Even as the state of women's rights in the United States faces a steady decline, unborn foetus rights are seeing an elevation. Now, the state of Georgia is giving unborn children the right to be considered a person. According to a news release released on Monday, individuals can now claim "any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat" as a dependent on their state income taxes for the upcoming tax year. People can claim up to $3,000 for a heartbeat as early as 6 weeks into the pregnancy, which is also the time period at which the state's controversial "heartbeat bill" bans abortion.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;'Women's health, lives are on the line,' Joe Biden signs new executive order on abortion

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This is the first step toward asserting complete foetal personhood in Georgia, according to the news publication Jezebel.

"Now, an embryo or fetus at any stage of development is legally considered a person. The tax exemption for those clusters of cells? $3,000 each," wrote Jezebel.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/texas-woman-forced-to-carry-her-own-foul-discharge-to-hospital-just-so-she-can-be-granted-an-abortion-502531">Texas woman forced to carry her foul discharge to hospital just so she can be 'granted' an abortion</a>

In July, the "heartbeat" law went into effect over night. The law, which was previously blocked from going into effect, outlaws the majority of abortions once a "detectable human heartbeat" is present.&nbsp;

Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, long before many pregnancies are detected.

As per the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) "It is clinically inaccurate to use the word “heartbeat” to describe the sound that can be heard on ultrasound in very early pregnancy. In fact, there are no chambers of the heart developed at the early stage in pregnancy that this word is used to describe, so there is no recognizable “heartbeat.” What pregnant people may hear is the ultrasound machine translating electronic impulses that signify fetal cardiac activity into the sound that we recognize as a heartbeat."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/indiana-senate-passes-near-total-abortion-ban-after-closely-fought-vote-502334">Indiana Senate passes near-total abortion ban after closely fought vote</a>

The press release by &nbsp;Georgia Department of Revenue said "In light of the June 24, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and the July 20, 2022, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Sistersong v. Kemp, the Department will recognize any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 1-2-1, as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption."

"As such, on individual income tax returns filed for Tax Year 2022 where, at any time on or after July 20, 2022, and &nbsp;through December 31, 2022, a taxpayer has an unborn child (or children) with a detectable human heartbeat (which may occur as early as six weeks’ gestation), the taxpayer may claim a dependent personal exemption as provided for under O.C.G.A § 48-7-26(a) and (b)(3) in the amount of $3,000.00 for each unborn child."

(With inputs from agencies)

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Even as the state of women's rights in the United States faces a steady decline, unborn foetus rights are seeing an elevation. Now, the state of Georgia is giving unborn children the right to be considered a person.

Even as the state of women's rights in the United States faces a steady decline, unborn foetus rights are seeing an elevation. Now, the state of Georgia is giving unborn children the right to be considered a person. According to a news release released on Monday, individuals can now claim "any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat" as a dependent on their state income taxes for the upcoming tax year. People can claim up to $3,000 for a heartbeat as early as 6 weeks into the pregnancy, which is also the time period at which the state's controversial "heartbeat bill" bans abortion. Watch | 'Women's health, lives are on the line,' Joe Biden signs new executive order on abortion This is the first step toward asserting complete foetal personhood in Georgia, according to the news publication Jezebel. "Now, an embryo or fetus at any stage of development is legally considered a person. The tax exemption for those clusters of cells? $3,000 each," wrote Jezebel. Also read | Texas woman forced to carry her foul discharge to hospital just so she can be 'granted' an abortion In July, the "heartbeat" law went into effect over night. The law, which was previously blocked from going into effect, outlaws the majority of abortions once a "detectable human heartbeat" is present. Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, long before many pregnancies are detected. As per the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) "It is clinically inaccurate to use the word “heartbeat” to describe the sound that can be heard on ultrasound in very early pregnancy. In fact, there are no chambers of the heart developed at the early stage in pregnancy that this word is used to describe, so there is no recognizable “heartbeat.” What pregnant people may hear is the ultrasound machine translating electronic impulses that signify fetal cardiac activity into the sound that we recognize as a heartbeat." Also read | Indiana Senate passes near-total abortion ban after closely fought vote The press release by Georgia Department of Revenue said "In light of the June 24, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and the July 20, 2022, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Sistersong v. Kemp, the Department will recognize any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 1-2-1, as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption." "As such, on individual income tax returns filed for Tax Year 2022 where, at any time on or after July 20, 2022, and through December 31, 2022, a taxpayer has an unborn child (or children) with a detectable human heartbeat (which may occur as early as six weeks’ gestation), the taxpayer may claim a dependent personal exemption as provided for under O.C.G.A § 48-7-26(a) and (b)(3) in the amount of $3,000.00 for each unborn child." (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Georgia provides 'unborn foetus' rights of a person, just weeks after taking away basic rights of women

It’s been more than a month since the Supreme Court of the United States or SCOTUS overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v.&nbsp;Wade ruling, which enshrined American women's right to safe and legal abortion. Since then, many states have come out with their own laws banning or severely limiting abortions. These untested bans have left doctors unsure about treating cases that may be mistaken for "abortions", which include complicated pregnancies. This is exactly what happened to a Texas woman, according to a report by NPR, who had to carry her own putrid discharge into the hospital to demonstrate that an infection was killing her and that she was ultimately in enough danger to end her life-threatening pregnancy.

Watch |&nbsp;US: California adopts new gun control law; Law modelled after Texas abortion law

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This may come as a surprise to you, but the incident didn't actually happen recently, it took place in May, a month before the 1973 ruling was overturned.&nbsp;

It happened because of Texas 'Heartbeat' Bill.

"Abortions are sometimes needed out of an act of an emergency, out of an act of saving a woman's life. Or hell — honestly it shouldn't even get to the point where you're having to save a woman's life," said the 26-year-old Elizabeth Weller who had to bear this nightmare.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/indiana-senate-passes-near-total-abortion-ban-after-closely-fought-vote-502334">Indiana Senate passes near-total abortion ban after closely fought vote</a>

Weller was 18 weeks along in a pregnancy, she really wanted when her water broke prematurely. She didn't have enough amniotic fluid to help sustain the foetus' life. She was informed that the foetus would probably die or struggle in agonising ways for its survival.&nbsp;

However, the foetus’s heart was still beating. The medical staff at the hospital in the Houston region felt that Weller wasn't in enough danger to risk breaking Texas' six-week abortion ban despite symptoms of chorioamnionitis, which can result in a lethal infection.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/republican-senators-fist-bump-after-tanking-a-healthcare-bill-for-military-veterans-502061">WATCH: Republican senators fist-bump after tanking a healthcare bill for military veterans</a>

Officials at the hospital advised her to choose between going home and waiting for her foetus to die inside her or waiting at the hospital until she became ill enough to qualify as a "medical emergency," as allowed by Texas law.

The horrifying incident begs the question: How many similar cases have taken place since the nationwide ruling took effect? How many delays caused by legal restrictions resulted in delays that were life-threatening and imprisoned families in a limbo of helplessness and grief?

(With inputs from agencies)

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It’s been more than a month since the Supreme Court of the United States or SCOTUS overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which enshrined American women's right to safe and legal abortion.

It’s been more than a month since the Supreme Court of the United States or SCOTUS overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which enshrined American women's right to safe and legal abortion. Since then, many states have come out with their own laws banning or severely limiting abortions. These untested bans have left doctors unsure about treating cases that may be mistaken for "abortions", which include complicated pregnancies. This is exactly what happened to a Texas woman, according to a report by NPR, who had to carry her own putrid discharge into the hospital to demonstrate that an infection was killing her and that she was ultimately in enough danger to end her life-threatening pregnancy. Watch | US: California adopts new gun control law; Law modelled after Texas abortion law This may come as a surprise to you, but the incident didn't actually happen recently, it took place in May, a month before the 1973 ruling was overturned. It happened because of Texas 'Heartbeat' Bill. "Abortions are sometimes needed out of an act of an emergency, out of an act of saving a woman's life. Or hell — honestly it shouldn't even get to the point where you're having to save a woman's life," said the 26-year-old Elizabeth Weller who had to bear this nightmare. Also read | Indiana Senate passes near-total abortion ban after closely fought vote Weller was 18 weeks along in a pregnancy, she really wanted when her water broke prematurely. She didn't have enough amniotic fluid to help sustain the foetus' life. She was informed that the foetus would probably die or struggle in agonising ways for its survival. However, the foetus’s heart was still beating. The medical staff at the hospital in the Houston region felt that Weller wasn't in enough danger to risk breaking Texas' six-week abortion ban despite symptoms of chorioamnionitis, which can result in a lethal infection. Also read | WATCH: Republican senators fist-bump after tanking a healthcare bill for military veterans Officials at the hospital advised her to choose between going home and waiting for her foetus to die inside her or waiting at the hospital until she became ill enough to qualify as a "medical emergency," as allowed by Texas law. The horrifying incident begs the question: How many similar cases have taken place since the nationwide ruling took effect? How many delays caused by legal restrictions resulted in delays that were life-threatening and imprisoned families in a limbo of helplessness and grief? (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Texas woman forced to carry her foul discharge to hospital just so she can be 'granted' an abortion

The American nightmare is getting worse. A few weeks back, the United States'&nbsp;esteemed Supreme Court overturned&nbsp;a monumental judgement 'Roe V. Wade' which basically took away the nation's women's autonomy over their own bodies. Now seventeen Attorney Generals want to manipulate how internet search answers these women's queries regarding Abortion centres. In the letter,&nbsp; top&nbsp;Republicans have called out Google's "monopoly power in the markets for search services" and have pushed for the inclusion of crisis pregnancy clinics that actually oppose abortion in search results for "abortion."

As per Jezebel, "crisis pregnancy centres are faith-based organizations that prey on people struggling with unwanted pregnancies. They advertise heavily on Google and social media and aggressively try to dissuade people from having abortions by pushing dangerous disinformation."

Watch |&nbsp;<a href="&lt;div class=&quot;videoWrapper trancodeVideo&quot;&gt;&lt;iframe src=&quot;https://www.wionews.com/videos/youtube-removes-misleading-content-on-abortion-procedures-499845/embed&quot; width=&quot;560&quot; height=&quot;350&quot; style=&quot;width:100%;max-width:560px;&quot; class=&quot;includeVideo&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; autoplay=1 allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;">YouTube removes misleading content on abortion procedures</a>

Texas AG Ken Paxton was one of 17 Republican state attorneys general who addressed the firm in a letter dated July 21. The letter was made public on Tuesday (July 26).

"We trust that you will treat this letter with the seriousness these issues require, and hope you will decide that Google’s search results must not be subject to left-wing political pressure, which would actively harm women seeking essential assistance," said the letter.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/republican-politician-tells-college-students-nobody-wants-to-impregnate-you-if-you-look-like-a-thumb-500462">Republican politician tells college students 'nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb'</a>

It further goes on to threaten Google "We wish to make this very clear to Google and the other market participants that it dwarfs: If you fail to resist this political pressure, we will act swiftly to protect American consumers from this dangerous axis of corporate and government power."&nbsp;

In June some democrat leaders had written to the media giant urging it to stop showing anti-abortion centres in searches for "abortion".&nbsp;This letter was sent after a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate revealed that in "abortion-hostile" states, 40 per cent of Google Maps Search results for “abortion” led people to crisis pregnancy centres.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/roe-v-wade-google-location-history-of-women-remains-vulnerable-youtube-to-censor-false-videos-on-abortion-499712">Roe v. Wade: Google location history of women remains vulnerable; YouTube to censor false videos on abortion</a>

An undercover investigation by the publication Jezebel had previously described the ongoings at these crisis pregnancy centres: "I was told abortions increase the risk of miscarriage. I was told an abortion could rip a hole in my cervix, causing my intestines to be pulled through it. Again and again, I was told an abortion could be fatal. Only the risks were described."

(With inputs from agencies)

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The American nightmare is getting worse. A few weeks back, the United States' esteemed Supreme Court overturned a monumental judgement 'Roe V. Wade' which basically took away the nation's women's autonomy over their own bodies.

The American nightmare is getting worse. A few weeks back, the United States' esteemed Supreme Court overturned a monumental judgement 'Roe V. Wade' which basically took away the nation's women's autonomy over their own bodies. Now seventeen Attorney Generals want to manipulate how internet search answers these women's queries regarding Abortion centres. In the letter, top Republicans have called out Google's "monopoly power in the markets for search services" and have pushed for the inclusion of crisis pregnancy clinics that actually oppose abortion in search results for "abortion." As per Jezebel, "crisis pregnancy centres are faith-based organizations that prey on people struggling with unwanted pregnancies. They advertise heavily on Google and social media and aggressively try to dissuade people from having abortions by pushing dangerous disinformation." Watch | YouTube removes misleading content on abortion procedures Texas AG Ken Paxton was one of 17 Republican state attorneys general who addressed the firm in a letter dated July 21. The letter was made public on Tuesday (July 26). "We trust that you will treat this letter with the seriousness these issues require, and hope you will decide that Google’s search results must not be subject to left-wing political pressure, which would actively harm women seeking essential assistance," said the letter. Also read | Republican politician tells college students 'nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb' It further goes on to threaten Google "We wish to make this very clear to Google and the other market participants that it dwarfs: If you fail to resist this political pressure, we will act swiftly to protect American consumers from this dangerous axis of corporate and government power." In June some democrat leaders had written to the media giant urging it to stop showing anti-abortion centres in searches for "abortion". This letter was sent after a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate revealed that in "abortion-hostile" states, 40 per cent of Google Maps Search results for “abortion” led people to crisis pregnancy centres. Also read | Roe v. Wade: Google location history of women remains vulnerable; YouTube to censor false videos on abortion An undercover investigation by the publication Jezebel had previously described the ongoings at these crisis pregnancy centres: "I was told abortions increase the risk of miscarriage. I was told an abortion could rip a hole in my cervix, causing my intestines to be pulled through it. Again and again, I was told an abortion could be fatal. Only the risks were described." (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Republicans threaten Google: Include 'anti-abortion' crisis pregnancy centres in results for abortion or else

On June 24th, 2022, American women not only lost their right to a safe abortion, many say they lost the autonomy they had on their own bodies. Since then, unfortunately, many disheartening news stories have come to light, like that of a 10 years old rape victim having to travel 385 kilometres (200+ miles) for an abortion. However, many organisations have also stepped forward to help out women in whatever way they can.&nbsp;

One of the biggest fallouts of the overturning of Roe v. Wade was women using the internet to access information about abortion. And let’s be honest, internet is a maze of content, much of which may be false or doctored.

Watch |&nbsp;US: At least 34 arrested near Capitol Hill at a pro-abortion rally

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YouTube is now joining the list and taking steps to deal with the repercussions of the US Supreme Court’s verdict. On Thursday, the platform said that it will start removing videos containing false or unsafe claims about the abortion procedure.&nbsp;

Talking to AFP, YouTube said, “Starting today and ramping up over the next few weeks, we will remove content that provides instructions for unsafe abortion methods or promotes false claims about abortion safety under our medical misinformation policies.”

