthood off Medicaid

The state’s health commission gave Planned Parenthood's Medicaid patients until Feb. 3 to find new doctors. Lisa is one of more than 8,000 Medicaid patients, many of them women of color, who were seen at Planned Parenthood clinics across Texas in 2019. A lower court blocked the state from cutting off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood in 2017, but the conservative 5th U.S. Greg Abbott, who pushed to expel Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, did not respond to a request for comment. For now, Lisa, the Medicaid patient and a mother of two, is unsure where she’ll turn to for health care.

Texas gives Medicaid recipients using Planned Parenthood until Feb. 3 to find new health care provider

Thousands of low-income Medicaid recipients who rely on Planned Parenthood for non-abortion services like cancer screenings and birth control will have until Feb. 3 to find new health care providers, according to a letter sent from the state’s Health and Human Services Commission to the women’s health provider Monday. Texas has a shortage of Medicaid providers in part because of the low reimbursement rates, the organization said. The court case stemmed from a debunked video released in 2015 that suggested abortion providers at Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue for profit. Planned Parenthood has donated fetal tissue for research, which is legal. Disclosure: Planned Parenthood has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Planned Parenthood urges Texas to let it stay under Medicaid program

A nurse with a patient at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin. Planned Parenthood is asking Texas to delay kicking the women’s health provider out of Medicaid in an effort to secure medical coverage for more than 8,000 Medicaid patients who rely on the group. The allegations in the video, made by anti-abortion advocates, have been categorically denied by Planned Parenthood, and investigations into the video have been unable to prove any wrongdoing. Following last month’s ruling, Planned Parenthood said removing them from the Medicaid program was a “blatantly political attack” by the state of Texas. Disclosure: Planned Parenthood has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.

US won't seek death penalty in Planned Parenthood case

DENVER – Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they will not seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing three people and injuring nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in 2015. The move comes about a year after Dear was charged in federal court after his prosecution in state court stalled. The decision not to seek the death penalty follows the resumption of federal executions under the Trump administration and as the Justice Department continues to seek the death penalty in other cases in the administration's waning days. The death penalty has usually been taken off the table in cases in which mental illness is a factor, such as in the Unabomber case, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Prosecutors who are not seeking to pursue the death penalty for political reasons need to consider whether they are likely to succeed in convincing a jury to impose the death penalty in expensive and complicated death penalty cases prone to appeals, he said.

Supreme Court changes fuel moves to protect abortion access

A vast swath of West Texas has been without an abortion clinic for more than six years. That law led to the closure of more than half the state’s 41 abortion clinics before the Supreme Court struck down key provisions in 2016. Women in Lubbock faced a 310-mile (500-kilometer) drive to the nearest abortion clinic in Fort Worth. Texas is one of several red states where Planned Parenthood has sought to expand abortion access. Missouri, for example, bars the use of telemedicine for abortion services, a policy that has sharply limited the number of medication abortions.

Doctors ask Supreme Court to strike down Trump abortion rule

WASHINGTON – The nation's largest doctors' group on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to strike down a Trump administration rule that's had a far-reaching impact on family planning by prohibiting taxpayer-funded clinics from referring women for abortions. But the changes to Title X, as the federal family planning program is known, are already in effect — and getting much less attention. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden promises to rescind the Trump administration's family planning rule and also supports allowing federal programs to pay for abortions. But the AMA says regardless of who wins the election, it believes the Supreme Court should address the issue and overturn the Trump administration rule. “We can't afford to walk away from that progress.”Joining the AMA's petition are the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, and Essential Access Health, which administers the Title X family planning program in California.

Judge tosses Trump rule on billing for abortion coverage

WASHINGTON A federal judge in Baltimore on Friday struck down a Trump administration rule that abortion rights advocates called a maneuver to restrict access but officials defended as merely following the law. The judge's ruling means insurers can continue to make the charge for abortion coverage a line item on their monthly bill, or just give policyholders notice that it's included. Abortion opponents cried foul, saying separate bills should be mandatory because that would clearly reflect the intent of the law. The Trump administration, which takes its lead on social issues from religious conservatives, agreed. They argued that the requirement to send separate bills could prompt insurers to drop coverage for abortions and would create confusion for policyholders.

Treasury chief refusing to disclose recipients of virus aid

(Al Drago/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON Building ramparts of secrecy around a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program for small businesses, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has moved from delay to denial in refusing outright to disclose the recipients of taxpayer-funded loans. About 10 weeks after the program was launched, the SBA says it has processed 4.5 million loans worth $511 billion. While the SBA administers the program, Mnuchins Treasury Department has ultimate control over it. We believe that thats proprietary information, and in many cases, for sole proprietors and small businesses, is confidential information, Mnuchin said during the hearing by the Senate Small Business Committee. Praise for the small-business loan program flowed to Mnuchin and Carranza at the hearing from senators from both parties, who cited the positive economic impact across the country.