Fundamental Rights

Abortion foes will ask AZ Supreme Court to keep an abortion rights measure off the ballot

BY: - August 8, 2024

An anti-abortion organization is pushing forward with a lawsuit aimed at keeping an abortion rights initiative off Arizona’s ballot this year, despite a trial court dismissing the challenge earlier this week as groundless.  Arizona Right to Life sought to convince Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Iyer Julian to throw out all the signature petitions […]

Telehealth abortion still on the rise, especially in states with shield laws, report shows

BY: - August 7, 2024

Both the overall number of abortions and the use of telehealth abortion care continue to increase in the United States, according to the latest #WeCount report released Wednesday. Telehealth made up 20% of all abortion care in the first three months of 2024, and the monthly total of abortions exceeded 100,000 for the first time […]

Bill Montgomery says his ‘strong feelings’ on abortion don’t make him biased and he won’t recuse

BY: - August 6, 2024

An Arizona Supreme Court Justice who once accused Planned Parenthood of committing genocide has refused to recuse himself from a case that will decide whether “unborn human being” is used to describe the state’s abortion rights initiative in an election information pamphlet sent to every voter in the state.  “My responsibility to perform my duties […]

Bill Montgomery can’t be fair in abortion ballot measure case, initiative backers claim

BY: - August 5, 2024

Backers of Arizona’s abortion rights ballot measure are calling for state Supreme Court Justice Bill Montgomery, who previously accused Planned Parenthood of committing “genocide,” to step away from a case that could determine whether the phrase “unborn human being” is used to describe the initiative in a voter information pamphlet.  “Like anyone going before any […]

‘It’s a winning issue’: Dems go all-in on abortion rights campaign ahead of November election

BY: - August 1, 2024

On the first day of the general election campaign in Arizona, Democrats in the Grand Canyon State and across the country are betting on passionate pro-choice voters, and those scared of the health consequences of all-out abortion bans, to bring them victory in races across the board in November.  “Look, it’s a winning issue,” Mini […]

Appeals court blocks Title IX rule protecting LGBTQ kids, reversing Alabama federal judge

BY: - July 31, 2024

Just a day after a federal judge struck down an attempt by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to halt enforcement of the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX, a federal appeals court granted the states’ request for an administrative injunction Wednesday — temporarily blocking the updated regulations from taking effect in those Southern […]

Commentary

The future of abortion access in Arizona is in jeopardy — and I’m on the front lines

BY: - July 29, 2024

Arizona is facing a critical juncture in its fight for abortion rights. And as a local physician who’s dedicated nearly 30 years to providing reproductive and family planning care, I’m standing right on the front lines. Arizonans may soon have a chance to use their vote to enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution. If […]

Abortion rights campaign sues over ‘partisan’ summary of ballot measure to ensure abortion access

BY: - July 10, 2024

In a last-ditch effort to oppose the state’s abortion rights ballot measure, Arizona Republicans added “unborn human being” to a description of it that’s set to be included in a voter information pamphlet — and now they’re facing a lawsuit for violating a state law requiring the use of impartial, nonpartisan language.  Cheryl Bruce, the […]

U.S. Surgeon General says firearm violence is a public health crisis

BY: - July 8, 2024

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently issued a national health crisis advisory to the American public that was, according to many experts, long overdue. The subject: gun violence. As the advisory spells out in grim detail, firearm violence has been on a steady and destructive rise across the U.S. for the last several years and […]

Confusion, clinic closures may have caused big declines in contraception use, study shows

BY: - July 5, 2024

Clinic closures in the wake of the Dobbs decision and questions about the legality of emergency contraceptives, including disinformation that some are abortion drugs, may have contributed to a sharp drop in the rate of prescriptions for contraceptives in states with the most restrictive abortion bans, according to a University of California Los Angeles study. […]

Modern-day ‘Comstocks’ look to police travel, information as another strategy to end abortion

BY: - July 5, 2024

Mark Lee Dickson says he’s been home maybe once in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court vanished federal abortion rights in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The 38-year-old director of Right to Life of East Texas in Longview has been on an endless road trip trying to set legal traps for people […]

Commentary

Freedom isn’t free

BY: - July 4, 2024

You can’t understand the scope of 122,000 names until you see them on a wall. Stand at the foot of the National Monument to Freedom, recently dedicated by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, and you’ll see all of them, soaring three or four stories above your head. Each name, taken from the 1870 census, […]