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/roe-vs-wade-overturn-10-year-old-rape-survivor-forced-to-travels-from-ohio-to-indiana-for-abortion-494457">Roe vs Wade overturn: 10-year-old rape survivor forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion</a>

“We believe it’s important to connect people to content from authoritative sources regarding health topics.”

Instructions for risky at-home abortions and misleading claims that there is a high danger that the procedure would result in cancer or infertility are a few examples of the information YouTube stated it will remove from its platform globally.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/google-announces-deletion-of-user-location-history-on-us-abortion-clinic-visits-493720">Google announces deletion of user location history on US abortion clinic visits</a>

One of the biggest names that extended a helping hand back in June was Google. The company promised to protect the location history of its users visiting abortion clinics or other sensitive locations like domestic violence shelters. This step was to help users protect their privacy and escape scrutiny.

However, as per a Guardian report, citing findings by the Tech Transparency Project, the research arm of the non-profit Campaign for Accountability the data still remains vulnerable. Anyone with access to a person’s phone can access their location history.

(With inputs from agencies)

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On June 24th, 2022, American women not only lost their right to a safe abortion, many say they lost the autonomy they had on their own bodies. Since then, unfortunately, many disheartening news stories have come to light, like that of a 10 years old rape victim having to travel 385 kilometres (200+ miles) for an abortion.

On June 24th, 2022, American women not only lost their right to a safe abortion, many say they lost the autonomy they had on their own bodies. Since then, unfortunately, many disheartening news stories have come to light, like that of a 10 years old rape victim having to travel 385 kilometres (200+ miles) for an abortion. However, many organisations have also stepped forward to help out women in whatever way they can. One of the biggest fallouts of the overturning of Roe v. Wade was women using the internet to access information about abortion. And let’s be honest, internet is a maze of content, much of which may be false or doctored. Watch | US: At least 34 arrested near Capitol Hill at a pro-abortion rally YouTube is now joining the list and taking steps to deal with the repercussions of the US Supreme Court’s verdict. On Thursday, the platform said that it will start removing videos containing false or unsafe claims about the abortion procedure. Talking to AFP, YouTube said, “Starting today and ramping up over the next few weeks, we will remove content that provides instructions for unsafe abortion methods or promotes false claims about abortion safety under our medical misinformation policies.” Also read | Roe vs Wade overturn: 10-year-old rape survivor forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion “We believe it’s important to connect people to content from authoritative sources regarding health topics.” Instructions for risky at-home abortions and misleading claims that there is a high danger that the procedure would result in cancer or infertility are a few examples of the information YouTube stated it will remove from its platform globally. Also read | Google announces deletion of user location history on US abortion clinic visits One of the biggest names that extended a helping hand back in June was Google. The company promised to protect the location history of its users visiting abortion clinics or other sensitive locations like domestic violence shelters. This step was to help users protect their privacy and escape scrutiny. However, as per a Guardian report, citing findings by the Tech Transparency Project, the research arm of the non-profit Campaign for Accountability the data still remains vulnerable. Anyone with access to a person’s phone can access their location history. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Roe v. Wade: Google location history of women remains vulnerable; YouTube to censor false videos on abortion

A US conservative politician&nbsp;while speaking to college students at a gathering in Florida ridiculed the American pro-choice movement and said that ugly women shouldn't worry about an abortion. Matt Gaetz who himself is under federal investigation over charges of statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl and sex trafficking made the revolting statement while talking to a bunch of teenagers at a right-wing student conference in Tampa, Florida.&nbsp;Referring to the pro-choice rallies as "pro-murder" the Republican said: "Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions? Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb."

Watch |&nbsp;YouTube removes misleading content on abortion procedures

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He went on to make degrading comments on the bodies of women and even resorted to fat-shaming.&nbsp;

"They’re like, 5’2”, 350 pounds, like, ‘Give me my abortions or I’ll get up and march and protest.’ And I’m thinking – march? You look like you got ankles weaker than the legal reasoning behind Roe v Wade."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/roe-v-wade-google-location-history-of-women-remains-vulnerable-youtube-to-censor-false-videos-on-abortion-499712">Roe v. Wade: Google location history of women remains vulnerable; YouTube to censor false videos on abortion</a>

He also gave unsolicited advice to the "odious" pro-life people: "A few of them need to get up and march. They need to get up and march for like an hour a day. Swing those arms, get the blood pumping, maybe mix in a salad.”

Feminist media outlet Jezebel slammed the speech and called it "cartoonishly misogynist". It points out that for Gaetz calling women unattractive is the "go-to schtick".&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/roe-vs-wade-overturn-10-year-old-rape-survivor-forced-to-travels-from-ohio-to-indiana-for-abortion-494457">Roe vs Wade overturn: 10-year-old rape survivor forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion</a>

Soon after the SCOTUS decision was leaked in May, he tweeted "How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches?"&nbsp;

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How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches?
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1521797001175834625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
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A long-time ally of former US President Donald Trump, Gaetz as per a New York Times report paid a 17-year-old girl to have sex and travel with him.

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A US conservative politician while speaking to college students at a gathering in Florida ridiculed the American pro-choice movement and said that ugly women shouldn't worry about an abortion.

A US conservative politician while speaking to college students at a gathering in Florida ridiculed the American pro-choice movement and said that ugly women shouldn't worry about an abortion. Matt Gaetz who himself is under federal investigation over charges of statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl and sex trafficking made the revolting statement while talking to a bunch of teenagers at a right-wing student conference in Tampa, Florida. Referring to the pro-choice rallies as "pro-murder" the Republican said: "Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions? Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb." Watch | YouTube removes misleading content on abortion procedures He went on to make degrading comments on the bodies of women and even resorted to fat-shaming. "They’re like, 5’2”, 350 pounds, like, ‘Give me my abortions or I’ll get up and march and protest.’ And I’m thinking – march? You look like you got ankles weaker than the legal reasoning behind Roe v Wade." Also read | Roe v. Wade: Google location history of women remains vulnerable; YouTube to censor false videos on abortion He also gave unsolicited advice to the "odious" pro-life people: "A few of them need to get up and march. They need to get up and march for like an hour a day. Swing those arms, get the blood pumping, maybe mix in a salad.” Feminist media outlet Jezebel slammed the speech and called it "cartoonishly misogynist". It points out that for Gaetz calling women unattractive is the "go-to schtick". Also read | Roe vs Wade overturn: 10-year-old rape survivor forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion Soon after the SCOTUS decision was leaked in May, he tweeted "How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches?" How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches? — Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) May 4, 2022 × A long-time ally of former US President Donald Trump, Gaetz as per a New York Times report paid a 17-year-old girl to have sex and travel with him. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Republican politician tells college students 'nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb'

When the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, everyone knew that some things would be harder to get, the most obvious one: Abortions. But who knew that this ruling would make the availability of some vital medicines very difficult. In the weeks since the SCOTUS ruling, multiple accounts of such struggles have come to light, reports AFP. One medicine that perhaps no one thought would be affected was arthritis medicine. However, recent reports have brought to light an overlooked impact of the ruling and the resulting state-level abortion bans or harsh restrictions.

A report by AFP narrates the experience of a nurse from Alabama, Melissa, who was told that the regular drug prescription for her rheumatoid arthritis was "on hold" pending a check that she wasn't going to use it to induce an abortion.

Watch |&nbsp;United States: Abortion pill access to be restricted?

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She expressed her outrage at the unfairness of the double standard that permitted one of her male best friends to get his methotrexate prescription filled without delay.

"We're headed in the wrong direction and it's terrifying. I have two daughters. I don't want to see this," she said.&nbsp;

While this is not a one-off incident, it's unclear how common they are. National groups like the American College of Rheumatology and the Lupus Foundation of America have reportedly said they were aware of the issues and urging anybody who has been impacted to come forward.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/roe-v-wade-overturned-how-safe-are-abortion-pills-491822">Roe v. Wade overturned: How safe are abortion pills?</a>

A second woman, a 20-year-old Ohio university student, told AFP that she had been prescribed methotrexate since 2020 to treat her lupus.&nbsp;She reported that a national chain of pharmacies informed her that they were "no longer accepting prescriptions for methotrexate unless it was for the FDA-approved use of (treating) breast cancer, or the patient was not presumably fertile."

National pharmacy giants CVS and Walmart said in statements to AFP that they were making efforts to follow new state laws in light of the high court's decision to abolish the constitutional right to an abortion.

In order to ensure that patients have rapid and simple access to pharmaceuticals, CVS said: "We encourage providers to include their diagnosis on the prescriptions they write."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/roe-v-wade-overturned-heres-what-the-ruling-means-for-millions-of-american-women-491461">Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women</a>

The medicine at the centre of the controversy is methotrexate, which reduces inflammation and is frequently used to treat autoimmune diseases like inflammatory arthritis, psoriasis, and lupus. Higher doses are also administered as a cancer treatment to inhibit cell division.

It can also occasionally be used in medical abortions, albeit less commonly than the FDA-approved combination of mifepristone and misoprostol.

Nevertheless, a number of states have introduced legislation that threatens legal action against medical professionals and pharmacies that sell methotrexate.

(With inputs from agencies)

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When the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, everyone knew that some things would be harder to get, the most obvious one: Abortions. But who knew that this ruling would make the availability of some vital medicines very difficult.

When the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, everyone knew that some things would be harder to get, the most obvious one: Abortions. But who knew that this ruling would make the availability of some vital medicines very difficult. In the weeks since the SCOTUS ruling, multiple accounts of such struggles have come to light, reports AFP. One medicine that perhaps no one thought would be affected was arthritis medicine. However, recent reports have brought to light an overlooked impact of the ruling and the resulting state-level abortion bans or harsh restrictions. A report by AFP narrates the experience of a nurse from Alabama, Melissa, who was told that the regular drug prescription for her rheumatoid arthritis was "on hold" pending a check that she wasn't going to use it to induce an abortion. Watch | United States: Abortion pill access to be restricted? She expressed her outrage at the unfairness of the double standard that permitted one of her male best friends to get his methotrexate prescription filled without delay. "We're headed in the wrong direction and it's terrifying. I have two daughters. I don't want to see this," she said. While this is not a one-off incident, it's unclear how common they are. National groups like the American College of Rheumatology and the Lupus Foundation of America have reportedly said they were aware of the issues and urging anybody who has been impacted to come forward. Also read | Roe v. Wade overturned: How safe are abortion pills? A second woman, a 20-year-old Ohio university student, told AFP that she had been prescribed methotrexate since 2020 to treat her lupus. She reported that a national chain of pharmacies informed her that they were "no longer accepting prescriptions for methotrexate unless it was for the FDA-approved use of (treating) breast cancer, or the patient was not presumably fertile." National pharmacy giants CVS and Walmart said in statements to AFP that they were making efforts to follow new state laws in light of the high court's decision to abolish the constitutional right to an abortion. In order to ensure that patients have rapid and simple access to pharmaceuticals, CVS said: "We encourage providers to include their diagnosis on the prescriptions they write." Also read | Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women The medicine at the centre of the controversy is methotrexate, which reduces inflammation and is frequently used to treat autoimmune diseases like inflammatory arthritis, psoriasis, and lupus. Higher doses are also administered as a cancer treatment to inhibit cell division. It can also occasionally be used in medical abortions, albeit less commonly than the FDA-approved combination of mifepristone and misoprostol. Nevertheless, a number of states have introduced legislation that threatens legal action against medical professionals and pharmacies that sell methotrexate. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

An unlikely 'side-effect' of abortion ban, women can't buy arthritis medicine

A Mississippi court on Tuesday declines to block a near-total ban on abortions from coming into effect later this week. Judge Debbra Halford in Jackson, Mississippi denied a request by the state`s only abortion clinic to prevent officials from carrying out a near-total ban on abortion. The ban is due to come into effect on Thursday.

Jackson Women`s Health Organization, the abortion clinic cited 1998 ruling by the Mississippi Supreme Court in which it was held that right to privacy under the state`s constitution included a right to abortion.

However, Judge Halford expressed doubts that state high court would continue to uphold the decision.

Rob McDuff, a lawyer for the Mississippi clinic, called the ruling disappointing and said they were considering their options.

Mississippi is one of 13 states in the US where "trigger" laws are present. These laws are designed to ban/ restrict abortions once US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v Wade judgment.

The US Supreme Court on June 24 overturned the landmark ruling that provided constitutional access to abortions to women in the US.

The conservative majority US&nbsp;Supreme Court`s decision gave states permission to ban abortion and nearly two dozen Republican-led states are now trying to do so, or have done so already.

The decision has ignited a wave of litigation by clinics in various states aimed at preserving the ability of women to obtain abortions based on protections in state rather than federal constitutions, as well as nationwide protests.

(With inputs from agencies)

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A Mississippi court on Tuesday declines to block a near-total ban on abortions from coming into effect later this week. Judge Debbra Halford in Jackson, Mississippi denied a request by the state`s only abortion clinic to prevent officials from carrying out a near-total ban on abortion.

A Mississippi court on Tuesday declines to block a near-total ban on abortions from coming into effect later this week. Judge Debbra Halford in Jackson, Mississippi denied a request by the state`s only abortion clinic to prevent officials from carrying out a near-total ban on abortion. The ban is due to come into effect on Thursday. Jackson Women`s Health Organization, the abortion clinic cited 1998 ruling by the Mississippi Supreme Court in which it was held that right to privacy under the state`s constitution included a right to abortion. However, Judge Halford expressed doubts that state high court would continue to uphold the decision. Rob McDuff, a lawyer for the Mississippi clinic, called the ruling disappointing and said they were considering their options. Mississippi is one of 13 states in the US where "trigger" laws are present. These laws are designed to ban/ restrict abortions once US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v Wade judgment. The US Supreme Court on June 24 overturned the landmark ruling that provided constitutional access to abortions to women in the US. The conservative majority US Supreme Court`s decision gave states permission to ban abortion and nearly two dozen Republican-led states are now trying to do so, or have done so already. The decision has ignited a wave of litigation by clinics in various states aimed at preserving the ability of women to obtain abortions based on protections in state rather than federal constitutions, as well as nationwide protests. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Mississippi court refuses to block implementation of abortion ban

TikTok, a short-format video hosting service, was initially launched as a platform for sharing byte-sized content like makeup tutorials, cooking recipes, dances etc. However, after the rollback of Roe v. Wade, there are reports of potentially dangerous abortion-related information running on the platform. Following the Roe v. Wade ruling last Friday, that would make abortion illegal in America, prompting protests by women and reproductive rights advocates across the country, people seem to have taken the matter into their own hands.&nbsp;

A text that flashes on the social media platform reads: "If you’re a female in America worried about your future, just know there is an herb for every'situation'," followed by a list of herbs including pennyroyal, blue cohosh, and mugwort. A new wave of discussion is currently going on on TikTok that focuses on herbs that can cause abortions. After the ruling, people on TikTok are offering grassroots solutions to those who seek abortion facilities.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, medical professionals are concerned about this increasing trend of TikTok creators&nbsp;promoting these herbal abortifacients. These herbs can also have catastrophic effects on a woman’s health. Mary Jane Minkin, MD, a gynaecologist and clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the Yale University School of Medicine, on knowing about the trends said, "I’m horrified. They’re going to kill people. She also stated that performing abortions at home can turn fatal and result in sepsis or death. "It’s terrifying because 49 years ago, that’s how women died," she said.&nbsp;

One of the most commonly mentioned abortifacients on TikTok is a minty, sweet-smelling plant called pennyroyal, which is also used in essential oils and insect repellents, reported the Rolling Stone. However, according to Josh Trebach, a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician in Lowa City, the herb contains pulegone, which gets metabolised in the body and produces toxins that might result in liver necrosis, causing indigestion-related side effects like nausea, vomiting, and pain in the abdomen as well as seizures, comas, liver failure, and even death.&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/roe-v-wade-overturned-heres-what-the-ruling-means-for-millions-of-american-women-491461">Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women</a>

Another herb cited on TikTok is called Blue Cohosh, which contains a compound called methylcytosine. If used in large doses, it can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, profuse drooling, heart rhythms, muscle weakness, seizures, coma, and even death.

Trebach said, "People may, at the end of the day, perceive these to be potential solutions because they have no other options. As a toxicologist that really scares me." He further added that due to a lack of research on these herbs, even medical experts don’t know whether these herbs work well to cause abortions. "But we do know it can get people really, really sick," he stated.&nbsp;

Watch American actress Sharon Stone speak about her painful miscarriage story here:-

&nbsp;<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_X7BHpu_0DQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

On TikTok, there is an abundance of misinformation about these dangerous herbal abortifacients. One of the hashtags, # pennyroyaltea, has received approximately 1.1 million views and advocates the use of an abortifacient. Another hashtag for mugwort has over 157 million views. With that hashtag, the most popular video has more than 350,000 views and says, "This is caution not to drink mugwort tea while pregnant because it may simulate your menstrual cycle resulting in losing [sic] the fetus. Once again, please don’t do this." Despite the fact that the video's caption reads, "Life hack # roevwade # womensrights."

Trabach noted that he came across posts relating to herbal abortifacients such as pennyroyal and mugwort last month, shortly after the news about the impending Roe v. Wade decision was leaked. Searches for "pennyroyal," "blue cohosh", and "mugwort" have shot up in the past month. As per recent Google Trends data, searches for "pennyroyal abortion" have increased by 40 per cent, and searches for "blue cohosh pregnancy" grew by 70 percent over the past week.&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="Roe v Wade overturned: Meta, Disney to pay for employees’ abortion-related travel costs after SCOTUS ruling">Roe v Wade overturned: Meta, Disney to pay for employees’ abortion-related travel costs after SCOTUS ruling</a>

Though the rise in herbal abortifacients advocacy has emerged because of the rollback of the abortion rights law, they have remained available in the underground market, through herbalists and midwives, leading to those who seek such options for abortion.&nbsp;

There are several blogs and Reddit threads that include step-by-step information on how to self-perform an abortion, and with the speed with which the misinformation is spreading, it can become threatening to lives. "Fifty years ago we didn’t have TikTok. There was some filtration in information. But now anyone can publish anything anywhere and it gets out to billions of people. It just terrifies me," says a medical expert.&nbsp;

In the United States, the herbal supplement market is unregulated. Therefore, people can buy anything that is sold to them as herbal, and it may not be. A study by integrative medicine and women’s health specialist Fredi Kronenberg mentions that three out of 11 products that were marketed as black cohosh had no black cohosh in them. Black cohosh is used to provide relief from menopausal effects.&nbsp;

Due to the strict content guidelines of TikTok, several videos indirectly try to share messages about how these are effective and safe alternatives to causing abortion under the disguise of keywords. Experts believe that those who are trying to provide alternatives to people in need are helping them, but these home remedies cannot replace medical treatment.&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/roe-v-wade-overturned-us-companies-that-have-pledged-support-to-its-female-employees-491766">Roe v Wade overturned: US Companies that have pledged support to its female employees</a>

TikTok has not yet responded to the spread of misinformation on its platform, and it is not the first time that the platform has received criticism for letting videos containing wrong and harmful information regarding health. Rolling Stone reported that last year, TikTok came under fire for pushing the use of ivermectin medicine as a cure for the COVID disease. Ivermectin is a horse deworming medication.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, experts said that TikTok should take control over the spread of such hazardous information on its platform.&nbsp;

Currently, in the US, websites such as Plan C and Safe2Choose are operational that can connect with people seeking abortions at home and provide solutions like abortion pills, a much safer and more reliable option. People without any age limit can order mifepristone and misoprostol from Aid Access, which ships drugs anywhere in the US and around the world.&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/us-abortion-law-ruling-celebrities-who-came-out-with-their-abortion-stories-491642#phoebe-bridgers-491635">Roe vs Wade Overturned: Celebrities who came out with their abortion stories</a>

TikTok, a short-format video hosting service, was initially launched as a platform for sharing byte-sized content like makeup tutorials, cooking recipes, dances etc.

TikTok, a short-format video hosting service, was initially launched as a platform for sharing byte-sized content like makeup tutorials, cooking recipes, dances etc. However, after the rollback of Roe v. Wade, there are reports of potentially dangerous abortion-related information running on the platform. Following the Roe v. Wade ruling last Friday, that would make abortion illegal in America, prompting protests by women and reproductive rights advocates across the country, people seem to have taken the matter into their own hands. A text that flashes on the social media platform reads: "If you’re a female in America worried about your future, just know there is an herb for every'situation'," followed by a list of herbs including pennyroyal, blue cohosh, and mugwort. A new wave of discussion is currently going on on TikTok that focuses on herbs that can cause abortions. After the ruling, people on TikTok are offering grassroots solutions to those who seek abortion facilities. Meanwhile, medical professionals are concerned about this increasing trend of TikTok creators promoting these herbal abortifacients. These herbs can also have catastrophic effects on a woman’s health. Mary Jane Minkin, MD, a gynaecologist and clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the Yale University School of Medicine, on knowing about the trends said, "I’m horrified. They’re going to kill people. She also stated that performing abortions at home can turn fatal and result in sepsis or death. "It’s terrifying because 49 years ago, that’s how women died," she said. One of the most commonly mentioned abortifacients on TikTok is a minty, sweet-smelling plant called pennyroyal, which is also used in essential oils and insect repellents, reported the Rolling Stone. However, according to Josh Trebach, a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician in Lowa City, the herb contains pulegone, which gets metabolised in the body and produces toxins that might result in liver necrosis, causing indigestion-related side effects like nausea, vomiting, and pain in the abdomen as well as seizures, comas, liver failure, and even death. Also Read: Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women Another herb cited on TikTok is called Blue Cohosh, which contains a compound called methylcytosine. If used in large doses, it can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, profuse drooling, heart rhythms, muscle weakness, seizures, coma, and even death. Trebach said, "People may, at the end of the day, perceive these to be potential solutions because they have no other options. As a toxicologist that really scares me." He further added that due to a lack of research on these herbs, even medical experts don’t know whether these herbs work well to cause abortions. "But we do know it can get people really, really sick," he stated. Watch American actress Sharon Stone speak about her painful miscarriage story here:- On TikTok, there is an abundance of misinformation about these dangerous herbal abortifacients. One of the hashtags, # pennyroyaltea, has received approximately 1.1 million views and advocates the use of an abortifacient. Another hashtag for mugwort has over 157 million views. With that hashtag, the most popular video has more than 350,000 views and says, "This is caution not to drink mugwort tea while pregnant because it may simulate your menstrual cycle resulting in losing [sic] the fetus. Once again, please don’t do this." Despite the fact that the video's caption reads, "Life hack # roevwade # womensrights." Trabach noted that he came across posts relating to herbal abortifacients such as pennyroyal and mugwort last month, shortly after the news about the impending Roe v. Wade decision was leaked. Searches for "pennyroyal," "blue cohosh", and "mugwort" have shot up in the past month. As per recent Google Trends data, searches for "pennyroyal abortion" have increased by 40 per cent, and searches for "blue cohosh pregnancy" grew by 70 percent over the past week. Also Read: Roe v Wade overturned: Meta, Disney to pay for employees’ abortion-related travel costs after SCOTUS ruling Though the rise in herbal abortifacients advocacy has emerged because of the rollback of the abortion rights law, they have remained available in the underground market, through herbalists and midwives, leading to those who seek such options for abortion. There are several blogs and Reddit threads that include step-by-step information on how to self-perform an abortion, and with the speed with which the misinformation is spreading, it can become threatening to lives. "Fifty years ago we didn’t have TikTok. There was some filtration in information. But now anyone can publish anything anywhere and it gets out to billions of people. It just terrifies me," says a medical expert. In the United States, the herbal supplement market is unregulated. Therefore, people can buy anything that is sold to them as herbal, and it may not be. A study by integrative medicine and women’s health specialist Fredi Kronenberg mentions that three out of 11 products that were marketed as black cohosh had no black cohosh in them. Black cohosh is used to provide relief from menopausal effects. Due to the strict content guidelines of TikTok, several videos indirectly try to share messages about how these are effective and safe alternatives to causing abortion under the disguise of keywords. Experts believe that those who are trying to provide alternatives to people in need are helping them, but these home remedies cannot replace medical treatment. Also Read: Roe v Wade overturned: US Companies that have pledged support to its female employees TikTok has not yet responded to the spread of misinformation on its platform, and it is not the first time that the platform has received criticism for letting videos containing wrong and harmful information regarding health. Rolling Stone reported that last year, TikTok came under fire for pushing the use of ivermectin medicine as a cure for the COVID disease. Ivermectin is a horse deworming medication. Meanwhile, experts said that TikTok should take control over the spread of such hazardous information on its platform. Currently, in the US, websites such as Plan C and Safe2Choose are operational that can connect with people seeking abortions at home and provide solutions like abortion pills, a much safer and more reliable option. People without any age limit can order mifepristone and misoprostol from Aid Access, which ships drugs anywhere in the US and around the world. Also Read: Roe vs Wade Overturned: Celebrities who came out with their abortion stories

Women in the US turn to TikTok's viral herbal abortion remedies as a desperate measure

The overturning of Roe v Wade by the United States Supreme Court was followed by a number of states passing “trigger laws” which were aimed at many abortions more challenging. Kentucky came up with a law that meant a near-total ban on abortions, but it looks like the implementation of the law will not be happening right now. A judge temporarily blocked the law on Thursday and that can result into resumption of abortions in the aftermath of the judgement. Meanwhile, similar sentiments were expressed by a judge in Florida who said he will block a 15-week abortion ban.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ketanji-brown-jackson-sworn-in-becomes-first-black-woman-on-us-supreme-court-493373">Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in, becomes first Black woman on US Supreme Court</a>

The abortion clinics in Kentucky were not carrying out the processes after Roe v Wade was overturned but the judgement by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mitch Perry&nbsp;will be a massive boost for the women with scheduled appointments to go through with the procedure.

The judgement was instantly criticised by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron who said that he will be challenging it. “We will do everything possible to continue defending this law and to ensure that unborn life is protected in the Commonwealth,” he said in a statement.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/scotus-strikes-again-limits-us-government-powers-to-curb-greenhouse-emissions-493343" hreflang="en">SCOTUS strikes again, limits US government powers to curb greenhouse emissions</a>

However, both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood welcomed the judgement and said that since the overturning of Roe v Wade by the Supreme Court last week, “numerous Kentuckians have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will or flee their home state in search of essential care. Despite this victory, we know this fight is far from over.”

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The overturning of Roe v Wade by the United States Supreme Court was followed by a number of states passing “trigger laws” which were aimed at many abortions more challenging.

The overturning of Roe v Wade by the United States Supreme Court was followed by a number of states passing “trigger laws” which were aimed at many abortions more challenging. Kentucky came up with a law that meant a near-total ban on abortions, but it looks like the implementation of the law will not be happening right now. A judge temporarily blocked the law on Thursday and that can result into resumption of abortions in the aftermath of the judgement. Meanwhile, similar sentiments were expressed by a judge in Florida who said he will block a 15-week abortion ban. Also read | Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in, becomes first Black woman on US Supreme Court The abortion clinics in Kentucky were not carrying out the processes after Roe v Wade was overturned but the judgement by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mitch Perry will be a massive boost for the women with scheduled appointments to go through with the procedure. The judgement was instantly criticised by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron who said that he will be challenging it. “We will do everything possible to continue defending this law and to ensure that unborn life is protected in the Commonwealth,” he said in a statement. Also read | SCOTUS strikes again, limits US government powers to curb greenhouse emissions However, both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood welcomed the judgement and said that since the overturning of Roe v Wade by the Supreme Court last week, “numerous Kentuckians have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will or flee their home state in search of essential care. Despite this victory, we know this fight is far from over.” WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Louisville judge temporarily blocks Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban

Judges in US states of Florida and Kentucky have temporarily blocked these states from enforcing abortion ban, a week after the Supreme Court overruled the 1973 Wade decision that had given constitutional rights.

Florida Circuit Court Judge John Cooper in Tallahassee granted a petition from abortion rights groups on Thursday to temporarily freeze a state law that would bar abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, reports Reuters.

In Kentucky, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mitch Perry issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the state from enforcing a ban passed in 2019 and triggered by the Supreme Court's decision.

Kentucky is one of 13 states that enacted so-called "trigger" laws that will take effect if Roe v. Wade was overturned.

“I do find the state has failed to provide convincing and credible evidence that this law, HB 5, exhibits a compelling state interest to be protected," Cooper said, adding that the law violates people's right to privacy.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/fallout-of-roe-v-wade-facebook-instagram-removing-posts-offering-abortion-pills-493511" hreflang="en">Fallout of Roe v Wade: Facebook, Insta removing posts offering abortion pills</a>

State Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, said in a statement that Judge Perry had no basis under Kentucky's constitution to allow the clinics to resume performing abortions.

With trigger laws taking effect following the reversal of Roe, abortion rights groups have swiftly gone to court to contest efforts by Republicans to expand&nbsp;abortion restrictions&nbsp;across the country. These curbs are now taking effect or are expected to in 22 states.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/scotus-strikes-again-limits-us-government-powers-to-curb-greenhouse-emissions-493343" hreflang="en">SCOTUS strikes again, limits US government powers to curb greenhouse emissions</a>

Apart from that, state courts in Texas, Louisiana and Utah have also temporarily blocked bans since last week, with abortion providers seeking similar relief in states including Idaho, Ohio, Mississippi and West Virginia. None of these measures are permanent&nbsp;and are subject to further hearings.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Judges in US states of Florida and Kentucky have temporarily blocked these states from enforcing abortion ban, a week after the Supreme Court overruled the 1973 Wade decision that had given constitutional rights.

Judges in US states of Florida and Kentucky have temporarily blocked these states from enforcing abortion ban, a week after the Supreme Court overruled the 1973 Wade decision that had given constitutional rights. Florida Circuit Court Judge John Cooper in Tallahassee granted a petition from abortion rights groups on Thursday to temporarily freeze a state law that would bar abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, reports Reuters. In Kentucky, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mitch Perry issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the state from enforcing a ban passed in 2019 and triggered by the Supreme Court's decision. Kentucky is one of 13 states that enacted so-called "trigger" laws that will take effect if Roe v. Wade was overturned. “I do find the state has failed to provide convincing and credible evidence that this law, HB 5, exhibits a compelling state interest to be protected," Cooper said, adding that the law violates people's right to privacy. Also read | Fallout of Roe v Wade: Facebook, Insta removing posts offering abortion pills State Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, said in a statement that Judge Perry had no basis under Kentucky's constitution to allow the clinics to resume performing abortions. With trigger laws taking effect following the reversal of Roe, abortion rights groups have swiftly gone to court to contest efforts by Republicans to expand abortion restrictions across the country. These curbs are now taking effect or are expected to in 22 states. Also read | SCOTUS strikes again, limits US government powers to curb greenhouse emissions Apart from that, state courts in Texas, Louisiana and Utah have also temporarily blocked bans since last week, with abortion providers seeking similar relief in states including Idaho, Ohio, Mississippi and West Virginia. None of these measures are permanent and are subject to further hearings. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Kentucky, Florida judges join other US states in blocking enforcement of abortion ban

The overturning of Roe vs Wade by the United States supreme court has resulted in a number of states passing “trigger laws” aimed at banning or severely restricting abortions. Louisiana was one of the 13 states to pass such a law but a judge in New Orleans has temporarily stopped the state from enforcing the law for now. Robin Giarrusso, who is an Orleans Parish civil district court judge, issued a temporary restraining order which stopped the state from implementing any “trigger law”. The judgement was passed in a case brought by Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, one of the three abortion clinics in the state.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/oslo-names-radical-islamist-as-suspect-in-gay-bar-shooting-say-they-were-keeping-an-eye-on-him-since-2015-492366">Oslo names a radical Islamist as suspect in gay bar shooting</a>

&nbsp;“Each of the three trigger bans excepts different conduct, making it impossible to know what abortion care is illegal and what is allowed, including what care can be provided to save a woman’s life or end a medically futile pregnancy,” Judge Giarrusso said in his ruling on Monday.

The court will reconvene on July 8 in order to further discuss the enforcement of the ban. The state attorney general, Jeff Landry, however, said that the petitioners are “in for a rough fight”.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/afghanistan-quake-dog-comes-to-departed-owners-house-and-cries-each-day-492250" hreflang="en">Afghanistan quake: Dog comes to departed owner's house and cries each day</a>

The supreme court’s decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling was also called “a cruel and irresponsible stripping of a woman’s agency” by the New Orleans district attorney Jason Williams.

&nbsp;“It would not be wise or prudent to shift our priority from tackling senseless violence happening in our city to investigating the choices women make with regard to their own body,” Williams added.

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The overturning of Roe vs Wade by the United States supreme court has resulted in a number of states passing “trigger laws” aimed at banning or severely restricting abortions.

The overturning of Roe vs Wade by the United States supreme court has resulted in a number of states passing “trigger laws” aimed at banning or severely restricting abortions. Louisiana was one of the 13 states to pass such a law but a judge in New Orleans has temporarily stopped the state from enforcing the law for now. Robin Giarrusso, who is an Orleans Parish civil district court judge, issued a temporary restraining order which stopped the state from implementing any “trigger law”. The judgement was passed in a case brought by Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, one of the three abortion clinics in the state. Also read | Oslo names a radical Islamist as suspect in gay bar shooting “Each of the three trigger bans excepts different conduct, making it impossible to know what abortion care is illegal and what is allowed, including what care can be provided to save a woman’s life or end a medically futile pregnancy,” Judge Giarrusso said in his ruling on Monday. The court will reconvene on July 8 in order to further discuss the enforcement of the ban. The state attorney general, Jeff Landry, however, said that the petitioners are “in for a rough fight”. Also read | Afghanistan quake: Dog comes to departed owner's house and cries each day The supreme court’s decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling was also called “a cruel and irresponsible stripping of a woman’s agency” by the New Orleans district attorney Jason Williams. “It would not be wise or prudent to shift our priority from tackling senseless violence happening in our city to investigating the choices women make with regard to their own body,” Williams added. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Judge temporarily blocks 'trigger' abortion ban in Louisiana after Roe v Wade ruling

'They are willing to let me die': Protests rock US as abortion ban takes effect in 'trigger law' states

The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the fifty-year-old federal constitutional right to abortion. The ruling will likely prompt new restrictive laws to be adopted in about half of the US states. The number of illegal abortions, as well as covert abortions, may also increase in the absence of safe abortion clinics. It has been mentioned that medical abortions may become more common in such an environment. But how safe are they? Let's find out.

What are medical abortions?

When medically prescribed medications are used to induce an abortion, this is referred to as medical abortion or medication abortion. Medical abortions are an alternative to surgical abortions, and it doesn't require anaesthesia.

Watch |&nbsp;United States: Abortion pill access to be restricted?

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During the first trimester of pregnancy, it is both safer and more efficient.

Mifepristone, a controlled substance in the US that was approved in 2000 as an abortion pill, is used in conjunction with misoprostol for the procedure.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/roe-v-wade-overturned-us-companies-that-have-pledged-support-to-its-female-employees-491766">Roe v Wade overturned: US Companies that have pledged support to its female employees</a>

Are there any side effects to these medicines?

The Mayo Clinic lists the following as potential hazards of medical abortion: incomplete abortion, which may require a surgical abortion to be performed later; If the procedure is unsuccessful, a continued, undesired pregnancy, heavy and prolonged bleeding, fever, infection gastrointestinal discomfort.

Why is the drug regulated?

In the US it is required that the pill Mifepristone, be administered in person in an approved clinical setting. However, the second drug necessary to complete the abortion, misoprostol, could be taken at home.&nbsp;

According to Scientific American, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other medical bodies have demonstrated the medication's safety.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/roe-v-wade-overturned-heres-what-the-ruling-means-for-millions-of-american-women-491461">Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women</a>

In spite of that 28 states already require abortion providers to perform an ultrasound before prescribing medication, and 27 states mandate that patients wait a specific amount of time—typically one to three days—between a mandatory counselling session and the abortion itself.

However, Scientific American contests that the guidelines are less about science and more about politics and ideology.

As per Cosmopolitan more than half or 54 per cent of abortions in the US were carried out with medication in 2020 and that abortion pills are safer than Tylenol, penicillin, and Viagra. Serious side effects that require hospitalisation occur in less than 0.4 per cent of all instances.

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The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the fifty-year-old federal constitutional right to abortion. The ruling will likely prompt new restrictive laws to be adopted in about half of the US states.

The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the fifty-year-old federal constitutional right to abortion. The ruling will likely prompt new restrictive laws to be adopted in about half of the US states. The number of illegal abortions, as well as covert abortions, may also increase in the absence of safe abortion clinics. It has been mentioned that medical abortions may become more common in such an environment. But how safe are they? Let's find out. What are medical abortions? When medically prescribed medications are used to induce an abortion, this is referred to as medical abortion or medication abortion. Medical abortions are an alternative to surgical abortions, and it doesn't require anaesthesia. Watch | United States: Abortion pill access to be restricted? During the first trimester of pregnancy, it is both safer and more efficient. Mifepristone, a controlled substance in the US that was approved in 2000 as an abortion pill, is used in conjunction with misoprostol for the procedure. Also read | Roe v Wade overturned: US Companies that have pledged support to its female employees Are there any side effects to these medicines? The Mayo Clinic lists the following as potential hazards of medical abortion: incomplete abortion, which may require a surgical abortion to be performed later; If the procedure is unsuccessful, a continued, undesired pregnancy, heavy and prolonged bleeding, fever, infection gastrointestinal discomfort. Why is the drug regulated? In the US it is required that the pill Mifepristone, be administered in person in an approved clinical setting. However, the second drug necessary to complete the abortion, misoprostol, could be taken at home. According to Scientific American, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other medical bodies have demonstrated the medication's safety. Also read | Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women In spite of that 28 states already require abortion providers to perform an ultrasound before prescribing medication, and 27 states mandate that patients wait a specific amount of time—typically one to three days—between a mandatory counselling session and the abortion itself. However, Scientific American contests that the guidelines are less about science and more about politics and ideology. As per Cosmopolitan more than half or 54 per cent of abortions in the US were carried out with medication in 2020 and that abortion pills are safer than Tylenol, penicillin, and Viagra. Serious side effects that require hospitalisation occur in less than 0.4 per cent of all instances. Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Roe v. Wade overturned: How safe are abortion pills?

Roe v Wade overturned: US Companies that have pledged support to its female employees

With the United States Supreme Court rolling back Roe v Wade in its recent Dobbs v. Jackson decision, many companies like Disney and Meta in the US have stepped forward seeking to help their female employees. As per a report by Verge, Google Inc&nbsp;has also made a supportive move in reaction to the judgement.&nbsp;Google's chief people officer, Fiona Cicconi sent a staff-wide email to all the employees informing them that they can "apply for relocation without justification".&nbsp;Cicconi acknowledged the ruling in her staff-wide e-mail, saying that it represents a "profound change" that will deeply affect everyone, especially women.

The email further went on to say that the company's health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures and that employees can also apply for relocation.

Watch |&nbsp;Several US companies say that they will cover their employees' travel costs for abortion

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"To support Googlers and their dependents, our US benefits plan and health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures that are not available where an employee lives and works. Googlers can also apply for relocation without justification, and those overseeing this process will be aware of the situation."

The latest SCOTUS judgement doesn't make abortion illegal, but it does give states the right to decide on their individual mandates; a right Missouri has already used less than 24 hours later to ban the medical practice.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/roe-v-wade-from-the-ruling-in-1973-to-it-being-overturned-today-heres-a-timeline-491477">Roe v Wade: From the ruling in 1973 to it being overturned today, here's a timeline</a>

It is believed that the judgement will spark a wave of new legislations in approximately half of the fifty US states. Thirteen states already have so-called "trigger laws", which will now restrict abortion.

While travelling for abortion remains an option, pro-choice organisations assert that travel is costly and restrictions on the procedure will harm poor women.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/roe-v-wade-overturned-heres-what-the-ruling-means-for-millions-of-american-women-491461">Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women</a>

The typical American would need to travel 125 miles (200 kilometres) to the closest clinic that does legal abortions, according to the Myers Abortion Facility Database.

It may also lead to illicit abortion facilities and clandestine abortions, both of which pose serious health risks. The WHO estimates that 25 million unsafe abortions are performed each year throughout the world. Every year, this leads to 39,000 deaths of women and girls and millions more hospital admissions as a result of complications.

(With inputs from agencies)

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With the United States Supreme Court rolling back Roe v Wade in its recent Dobbs v. Jackson decision, many companies like Disney and Meta in the US have stepped forward seeking to help their female employees.

With the United States Supreme Court rolling back Roe v Wade in its recent Dobbs v. Jackson decision, many companies like Disney and Meta in the US have stepped forward seeking to help their female employees. As per a report by Verge, Google Inc has also made a supportive move in reaction to the judgement. Google's chief people officer, Fiona Cicconi sent a staff-wide email to all the employees informing them that they can "apply for relocation without justification". Cicconi acknowledged the ruling in her staff-wide e-mail, saying that it represents a "profound change" that will deeply affect everyone, especially women. The email further went on to say that the company's health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures and that employees can also apply for relocation. Watch | Several US companies say that they will cover their employees' travel costs for abortion "To support Googlers and their dependents, our US benefits plan and health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures that are not available where an employee lives and works. Googlers can also apply for relocation without justification, and those overseeing this process will be aware of the situation." The latest SCOTUS judgement doesn't make abortion illegal, but it does give states the right to decide on their individual mandates; a right Missouri has already used less than 24 hours later to ban the medical practice. Also read | Roe v Wade: From the ruling in 1973 to it being overturned today, here's a timeline It is believed that the judgement will spark a wave of new legislations in approximately half of the fifty US states. Thirteen states already have so-called "trigger laws", which will now restrict abortion. While travelling for abortion remains an option, pro-choice organisations assert that travel is costly and restrictions on the procedure will harm poor women. Also read | Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women The typical American would need to travel 125 miles (200 kilometres) to the closest clinic that does legal abortions, according to the Myers Abortion Facility Database. It may also lead to illicit abortion facilities and clandestine abortions, both of which pose serious health risks. The WHO estimates that 25 million unsafe abortions are performed each year throughout the world. Every year, this leads to 39,000 deaths of women and girls and millions more hospital admissions as a result of complications. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Following overturning of Roe v Wade, Google offers 'relocation' to its employees

As the US Supreme Court decided to overturn the constitutional right to abortion giving states the freedom to ban the procedure, former US President Donald Trump&nbsp;declared it was the "biggest win for life in a generation".

"This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago," Trump told a US television channel.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/roe-vs-wade-reversed-us-supreme-court-ends-constitutional-right-to-abortion-491416">Also Read |&nbsp;Roe vs Wade reversed, US Supreme Court ends constitutional right to abortion</a>

"Today’s decision, which is the biggest win for life in a generation...(was) only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court," Trump said.&nbsp;

"God made the decision. I think, in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody," the former president said.

Watch:&nbsp;US Supreme Court strikes down abortion rights

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"This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged."

The former US president had appointed three US judges during his term Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett - all three judges were part of the 6-3 majority decision.

Former US vice-president Mike Pence declared the Supreme Court's decision "reaffirmed the right of the American people to govern themselves".

"By returning the question of abortion to the states and the people, this Supreme Court has righted a historic wrong," Pence said.

"Now that Roe v. Wade has been consigned to the ash heap of history, a new arena in the cause of life has emerged," the former US vice-president said.&nbsp;

(With inputs from Agencies)

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As the US Supreme Court decided to overturn the constitutional right to abortion giving states the freedom to ban the procedure, former US President Donald Trump declared it was the "biggest win for life in a generation".

As the US Supreme Court decided to overturn the constitutional right to abortion giving states the freedom to ban the procedure, former US President Donald Trump declared it was the "biggest win for life in a generation". "This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago," Trump told a US television channel. Also Read | Roe vs Wade reversed, US Supreme Court ends constitutional right to abortion "Today’s decision, which is the biggest win for life in a generation...(was) only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court," Trump said. "God made the decision. I think, in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody," the former president said. Watch: US Supreme Court strikes down abortion rights "This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged." The former US president had appointed three US judges during his term Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett - all three judges were part of the 6-3 majority decision. Former US vice-president Mike Pence declared the Supreme Court's decision "reaffirmed the right of the American people to govern themselves". "By returning the question of abortion to the states and the people, this Supreme Court has righted a historic wrong," Pence said. "Now that Roe v. Wade has been consigned to the ash heap of history, a new arena in the cause of life has emerged," the former US vice-president said. (With inputs from Agencies) WATCH WION LIVE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Trump, Pence back US Supreme Court's verdict on abortion rights

Roe v Wade: From the ruling in 1973 to it being overturned today, here's a timeline

Roe v Wade overturned: Here's what the ruling means for millions of American women

An American woman, who was admitted to a hospital with severe bleeding in her 16th week of pregnancy while holidaying in Malta, has been denied an abortion despite the doctors saying that her baby has “zero chance” of surviving.

The reason is that in Malta, doctors by law cannot end pregnancy. It is the only EU country to ban abortion. The only options for those seeking to end a pregnancy on the island nation are to buy illegal abortion medication online or seek a termination overseas.

Andrea Prudente, 38, was on holiday with her partner, Jay Weeldreyer, 45, on Gozo island on June 12 when she began bleeding heavily in the night. Last week, the doctors told her that the pregnancy was no longer viable.&nbsp;

Since the baby's heart was beating, Andrea was not given the choice of abortion.

Since then, Andrea and her husband Jay Weeldreyer had been seeking a medical transfer from Malta to the UK, which the couple say is their only option due to the risk to her life.

They alleged that the medical staff were uncooperative in their attempts to leave and in sharing medical records with the couple’s insurance company.

Watch |&nbsp;Malta's strict abortion ban: US couple seek medical transfer to UK

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“I just want to get out of here alive,” Andrea told the Guardian from her hospital room in Malta’s capital, Valletta.

“I couldn’t in my wildest dreams have thought up a nightmare like this.”

Andrea said she was “desperate” to leave the island and receive medical care, but also wanted to raise awareness of the situation in Malta to prevent others suffering in the way that she had.

Last week, the Women’s Rights Foundation filed a judicial protest on behalf of 188 women, claiming the Maltese government’s blanket ban on abortion breached their right to health, privacy and equality.

The foundation is now preparing to launch a case challenging the constitutional ban.

(With inputs from agencies)

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An American woman, who was admitted to a hospital with severe bleeding in her 16th week of pregnancy while holidaying in Malta, has been denied an abortion despite the doctors saying that her baby has “zero chance” of surviving.

An American woman, who was admitted to a hospital with severe bleeding in her 16th week of pregnancy while holidaying in Malta, has been denied an abortion despite the doctors saying that her baby has “zero chance” of surviving. The reason is that in Malta, doctors by law cannot end pregnancy. It is the only EU country to ban abortion. The only options for those seeking to end a pregnancy on the island nation are to buy illegal abortion medication online or seek a termination overseas. Andrea Prudente, 38, was on holiday with her partner, Jay Weeldreyer, 45, on Gozo island on June 12 when she began bleeding heavily in the night. Last week, the doctors told her that the pregnancy was no longer viable. Since the baby's heart was beating, Andrea was not given the choice of abortion. Since then, Andrea and her husband Jay Weeldreyer had been seeking a medical transfer from Malta to the UK, which the couple say is their only option due to the risk to her life. They alleged that the medical staff were uncooperative in their attempts to leave and in sharing medical records with the couple’s insurance company. Watch | Malta's strict abortion ban: US couple seek medical transfer to UK “I just want to get out of here alive,” Andrea told the Guardian from her hospital room in Malta’s capital, Valletta. “I couldn’t in my wildest dreams have thought up a nightmare like this.” Andrea said she was “desperate” to leave the island and receive medical care, but also wanted to raise awareness of the situation in Malta to prevent others suffering in the way that she had. Last week, the Women’s Rights Foundation filed a judicial protest on behalf of 188 women, claiming the Maltese government’s blanket ban on abortion breached their right to health, privacy and equality. The foundation is now preparing to launch a case challenging the constitutional ban. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Pregnant woman’s life in danger as Malta hospital prohibits abortion

The Oklahoma state becomes the first in the United States to sign into law a bill that bans nearly all abortions after fertilisation, imposing the country’s strictest ban yet.

The legislation allows private parties to sue any such entities that aid in performing an abortion, but it does not per se criminalise abortion.

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BREAKING 
 
Oklahoma’s Governor has signed the strictest abortion ban in the country into law. It prohibits abortion after fertilization. <a href="https://t.co/1j0Q0DSrB0">pic.twitter.com/1j0Q0DSrB0</a>
— Kate Smith (@byKateSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/byKateSmith/status/1529612823306944513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

The Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt said in a statement, ​​"I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would sign every piece of pro-life legislation that came across my desk and I am proud to keep that promise today."

 
&nbsp;"From the moment life begins at conception is when we have a responsibility as human beings to do everything we can to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother," he added.

 
The law bans the abortion of “an embryo in any stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.” It does not prohibit access to emergency contraceptives.

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An abortion clinic in Wyoming was set on fire last night. Today, the governor of Oklahoma signed a total abortion ban beginning at fertilization—enforced, like SB8, through surveillance and vigilantism by civilians. The attack on women is inventively cruel, and it’s relentless.
— Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MoiraDonegan/status/1529617075462934528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

The only exceptions from the new law are medical emergencies and rape or incest victims that have been reported to law enforcement.

Abortion rights advocates have pledged to take the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reverse the ban, as according to the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade protecting a woman’s right to abortion still stands.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: Oklahoma just became the only state in the U.S. to totally ban abortion while <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoevWade?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoevWade</a> still stands. The Center &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/PPFA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PPFA</a> are suing the state of Oklahoma on behalf of abortion providers and advocates to stop this cruel ban and restore abortion access in the state. <a href="https://t.co/IOxefOqmfV">pic.twitter.com/IOxefOqmfV</a>
— Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReproRights/status/1529627029263499273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2022</a></blockquote>
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According to the World Population Review, an independent data analysis organisation based in the United States, other countries where abortion is completely illegal are Andorra, Aruba (territory), Republic of the Congo, Curaçao (territory), Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Laos, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Palau, Philippines, San Marino, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tonga, and West Bank &amp; Gaza Strip (Palestinian territories). 
&nbsp;

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The Oklahoma state becomes the first in the United States to sign into law a bill that bans nearly all abortions after fertilisation, imposing the country’s strictest ban yet.

The Oklahoma state becomes the first in the United States to sign into law a bill that bans nearly all abortions after fertilisation, imposing the country’s strictest ban yet. The legislation allows private parties to sue any such entities that aid in performing an abortion, but it does not per se criminalise abortion. BREAKING Oklahoma’s Governor has signed the strictest abortion ban in the country into law. It prohibits abortion after fertilization. pic.twitter.com/1j0Q0DSrB0 — Kate Smith (@byKateSmith) May 25, 2022 × The Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt said in a statement, "I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would sign every piece of pro-life legislation that came across my desk and I am proud to keep that promise today." "From the moment life begins at conception is when we have a responsibility as human beings to do everything we can to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother," he added. The law bans the abortion of “an embryo in any stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.” It does not prohibit access to emergency contraceptives. An abortion clinic in Wyoming was set on fire last night. Today, the governor of Oklahoma signed a total abortion ban beginning at fertilization—enforced, like SB8, through surveillance and vigilantism by civilians. The attack on women is inventively cruel, and it’s relentless. — Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) May 26, 2022 × The only exceptions from the new law are medical emergencies and rape or incest victims that have been reported to law enforcement. Abortion rights advocates have pledged to take the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reverse the ban, as according to the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade protecting a woman’s right to abortion still stands. #BREAKING: Oklahoma just became the only state in the U.S. to totally ban abortion while #RoevWade still stands. The Center & @PPFA are suing the state of Oklahoma on behalf of abortion providers and advocates to stop this cruel ban and restore abortion access in the state. pic.twitter.com/IOxefOqmfV — Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) May 26, 2022 × According to the World Population Review, an independent data analysis organisation based in the United States, other countries where abortion is completely illegal are Andorra, Aruba (territory), Republic of the Congo, Curaçao (territory), Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Laos, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Palau, Philippines, San Marino, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tonga, and West Bank & Gaza Strip (Palestinian territories). WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Oklahoma state in United States implements the strictest abortion ban at conception

On Thursday, the Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill that lays a ban on abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy.

The bill was passed in the Oklahoma House by a large majority, and even as it includes exceptions for medical emergencies, it has no provisions for cases involving rape and incest.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/even-as-us-introduces-gender-neutral-passports-these-states-still-have-archaic-anti-transgender-laws-470479">Even as US introduces gender-neutral passports, these states still have archaic anti-transgender laws</a>

It has already passed the Senate and is now on its way to Republican governor Kevin Stitt, who is expected to sign it.

This bill is modelled on a similar bill by Oklahoma’s neighbouring state Texas, which unveiled the controversial law that triggered many protests last year.

Popularly known as the "Heartbeat Bill", the Texas law bans abortions after a foetal heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around 1.5 months or sex weeks of gestation period. It also allows members of the public to sue abortion providers and seekers, as a way of enforcing the law.

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas Plus: Why are women being denied the Right to abortion?

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The Oklahoma bill is similar and it threatens to cause further problems for women from the neighbouring state of Texas.

Since the heartbeat law came into force in September last year, Texan neighbour states like Oklahoma have seen a flood of patients seeking abortions. This has led to long wait times and maxed out clinic capacities.

Now, with a similar law in Oklahoma, these patients would have to go farther and farther.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/texas-abortion-law-creates-a-kind-of-bounty-hunter-heres-how-it-works-412647">Texas abortion law creates a kind of bounty hunter. Here’s how it works</a>

"Oklahoma is a critical state for abortion access right now, with many Texans fleeing to Oklahoma for abortion care," the Center for Reproductive Rights' Nancy Northup said in a tweet announcing her organisation’s plan to legally challenge the law.

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“Oklahoma is a critical state for abortion access right now, with many Texans fleeing to Oklahoma for abortion care. These bans would further decimate abortion access across the South.” —Nancy Northup, Center president and CEO
— Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReproRights/status/1519791901523726341?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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What needs to be noted is that Oklahoma is only the latest Republican-controlled state to take this step. Earlier, not only Texas but also Mississippi and Florida passed laws restricting abortion. The question that poses itself: Why is America retreating into the past as the world moves toward equality?

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(With inputs from agencies)

On Thursday, the Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill that lays a ban on abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The bill was passed in the Oklahoma House by a large majority, and even as it includes exceptions for medical emergencies, it has no provisions for cases involving rape and incest.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill that lays a ban on abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The bill was passed in the Oklahoma House by a large majority, and even as it includes exceptions for medical emergencies, it has no provisions for cases involving rape and incest. Also read | Even as US introduces gender-neutral passports, these states still have archaic anti-transgender laws It has already passed the Senate and is now on its way to Republican governor Kevin Stitt, who is expected to sign it. This bill is modelled on a similar bill by Oklahoma’s neighbouring state Texas, which unveiled the controversial law that triggered many protests last year. Popularly known as the "Heartbeat Bill", the Texas law bans abortions after a foetal heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around 1.5 months or sex weeks of gestation period. It also allows members of the public to sue abortion providers and seekers, as a way of enforcing the law. Watch | Gravitas Plus: Why are women being denied the Right to abortion? The Oklahoma bill is similar and it threatens to cause further problems for women from the neighbouring state of Texas. Since the heartbeat law came into force in September last year, Texan neighbour states like Oklahoma have seen a flood of patients seeking abortions. This has led to long wait times and maxed out clinic capacities. Now, with a similar law in Oklahoma, these patients would have to go farther and farther. Also read | Texas abortion law creates a kind of bounty hunter. Here’s how it works "Oklahoma is a critical state for abortion access right now, with many Texans fleeing to Oklahoma for abortion care," the Center for Reproductive Rights' Nancy Northup said in a tweet announcing her organisation’s plan to legally challenge the law. “Oklahoma is a critical state for abortion access right now, with many Texans fleeing to Oklahoma for abortion care. These bans would further decimate abortion access across the South.” —Nancy Northup, Center president and CEO — Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) April 28, 2022 × What needs to be noted is that Oklahoma is only the latest Republican-controlled state to take this step. Earlier, not only Texas but also Mississippi and Florida passed laws restricting abortion. The question that poses itself: Why is America retreating into the past as the world moves toward equality? Watch WION LIVE HERE: (With inputs from agencies)

First Texas, now Oklahoma: Republican-led state passes law banning abortion after 6 weeks

Oklahoma lawmakers on Tuesday (April 5) passed a bill that would make it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalizing those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.

The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives brought the bill to a vote this week, after it was passed last year by the Midwestern state's Senate. It now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Kevin Stitt for signing.

Stitt has signaled his support for anti-abortion legislation. If he signs the measure, it would take effect this summer unless blocked by courts.

An abortion ban in Oklahoma would widen a swath of the country where there is little to no legal abortion access. The state has become a destination for Texas women seeking abortions since Texas in September banned abortions for pregnancies of six weeks or less.

"This bill has no exceptions and would essentially potentially end abortion access in Oklahoma. And what we also know is that for so many reasons, people will have to travel to out of the state to get the care that they need. And we know this because when Texas lost its abortion access, patients traveled to Oklahoma and providers were seeing more Texas patients than they've ever seen before, so this will just continue kind of that domino effect of now Texas and Oklahoma patients going to other states to get care," Tamya (pronounced: tam-EYE-ah) Cox-Toure (pronounced: to-ray), director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said.

The measure approved on Tuesday states, "a person shall not purposely perform or attempt to perform an abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency."

Republican-governed states like Oklahoma have passed a series of restrictive abortion measures in recent years.

The US&nbsp;Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June in a case involving a Republican-backed Mississippi law that gives its conservative majority a chance to undermine or even repeal the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. During arguments in the case, the conservative justices signalled a willingness to dramatically curtail abortion rights in America.

Oklahoma lawmakers on Tuesday (April 5) passed a bill that would make it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalizing those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.

Oklahoma lawmakers on Tuesday (April 5) passed a bill that would make it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalizing those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison. The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives brought the bill to a vote this week, after it was passed last year by the Midwestern state's Senate. It now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Kevin Stitt for signing. Stitt has signaled his support for anti-abortion legislation. If he signs the measure, it would take effect this summer unless blocked by courts. An abortion ban in Oklahoma would widen a swath of the country where there is little to no legal abortion access. The state has become a destination for Texas women seeking abortions since Texas in September banned abortions for pregnancies of six weeks or less. "This bill has no exceptions and would essentially potentially end abortion access in Oklahoma. And what we also know is that for so many reasons, people will have to travel to out of the state to get the care that they need. And we know this because when Texas lost its abortion access, patients traveled to Oklahoma and providers were seeing more Texas patients than they've ever seen before, so this will just continue kind of that domino effect of now Texas and Oklahoma patients going to other states to get care," Tamya (pronounced: tam-EYE-ah) Cox-Toure (pronounced: to-ray), director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said. The measure approved on Tuesday states, "a person shall not purposely perform or attempt to perform an abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency." Republican-governed states like Oklahoma have passed a series of restrictive abortion measures in recent years. The US Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June in a case involving a Republican-backed Mississippi law that gives its conservative majority a chance to undermine or even repeal the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. During arguments in the case, the conservative justices signalled a willingness to dramatically curtail abortion rights in America.

Oklahoma House passes near-total abortion ban with threat of prison for providers

Florida legislators voted to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy on Thursday, a move that would severely restrict access to the procedure in a state that for decades has been a refuge for women from across the South.

The bill — modelled after a similar abortion ban in Mississippi that the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to uphold — now heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of a sweeping push by Republicans to put the state at the forefront of the nation’s culture wars. Other legislation on the verge of passage includes banning instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in some elementary school grades and allowing parents to sue public school districts if students believe that their teacher sought to make them feel discomfort about a historical event because of their race, sex or national origin.

Impassioned critics have nicknamed that first proposal the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Eager proponents have called the second bill the “Stop Woke Act.” Both are expected to pass before the final day of the legislative session on March 11.

“We’ve accomplished more in this state than anyone thought possible,” DeSantis told a raucous crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando last week, “but I’ll tell you this: We have only begun to fight.”

The efforts come amid a surge of conservative activism on social issues at the state level across the country. On Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa signed into law a measure banning transgender girls and women from competing in female sports at state schools and colleges. In Texas, where the Legislature met in 2021, Republicans restricted abortion and the teaching about race in schools and expanded gun rights.

Republicans have controlled the Florida governorship and both legislative chambers since 1999. But the state remained nail-bitingly competitive in presidential and some state elections, a reflection of how its politics have mirrored the country’s: often evenly split, with its leaders wary of alienating voters if they moved too far to the extremes.

However, as national politics have become more polarized, so have Florida’s. The state’s more reliably conservative bent, the favourable environment for Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections and DeSantis’ evident presidential ambitions have emboldened Florida’s leaders to pursue legislation that would have previously seemed too divisive.

State representatives passed legislation last week that would prohibit instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity between kindergarten and third grade, “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

The same day, representatives also approved legislation that would prohibit schools from using teaching materials — and businesses from providing training to their employees — that say an individual is “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”

Supporters have argued that the proposals empower parents. That message has become a national Republican rallying cry in pushing back against the teaching of institutional racism after the police killing of George Floyd and against school closures and mask mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.

Opponents have countered that the sexual orientation and gender identity bill would cause a chilling effect in classrooms beyond elementary school and harm and exclude LGBTQ youth, who are already at higher risk of bullying and suicide than their peers, and that the bill about how to teach history attempts to unfairly penalize teachers and dismiss the country’s racist past.

Last month, President Joe Biden criticized the gender and sexual orientation bill on Twitter, calling it “hateful.” In Tallahassee, seven House Republicans broke party ranks and voted against it.

Democrats number so few in the state Capitol that they are unable to block or amend most legislation. Sen. Lauren Book of Plantation, the minority leader, referred to the days remaining until the session’s end as “hell week.”

“This is probably one of the worst sessions that I’ve seen, where we’re taking issues that are going to deeply, deeply affect Floridians,” she said.

Last year, the Legislature passed laws toughening penalties against protesters and banning transgender athletes from competing for certain public school teams. Pocketbook issues, like the high cost of housing across the state or how many low-income Floridians, do not have access to health care, have mostly gone unaddressed, Democrats have lamented.

Their frustration has led to anguished public debates, sometimes with raised voices and tears. Female lawmakers on both sides of the abortion issue shared deeply personal stories about their own sexual assaults, pregnancies and abortions. In one instance, Democratic lawmakers said a Republican representative swore at them after a protest erupted near the end of a five-hour debate about the abortion bill, which passed in the House along party lines.

“This bill puts politicians, bureaucrats and the government between a woman and her access to health care,” Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said Thursday. “It will absolutely result in a women seeking unsafe abortions and dying as a result.”

Florida currently allows abortions until 24 weeks, with fewer restrictions than other Southern states. The new, more restrictive proposal, which includes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, passed by a 23-15 party-line vote Thursday night after an emotional debate in the state Senate. It was approved last month by the state House, and DeSantis has signalled his support.

The Supreme Court is likely to uphold a similar Mississippi law this summer. Such a ruling could upend Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion and prohibited states from disallowing the procedure before fetal viability, or about 23 weeks. Similar 15-week bans are under consideration in Arizona and West Virginia.

“A child in the womb is the most vulnerable person in the world because they’re utterly helpless,” Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, said before Thursday’s vote. “They have no voice, they have no vote. They rely on another person for everything, and they still matter.”

In Florida, proponents of banning abortions after 15 weeks have argued that there is significant fetal development by that point. They have also explicitly cited the Mississippi case and said they want Florida to be in position to reduce the number of abortions right away after a ruling upholding that law.

Florida has been on the cusp of significantly limiting abortions for some time, with opponents targeting the state for its relatively high rate and a number of abortions. Pregnant women from other Southern states with more restrictive laws have long travelled to Florida for the procedure.

In the past, the Florida Supreme Court has interpreted the right to privacy included in the state constitution as extending to abortion rights. But the court has turned more conservative in recent years following the retirement of several justices, who have been replaced by DeSantis appointees.

Some Republicans hoped to seek an abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy, like the one adopted last year in Texas. Sponsors of the 15-week ban in Florida cast their legislation — which once might have seemed unthinkably restrictive considering U.S. Supreme Court rulings — as a compromise. (Exceptions would be allowed if two separate doctors could detect a “fatal fetal abnormality.”)

“That’s a great start,” Andrew Shirvell, the founder for Florida Voice for the Unborn, a group that is against abortion, told senators at a committee hearing. “But you all need to do a heck of a lot more.”

Last year, out of the roughly 68,500 abortions performed in Florida, about 4,100 were performed between 13 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, according to state data compiled for the Senate.

Mary Ziegler, an abortion law expert at Florida State University, said that the 15-week cutoff for abortions suggested that Republicans realized they could go only so far without alienating a significant portion of the electorate.

“At least some Florida Republicans perceive the Florida electorate as being more pro-choice than it would be in Georgia or Alabama,” she said. “They’re trying to do enough to please the anti-abortion base and anti-abortion donors.”

If DeSantis signs the bill or lets it become law without his signature, Florida could serve as a bellwether for conservative states that do not immediately decide to ban abortion outright if Roe v. Wade is overturned, she added.

“If you listen to Florida Republicans, they’re saying, ‘We don’t think it’s a really good idea to do any more of this right now,’” she said. “So Florida is the place to watch.”

Florida legislators voted to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy on Thursday, a move that would severely restrict access to the procedure in a state that for decades has been a refuge for women from across the South.

Florida legislators voted to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy on Thursday, a move that would severely restrict access to the procedure in a state that for decades has been a refuge for women from across the South. The bill — modelled after a similar abortion ban in Mississippi that the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to uphold — now heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of a sweeping push by Republicans to put the state at the forefront of the nation’s culture wars. Other legislation on the verge of passage includes banning instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in some elementary school grades and allowing parents to sue public school districts if students believe that their teacher sought to make them feel discomfort about a historical event because of their race, sex or national origin. Impassioned critics have nicknamed that first proposal the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Eager proponents have called the second bill the “Stop Woke Act.” Both are expected to pass before the final day of the legislative session on March 11. “We’ve accomplished more in this state than anyone thought possible,” DeSantis told a raucous crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando last week, “but I’ll tell you this: We have only begun to fight.” The efforts come amid a surge of conservative activism on social issues at the state level across the country. On Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa signed into law a measure banning transgender girls and women from competing in female sports at state schools and colleges. In Texas, where the Legislature met in 2021, Republicans restricted abortion and the teaching about race in schools and expanded gun rights. Republicans have controlled the Florida governorship and both legislative chambers since 1999. But the state remained nail-bitingly competitive in presidential and some state elections, a reflection of how its politics have mirrored the country’s: often evenly split, with its leaders wary of alienating voters if they moved too far to the extremes. However, as national politics have become more polarized, so have Florida’s. The state’s more reliably conservative bent, the favourable environment for Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections and DeSantis’ evident presidential ambitions have emboldened Florida’s leaders to pursue legislation that would have previously seemed too divisive. State representatives passed legislation last week that would prohibit instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity between kindergarten and third grade, “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” The same day, representatives also approved legislation that would prohibit schools from using teaching materials — and businesses from providing training to their employees — that say an individual is “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” Supporters have argued that the proposals empower parents. That message has become a national Republican rallying cry in pushing back against the teaching of institutional racism after the police killing of George Floyd and against school closures and mask mandates during the coronavirus pandemic. Opponents have countered that the sexual orientation and gender identity bill would cause a chilling effect in classrooms beyond elementary school and harm and exclude LGBTQ youth, who are already at higher risk of bullying and suicide than their peers, and that the bill about how to teach history attempts to unfairly penalize teachers and dismiss the country’s racist past. Last month, President Joe Biden criticized the gender and sexual orientation bill on Twitter, calling it “hateful.” In Tallahassee, seven House Republicans broke party ranks and voted against it. Democrats number so few in the state Capitol that they are unable to block or amend most legislation. Sen. Lauren Book of Plantation, the minority leader, referred to the days remaining until the session’s end as “hell week.” “This is probably one of the worst sessions that I’ve seen, where we’re taking issues that are going to deeply, deeply affect Floridians,” she said. Last year, the Legislature passed laws toughening penalties against protesters and banning transgender athletes from competing for certain public school teams. Pocketbook issues, like the high cost of housing across the state or how many low-income Floridians, do not have access to health care, have mostly gone unaddressed, Democrats have lamented. Their frustration has led to anguished public debates, sometimes with raised voices and tears. Female lawmakers on both sides of the abortion issue shared deeply personal stories about their own sexual assaults, pregnancies and abortions. In one instance, Democratic lawmakers said a Republican representative swore at them after a protest erupted near the end of a five-hour debate about the abortion bill, which passed in the House along party lines. “This bill puts politicians, bureaucrats and the government between a woman and her access to health care,” Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said Thursday. “It will absolutely result in a women seeking unsafe abortions and dying as a result.” Florida currently allows abortions until 24 weeks, with fewer restrictions than other Southern states. The new, more restrictive proposal, which includes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, passed by a 23-15 party-line vote Thursday night after an emotional debate in the state Senate. It was approved last month by the state House, and DeSantis has signalled his support. The Supreme Court is likely to uphold a similar Mississippi law this summer. Such a ruling could upend Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion and prohibited states from disallowing the procedure before fetal viability, or about 23 weeks. Similar 15-week bans are under consideration in Arizona and West Virginia. “A child in the womb is the most vulnerable person in the world because they’re utterly helpless,” Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, said before Thursday’s vote. “They have no voice, they have no vote. They rely on another person for everything, and they still matter.” In Florida, proponents of banning abortions after 15 weeks have argued that there is significant fetal development by that point. They have also explicitly cited the Mississippi case and said they want Florida to be in position to reduce the number of abortions right away after a ruling upholding that law. Florida has been on the cusp of significantly limiting abortions for some time, with opponents targeting the state for its relatively high rate and a number of abortions. Pregnant women from other Southern states with more restrictive laws have long travelled to Florida for the procedure. In the past, the Florida Supreme Court has interpreted the right to privacy included in the state constitution as extending to abortion rights. But the court has turned more conservative in recent years following the retirement of several justices, who have been replaced by DeSantis appointees. Some Republicans hoped to seek an abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy, like the one adopted last year in Texas. Sponsors of the 15-week ban in Florida cast their legislation — which once might have seemed unthinkably restrictive considering U.S. Supreme Court rulings — as a compromise. (Exceptions would be allowed if two separate doctors could detect a “fatal fetal abnormality.”) “That’s a great start,” Andrew Shirvell, the founder for Florida Voice for the Unborn, a group that is against abortion, told senators at a committee hearing. “But you all need to do a heck of a lot more.” Last year, out of the roughly 68,500 abortions performed in Florida, about 4,100 were performed between 13 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, according to state data compiled for the Senate. Mary Ziegler, an abortion law expert at Florida State University, said that the 15-week cutoff for abortions suggested that Republicans realized they could go only so far without alienating a significant portion of the electorate. “At least some Florida Republicans perceive the Florida electorate as being more pro-choice than it would be in Georgia or Alabama,” she said. “They’re trying to do enough to please the anti-abortion base and anti-abortion donors.” If DeSantis signs the bill or lets it become law without his signature, Florida could serve as a bellwether for conservative states that do not immediately decide to ban abortion outright if Roe v. Wade is overturned, she added. “If you listen to Florida Republicans, they’re saying, ‘We don’t think it’s a really good idea to do any more of this right now,’” she said. “So Florida is the place to watch.”

Florida lawmakers vote to ban abortions after 15 weeks

When Vincy Li applied to a prestigious police academy graduate program in China, she knew her odds of success were low. After all, the school set quotas, typically capping the number of female students at no more than one-quarter of the student body.

But her chances were even lower. When the school released admissions results earlier this year, just 5 of 140 students who had tested into the program — less than 4 per cent — were female, even though more than 1,000 women had applied. And the lowest-scoring woman to get in did 40 points better than the lowest-scoring male applicant who was admitted, according to the school’s admission data.

For Li, the message was clear: Women were not welcome.

“Female students were totally shocked,” said Li, who had spent more than a year preparing for the exam. “I don’t understand why they don’t even offer those academic opportunities to us.”

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/abortion-wombs-the-political-battleground-417992">Wombs: The political battleground</a>

Across China, women’s educational attainment has soared; female undergraduates now sharply outnumber males. But women still face significant barriers getting into training and academic programmes — with outright quotas on their numbers in some fields — as they seek to pierce the country’s traditionally male-dominated professions.

And that is thwarting China’s long-standing efforts to promote female advancement in a country where, as former Communist Chairman Mao Zedong famously said, women hold up “half the sky.”

Civil aviation-related study programs often specify that they seek male applicants only, except for flight attendant training. Military and police training academies publicly impose gender quotas that result in much stricter admission criteria for female students.

Women who applied to the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force University of Engineering in June scored 127 points higher than the lowest-scoring male counterparts on the gaokao, the national examination that is the most important criteria for admissions to Chinese universities, according to data from a provincial education department.

Reached by telephone, a staff member at the police academy program that Li applied to said additional female students had been admitted through a separate process that relied on recommendations rather than testing.

But even then, women make up only 17&nbsp;per cent of the police academy program as of last month, down from 38&nbsp;per cent in September 2020. That decline came after the university announced in September 2020 that it would restrict the share of women it would accept to 15 per cent, later citing the high risks and pressures associated with policing.

The differing standards are not limited to police or military schools. Even some art schools have imposed 50-50 gender ratios to curtail the growing share of female students.

An informal survey of China’s 116 top universities, published by a group of feminist activists in February, found that 86 academic majors at 18 universities had gender-based admissions requirements.

The practice of favoring male applicants has long drawn criticism. A decade ago, after news reports emerged about universities giving preference to men, public outrage and protests led the government to ban gender-based admissions for most fields.

Private universities in the United States have also acknowledged maintaining gender ratios, particularly as the pool of more qualified female applicants has grown.

In China, the issue has become especially fraught in recent years as a growing embrace of feminism has clashed with the Chinese Communist Party’s widening campaign for social control. Activists citing gender bias have been censored online, and officials have trumpeted the virtues of traditional gender roles.

After the feminist group posted its report online about biased admissions policies, an officially sanctioned crackdown by social media companies on “extreme feminism” led to its quick erasure from the web.

“There was some progress achieved before, but it was not enough,” said Xiong Jing, who participated in the 2012 protests and was an editor at Feminist Voices, a media outlet that was shut down in 2018. Pushing back now, she added, “is nearly impossible.”

While the Ministry of Education outlawed most gender-based admissions in 2012, it allowed them in “special areas of study,” including those affiliated with the military or related to national defense.

Restrictions are also allowed in fields the government deems dangerous, such as mining, marine navigation or those “in need of a certain gender balance.” Television broadcasting schools, for example, argue that pairing female and male anchors is the industry norm.

But critics say schools have applied those criteria too liberally.

Take the Communication University of China, often called the “cradle of China’s broadcast talents.” To achieve gender parity for its television production program, the university admitted women who scored 20 points higher than men on average, according to admissions data.

Early this year, the university was also accused of setting a lower bar for male applicants of the animation design program after women had been making up 70&nbsp;per cent to 90&nbsp;per cent of the major.

In March, when the school released screening results, students were surprised to discover that the share of male candidates who qualified for preadmission had jumped to 50 per cent.

Activists have asked why gender-based quotas should exist in any field, even those related to the military.

Policymakers assume that “women need to be caregivers and expect men to fill the leadership roles,” said professor Shen Hsiu-hua, a gender issue expert at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan.

Indeed, some defenses of the quotas favoring males lean heavily on traditional ideas about gender relations.

In Guangxi province, one university this year began offering a free, male-only degree in kindergarten education. The announcement followed state media coverage of a perceived “masculinity crisis” among young Chinese men, which they blamed in part on female teachers.

After the outcry over the animation program at the Communication University, a lecturer there, Lin Bai, argued that favoring men benefited women, too — or at least their social lives.

“A little adjustment of gender ratio to ensure that young women on campus have some guys to date is acceptable,” he wrote on the social media platform Weibo.

But Shen pointed out that there are no equivalent policies favoring women in male-dominated majors.

China, she said, wants “more men in every industry.”

“For the increasingly authoritarian government,” she added, “China needs to project an image of being manly and strong.”

Others have cited more pragmatic reasons for imposing the gender ratios.

Zhang Dongshen, who runs a tutoring agency known for helping students gain admission to police academies, said the lack of jobs for female police officers justified their low admissions rates.

“I also feel bad for my female students,” Zhang said. “But policymakers don’t want them to end up with no jobs.”

The result is a vicious cycle, as restrictions on female admissions feed restrictions on female employment and vice versa, Shen said.

Some women seeking to enter traditionally male-dominated fields instead look overseas for opportunities.

In 2018, Lian Luo, a flight attendant, decided to pursue her dream of becoming a pilot.

She showed up to a hiring session for pilot trainees run by a domestic airline, but the staff asked her and other female candidates to leave.

Eventually, she pursued training in South Africa and graduated at the top of her class.

“There are no such opportunities back in China for women like me,” she said. “Nowhere to start.”

When Vincy Li applied to a prestigious police academy graduate program in China, she knew her odds of success were low. After all, the school set quotas, typically capping the number of female students at no more than one-quarter of the student body.

When Vincy Li applied to a prestigious police academy graduate program in China, she knew her odds of success were low. After all, the school set quotas, typically capping the number of female students at no more than one-quarter of the student body. But her chances were even lower. When the school released admissions results earlier this year, just 5 of 140 students who had tested into the program — less than 4 per cent — were female, even though more than 1,000 women had applied. And the lowest-scoring woman to get in did 40 points better than the lowest-scoring male applicant who was admitted, according to the school’s admission data. For Li, the message was clear: Women were not welcome. “Female students were totally shocked,” said Li, who had spent more than a year preparing for the exam. “I don’t understand why they don’t even offer those academic opportunities to us.” Also read | Wombs: The political battleground Across China, women’s educational attainment has soared; female undergraduates now sharply outnumber males. But women still face significant barriers getting into training and academic programmes — with outright quotas on their numbers in some fields — as they seek to pierce the country’s traditionally male-dominated professions. And that is thwarting China’s long-standing efforts to promote female advancement in a country where, as former Communist Chairman Mao Zedong famously said, women hold up “half the sky.” Civil aviation-related study programs often specify that they seek male applicants only, except for flight attendant training. Military and police training academies publicly impose gender quotas that result in much stricter admission criteria for female students. Women who applied to the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force University of Engineering in June scored 127 points higher than the lowest-scoring male counterparts on the gaokao, the national examination that is the most important criteria for admissions to Chinese universities, according to data from a provincial education department. Reached by telephone, a staff member at the police academy program that Li applied to said additional female students had been admitted through a separate process that relied on recommendations rather than testing. But even then, women make up only 17 per cent of the police academy program as of last month, down from 38 per cent in September 2020. That decline came after the university announced in September 2020 that it would restrict the share of women it would accept to 15 per cent, later citing the high risks and pressures associated with policing. The differing standards are not limited to police or military schools. Even some art schools have imposed 50-50 gender ratios to curtail the growing share of female students. An informal survey of China’s 116 top universities, published by a group of feminist activists in February, found that 86 academic majors at 18 universities had gender-based admissions requirements. The practice of favoring male applicants has long drawn criticism. A decade ago, after news reports emerged about universities giving preference to men, public outrage and protests led the government to ban gender-based admissions for most fields. Private universities in the United States have also acknowledged maintaining gender ratios, particularly as the pool of more qualified female applicants has grown. In China, the issue has become especially fraught in recent years as a growing embrace of feminism has clashed with the Chinese Communist Party’s widening campaign for social control. Activists citing gender bias have been censored online, and officials have trumpeted the virtues of traditional gender roles. After the feminist group posted its report online about biased admissions policies, an officially sanctioned crackdown by social media companies on “extreme feminism” led to its quick erasure from the web. “There was some progress achieved before, but it was not enough,” said Xiong Jing, who participated in the 2012 protests and was an editor at Feminist Voices, a media outlet that was shut down in 2018. Pushing back now, she added, “is nearly impossible.” While the Ministry of Education outlawed most gender-based admissions in 2012, it allowed them in “special areas of study,” including those affiliated with the military or related to national defense. Restrictions are also allowed in fields the government deems dangerous, such as mining, marine navigation or those “in need of a certain gender balance.” Television broadcasting schools, for example, argue that pairing female and male anchors is the industry norm. But critics say schools have applied those criteria too liberally. Take the Communication University of China, often called the “cradle of China’s broadcast talents.” To achieve gender parity for its television production program, the university admitted women who scored 20 points higher than men on average, according to admissions data. Early this year, the university was also accused of setting a lower bar for male applicants of the animation design program after women had been making up 70 per cent to 90 per cent of the major. In March, when the school released screening results, students were surprised to discover that the share of male candidates who qualified for preadmission had jumped to 50 per cent. Activists have asked why gender-based quotas should exist in any field, even those related to the military. Policymakers assume that “women need to be caregivers and expect men to fill the leadership roles,” said professor Shen Hsiu-hua, a gender issue expert at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. Indeed, some defenses of the quotas favoring males lean heavily on traditional ideas about gender relations. In Guangxi province, one university this year began offering a free, male-only degree in kindergarten education. The announcement followed state media coverage of a perceived “masculinity crisis” among young Chinese men, which they blamed in part on female teachers. After the outcry over the animation program at the Communication University, a lecturer there, Lin Bai, argued that favoring men benefited women, too — or at least their social lives. “A little adjustment of gender ratio to ensure that young women on campus have some guys to date is acceptable,” he wrote on the social media platform Weibo. But Shen pointed out that there are no equivalent policies favoring women in male-dominated majors. China, she said, wants “more men in every industry.” “For the increasingly authoritarian government,” she added, “China needs to project an image of being manly and strong.” Others have cited more pragmatic reasons for imposing the gender ratios. Zhang Dongshen, who runs a tutoring agency known for helping students gain admission to police academies, said the lack of jobs for female police officers justified their low admissions rates. “I also feel bad for my female students,” Zhang said. “But policymakers don’t want them to end up with no jobs.” The result is a vicious cycle, as restrictions on female admissions feed restrictions on female employment and vice versa, Shen said. Some women seeking to enter traditionally male-dominated fields instead look overseas for opportunities. In 2018, Lian Luo, a flight attendant, decided to pursue her dream of becoming a pilot. She showed up to a hiring session for pilot trainees run by a domestic airline, but the staff asked her and other female candidates to leave. Eventually, she pursued training in South Africa and graduated at the top of her class. “There are no such opportunities back in China for women like me,” she said. “Nowhere to start.”

As Chinese women seek to crack male professions, schools stand in the way

The Biden administration on Monday reversed a contentious policy set under President Donald Trump that barred organisations that provide abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning money.

The new rule, set to take effect Nov. 8, deals with what is known as the Title X family planning program, which was created in 1970 and subsidizes birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings and related preventive care for millions of predominantly low-income patients.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-set-to-scrap-ban-on-us-funds-for-abortion-counseling-359954">Biden set to scrap ban on US funds for abortion counseling</a>

“Our nation’s family planning clinics play a critical role in delivering health care, and today more than ever, we are making clear that access to quality family planning care includes accurate information and referrals — based on a patient’s needs and direction,” Xavier Becerra, the Health and Human Services secretary, said in a statement.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a> signalled shortly after taking office that he intended to rescind the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-reinstates-rule-restricting-abortions-around-the-world-11626">Trump-era rule</a>, writing in a memorandum calling for action on women’s health issues that it put “women’s health at risk by making it harder for women to receive complete medical information."

The 2019 rule aggressively targeted organizations that offer abortions, including Planned Parenthood, and was a top priority of social conservatives during Trump’s term as president. Regulations surrounding the 1970 Title X law already banned direct funding of abortion, but organizations such as Planned Parenthood have relied on Title X money to subsidize other women’s health services, such as dispensing birth control and testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

The rule allowed clinics that received federal funds to offer lists of primary care providers, including those that provide prenatal care, but they could not identify which performed abortions. It also required “physical and financial separation” between family planning and abortion services at places that offered both.

Watch |&nbsp;Rallies held across the US against abortion ban

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/rallies-held-across-the-us-against-abortion-ban-417809/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">As a result of the Trump rule, Planned Parenthood, which had received roughly $60 million every year through the Title X program, withdrew from it rather than comply. Before 2019, Planned Parenthood health centres each year served roughly 40 per cent&nbsp;of the 4 million people who used the Title X program, the organisation said Monday.</div>

Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the new rule&nbsp;“a major victory for patients, access to sexual and reproductive health care, and health equity.”

“Title X is a critical piece of our social safety net that can, and should, ensure that people with low incomes can access essential health care without forcing providers to withhold referrals for all of the options available to them,” she said in a statement Monday.

Still, McGill Johnson criticized a feature of the Biden administration’s rule, which would allow “objecting individuals and grantees” to not be required to counsel or refer for abortions in the program.

But Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement Monday that the Trump rule had respected “the plain statutory language of Title X.”

“Democrats push this agenda at their own political peril,” she said.

More than 20 states filed lawsuits against the Trump administration in hopes of overturning the rule, including California, whose suit was led by Becerra, then the state’s attorney general.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/abortion-wombs-the-political-battleground-417992">Wombs: The political battleground</a>

In the spring of 2019, the Trump administration announced that it would give millions in Title X funds to an anti-abortion nonprofit organization funded by allies of the Catholic Church, the Obria Group. Critics cast the move as a way to defund medical clinics that provide abortions.

Announcing the policy reversal Monday, the Biden administration cited last year’s Family Planning Annual Report, which showed a precipitous drop in the number of clients served by the Title X program. The report estimated that roughly two-thirds of the decrease in family planning patients between 2018 and 2020 could be attributed to the Trump rule.

Six states currently have no Title X services, and seven others have “limited Title X capacity,” the Health and Human Services department said.

Dr Rachel L. Levine, the assistant secretary for health, said the new rule would “allow for the Title X service network to expand in size and capacity to provide quality family planning services to more clients.” Title X grants typically go to clinics run by state and local health departments, as well as to federally qualified health centres, hospital-based sites, and other private nonprofit and community-based health clinics.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/joe-bidens-administration-urges-judge-to-block-texas-anti-abortion-law-417517">Joe Biden's administration urges judge to block Texas anti-abortion law</a>

Monday’s reversal comes as the debate over abortion rights has flared up again on Capitol Hill after the Supreme Court refused last month allowed a Texas law prohibiting most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to take effect. With other states seeking to enact similar restrictions, and the court, now dominated by conservatives, preparing to take up a case that could overturn the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, Democrats are making the issue a centrepiece of their campaign strategy for next year’s midterm elections.

The Biden administration on Monday reversed a contentious policy set under President Donald Trump that barred organisations that provide abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning money.

The Biden administration on Monday reversed a contentious policy set under President Donald Trump that barred organisations that provide abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning money. The new rule, set to take effect Nov. 8, deals with what is known as the Title X family planning program, which was created in 1970 and subsidizes birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings and related preventive care for millions of predominantly low-income patients. Also read | Biden set to scrap ban on US funds for abortion counseling “Our nation’s family planning clinics play a critical role in delivering health care, and today more than ever, we are making clear that access to quality family planning care includes accurate information and referrals — based on a patient’s needs and direction,” Xavier Becerra, the Health and Human Services secretary, said in a statement. President Joe Biden signalled shortly after taking office that he intended to rescind the Trump-era rule, writing in a memorandum calling for action on women’s health issues that it put “women’s health at risk by making it harder for women to receive complete medical information." The 2019 rule aggressively targeted organizations that offer abortions, including Planned Parenthood, and was a top priority of social conservatives during Trump’s term as president. Regulations surrounding the 1970 Title X law already banned direct funding of abortion, but organizations such as Planned Parenthood have relied on Title X money to subsidize other women’s health services, such as dispensing birth control and testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The rule allowed clinics that received federal funds to offer lists of primary care providers, including those that provide prenatal care, but they could not identify which performed abortions. It also required “physical and financial separation” between family planning and abortion services at places that offered both. Watch | Rallies held across the US against abortion ban As a result of the Trump rule, Planned Parenthood, which had received roughly $60 million every year through the Title X program, withdrew from it rather than comply. Before 2019, Planned Parenthood health centres each year served roughly 40 per cent of the 4 million people who used the Title X program, the organisation said Monday. Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the new rule “a major victory for patients, access to sexual and reproductive health care, and health equity.” “Title X is a critical piece of our social safety net that can, and should, ensure that people with low incomes can access essential health care without forcing providers to withhold referrals for all of the options available to them,” she said in a statement Monday. Still, McGill Johnson criticized a feature of the Biden administration’s rule, which would allow “objecting individuals and grantees” to not be required to counsel or refer for abortions in the program. But Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement Monday that the Trump rule had respected “the plain statutory language of Title X.” “Democrats push this agenda at their own political peril,” she said. More than 20 states filed lawsuits against the Trump administration in hopes of overturning the rule, including California, whose suit was led by Becerra, then the state’s attorney general. Also read | Wombs: The political battleground In the spring of 2019, the Trump administration announced that it would give millions in Title X funds to an anti-abortion nonprofit organization funded by allies of the Catholic Church, the Obria Group. Critics cast the move as a way to defund medical clinics that provide abortions. Announcing the policy reversal Monday, the Biden administration cited last year’s Family Planning Annual Report, which showed a precipitous drop in the number of clients served by the Title X program. The report estimated that roughly two-thirds of the decrease in family planning patients between 2018 and 2020 could be attributed to the Trump rule. Six states currently have no Title X services, and seven others have “limited Title X capacity,” the Health and Human Services department said. Dr Rachel L. Levine, the assistant secretary for health, said the new rule would “allow for the Title X service network to expand in size and capacity to provide quality family planning services to more clients.” Title X grants typically go to clinics run by state and local health departments, as well as to federally qualified health centres, hospital-based sites, and other private nonprofit and community-based health clinics. Also read | Joe Biden's administration urges judge to block Texas anti-abortion law Monday’s reversal comes as the debate over abortion rights has flared up again on Capitol Hill after the Supreme Court refused last month allowed a Texas law prohibiting most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to take effect. With other states seeking to enact similar restrictions, and the court, now dominated by conservatives, preparing to take up a case that could overturn the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, Democrats are making the issue a centrepiece of their campaign strategy for next year’s midterm elections.

Biden officials end ban on abortion referrals at federally funded clinics

(Trigger warning: Sexual assault)

While a state in the US introduced a pandora's box with strict abortion laws that are being challenged in court by the federal government, less developed countries and even small islands are introducing progressive measures.<o:p></o:p>

Abortions have always been a political hot potato in several countries and recent developments suggest the issue is far from settled.<o:p></o:p>

Interestingly, abortion has never been just about abortion. It has been, from the last few years, a topic which has managed to divide populations with the possibility of little or no compromise, in majority of the cases.

<o:p><img alt="Abortion" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4587e9b8-5d44-4a48-9326-4dd78f8d50d5" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Abortion%201.jpg" /></o:p>

The pro-abortion movement, also known as the pro-choice movement, has more to it. Laws that hinder women’s right to choose their wellbeing of reproductive health have been a hot topic of debate for years. <o:p></o:p>

However, the anti-abortion laws represent more than reproductive health. These laws that prevent a woman from exercising her right to reproduce or not also further prevent her from exercising any of the basic human rights.<o:p></o:p>

From not being able to choose whether or not they would like to keep a baby, this topic expands to deeper issues such as whether or not a woman would even want to indulge in sexual activities with someone.

<o:p></o:p>

<h2 class="MsoNormal">Never again</h2>

Khwaab*, a 30-year-old girl from Peshawar, Pakistan, was married by the age of 25 and had two unplanned children by the time she turned 28. Married to an unknown man from a distant city, the young girl was strictly told that even uttering the word 'abortion' was equivalent to committing a sin.

She told WION that she used to linger going back to her room every night due to the fear of her husband forcing himself on her with the aim of "planting a baby" in her.

<o:p><img alt="Abortion" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d83634f3-ee85-46fb-83c0-a67eb29f8270" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Abortion.jpg" /></o:p>

"When I conceived for the first time, I was not mentally prepared to being a human being into this world. More importantly, I was suffering from acute anemia at that time," Khwaab remembered. "My doctor strictly told me in private that I will have to be extra careful about my health during my pregnancy. But, nobody in my family, including my own mother, listened to me."<o:p></o:p>

Khwaab went on to give birth to a pre-mature baby who was kept under observation for five weeks before her baby girl was discharged. <o:p></o:p>

It was not just her own health because of which she wanted to abort the child in the first month of pregnancy, but also the hatred for her husband. Night after night, her husband forced himself on her without considering if she was getting hurt or pleasured. When she opposed, she was yelled upon, or slapped and told to shut up. <o:p></o:p>

It was not just physical torture, her lack of right to choose also translated into her daily routine. From not being able to choose when to eat, what to eat, what to wear to not being able to not being able to even decide which school her children will attend — Khawaab’s basic human rights went for a toss, along with her right to choose.<o:p></o:p>

"By the time of my second child, I wanted to have another child but not with that man," Khwaab said, after leaving her husband and shifting to the UK. "Whether or not I want to reproduce is my choice, but with whom do I want to reproduce should also be my choice."<o:p></o:p>

Khwaab is not a one-off case. Hundreds of thousands of women go through this at least once in their life in several parts of the world.

<o:p></o:p>

<h2 class="MsoNormal">Suffering for all</h2>

Women across Latin American cities have been demanding the right to abort for years. In September 2021, Mexico's Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to criminalise abortion. In addition to this, the government also declared that the people who have been jailed for terminating pregnancies will be released.

<o:p><img alt="Abortion" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e069c4a7-73e6-47d3-b7b0-cb3910b7a8cf" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Abortion%202.jpg" /></o:p>

San Marino became one of the recent European microstate where 77 per cent of locals backed the pro-choice movement, with the Interior Minister urging the Parliament to convert this into a law.<o:p></o:p>

However, there are still several areas where abortion is still labelled as unconstitutional, criminal and a sin.<o:p></o:p>

In Colombia, till date, abortions are allowed only in cases where the woman has been sexually assaulted/raped.<o:p></o:p>

The state of Texas in the United States goes on to set one of the worst examples for women’s rights as the state has a near total ban on abortion across the state. <o:p></o:p>

China, too, has sought out to reduce the number of abortions for all cases where the woman does not need to abort due to medical issues. Many believe the Chinese government took this decision to make sure the country is able to increase the birth rates.

<o:p><img alt="Abortion" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="916dbe93-cde8-4f25-9390-295fcf24136c" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Abortion%203.jpeg" /></o:p>

It was China that used to forcefully make women abort a few years ago to make sure all citizens abide by the one-child policy. Now, the same government is once again using women as tools to increase the country's population by ignoring women’s reproductive health and forcefully making them reproduce a child even if they do not wish to reproduce.<o:p></o:p>

The fact that majority of the governments have, at some point, used women as tools to satisfy their country's population, religious beliefs and societal emotions, is something that a lot of people have been protesting against for years but many leaders have failed to understand repeatedly.<o:p></o:p>

Many politicians around the world have also used the topic of abortion as a distraction from several other issues. Abortion rules are just another form of discrimination with a hint of racism. When powerful politicians ran out of ways to oppress minority communities around the world, they decided it was time to bring in a new issue and restricting women from practicing their basic right to reproductive health had a safety net to it because one can attack a fetus but the fetus won't ever hit back.<o:p></o:p>

Whether or not Texas' anti-abortion rules are rolled back is something which only time will tell. Will the Chinese government ever stop using women as tools of population control is a hope that only few possess. What one can do, till then, is raise your voices against these inhumane practices and make sure you practice what you preach.

<o:p>*Name changed on demand.</o:p>

(Trigger warning: Sexual assault) While a state in the US introduced a pandora's box with strict abortion laws that are being challenged in court by the federal government, less developed countries and even small islands are introducing progressive measures.

(Trigger warning: Sexual assault) While a state in the US introduced a pandora's box with strict abortion laws that are being challenged in court by the federal government, less developed countries and even small islands are introducing progressive measures. Abortions have always been a political hot potato in several countries and recent developments suggest the issue is far from settled. Interestingly, abortion has never been just about abortion. It has been, from the last few years, a topic which has managed to divide populations with the possibility of little or no compromise, in majority of the cases. The pro-abortion movement, also known as the pro-choice movement, has more to it. Laws that hinder women’s right to choose their wellbeing of reproductive health have been a hot topic of debate for years. However, the anti-abortion laws represent more than reproductive health. These laws that prevent a woman from exercising her right to reproduce or not also further prevent her from exercising any of the basic human rights. From not being able to choose whether or not they would like to keep a baby, this topic expands to deeper issues such as whether or not a woman would even want to indulge in sexual activities with someone. Never again Khwaab*, a 30-year-old girl from Peshawar, Pakistan, was married by the age of 25 and had two unplanned children by the time she turned 28. Married to an unknown man from a distant city, the young girl was strictly told that even uttering the word 'abortion' was equivalent to committing a sin. She told WION that she used to linger going back to her room every night due to the fear of her husband forcing himself on her with the aim of "planting a baby" in her. "When I conceived for the first time, I was not mentally prepared to being a human being into this world. More importantly, I was suffering from acute anemia at that time," Khwaab remembered. "My doctor strictly told me in private that I will have to be extra careful about my health during my pregnancy. But, nobody in my family, including my own mother, listened to me." Khwaab went on to give birth to a pre-mature baby who was kept under observation for five weeks before her baby girl was discharged. It was not just her own health because of which she wanted to abort the child in the first month of pregnancy, but also the hatred for her husband. Night after night, her husband forced himself on her without considering if she was getting hurt or pleasured. When she opposed, she was yelled upon, or slapped and told to shut up. It was not just physical torture, her lack of right to choose also translated into her daily routine. From not being able to choose when to eat, what to eat, what to wear to not being able to not being able to even decide which school her children will attend — Khawaab’s basic human rights went for a toss, along with her right to choose. "By the time of my second child, I wanted to have another child but not with that man," Khwaab said, after leaving her husband and shifting to the UK. "Whether or not I want to reproduce is my choice, but with whom do I want to reproduce should also be my choice." Khwaab is not a one-off case. Hundreds of thousands of women go through this at least once in their life in several parts of the world. Suffering for all Women across Latin American cities have been demanding the right to abort for years. In September 2021, Mexico's Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to criminalise abortion. In addition to this, the government also declared that the people who have been jailed for terminating pregnancies will be released. San Marino became one of the recent European microstate where 77 per cent of locals backed the pro-choice movement, with the Interior Minister urging the Parliament to convert this into a law. However, there are still several areas where abortion is still labelled as unconstitutional, criminal and a sin. In Colombia, till date, abortions are allowed only in cases where the woman has been sexually assaulted/raped. The state of Texas in the United States goes on to set one of the worst examples for women’s rights as the state has a near total ban on abortion across the state. China, too, has sought out to reduce the number of abortions for all cases where the woman does not need to abort due to medical issues. Many believe the Chinese government took this decision to make sure the country is able to increase the birth rates. It was China that used to forcefully make women abort a few years ago to make sure all citizens abide by the one-child policy. Now, the same government is once again using women as tools to increase the country's population by ignoring women’s reproductive health and forcefully making them reproduce a child even if they do not wish to reproduce. The fact that majority of the governments have, at some point, used women as tools to satisfy their country's population, religious beliefs and societal emotions, is something that a lot of people have been protesting against for years but many leaders have failed to understand repeatedly. Many politicians around the world have also used the topic of abortion as a distraction from several other issues. Abortion rules are just another form of discrimination with a hint of racism. When powerful politicians ran out of ways to oppress minority communities around the world, they decided it was time to bring in a new issue and restricting women from practicing their basic right to reproductive health had a safety net to it because one can attack a fetus but the fetus won't ever hit back. Whether or not Texas' anti-abortion rules are rolled back is something which only time will tell. Will the Chinese government ever stop using women as tools of population control is a hope that only few possess. What one can do, till then, is raise your voices against these inhumane practices and make sure you practice what you preach. *Name changed on demand.

Wombs: The political battleground

Women marched by the thousands on Saturday on the Supreme Court, the Texas Capitol, and cities across the United States to protest increasing state restrictions on abortion.

Rallies held across the US against abortion ban

San Marino has voted overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing abortion in a referendum, overturning a law dating back to 1865.

San Marino celebrates historic vote, proposal to reverse 1865 abortion ban

On a windy Tuesday morning, the parking lot outside a small brick building on the Southside of Oklahoma City was filling up fast. The first to arrive, a red truck shortly before 8 a.m., was from Texas. So was the second and the third.

The building houses one of Oklahoma’s four abortion clinics, and at least two-thirds of its scheduled patients now come from Texas. So many, in fact, that it is trying to hire more staff members and doctors to keep up. The increase is the result of a new law in Texas banning abortions after about six weeks, a very early stage of pregnancy. As soon as the measure took effect this month, Texans started traveling elsewhere, and Oklahoma, close to Dallas, has become a major destination.

“We had every line lit up for eight hours straight,” said Jennifer Reince, who works the front desk phones at the clinic, Trust Women Oklahoma City, describing the first week the measure was in force.

The effects of the new law have been profound: Texans with unwanted pregnancies have been forced to make decisions quickly, and some have opted to travel long distances for abortions. As clinics in surrounding states fill up, appointments are being scheduled for later dates, making the procedures more costly. Other women are having to carry their pregnancies to term.

Marva Sadler, senior director of clinic services at Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four clinics in Texas, said she believed that many patients were not able to arrange child care or take time off work without losing their jobs to travel to other states.

“I think a majority of women are being sentenced to being parents,” she said.

The law is the latest in a string of successes by the anti-abortion movement, which for years has pushed for more conservative judges and control over state legislatures. Now the Supreme Court is preparing to take up an abortion case — the first to be argued before the court with all three of former President Donald Trump’s conservative appointees — that has the potential to remove federal protection for abortion altogether.

In Texas, the new state law has effectively accomplished that, at least for now.

Samerah, who requested that her last name not be published, was just five weeks pregnant when she lay on an examining table in Houston to get an ultrasound. It was Aug. 31, the day before the law went into effect. She had heard about it on the news and knew that it banned abortions after cardiac activity was detected. But when the doctor performed the ultrasound, there was no sound, and she was told to come back the next day for her procedure.

When she returned and lay again in a darkened room, staring up at a set of paper dancers hanging from the ceiling, the doctor got a different result.

“He said, ‘Take a deep breath,’ and budoom, budoom, budoom, all you hear is a heartbeat,” said Samerah, who is 22. “In that same breath, all the things I had been crossing my fingers about just came out, and I just bawled and bawled and bawled.”

She walked into the hallway, her mind racing, and saw other women there too.

“We were all just crying in the hallway like, ‘What are we going to do?’”

The answer for many women in her position has been to race to get an abortion in a different state. About half the patients at Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Louisiana, are now from Texas, up from about one-fifth before the law. At Little Rock Family Planning Services, in Arkansas, Texas patients make up 19% of the caseload now, compared with less than 2% in August.

Oklahoma does not require two trips to a clinic to get an abortion in most cases, so it has been a common choice. Trust Women had 11 Texas patients in August; it has 110 so far in September. Patients come from as far away as Galveston and Corpus Christi. Some drive through the night in time for a morning appointment. The high demand from Texas has meant that the clinic’s schedule is full for weeks. Last week, the earliest appointments were for mid-October.

Samerah arrived last Monday from Beaumont, a city near Houston, where she lives with her partner and their 2-year-old son.

The news of her pregnancy, she said, threatened the life they had built for him.

Their financial circumstances had only recently stabilized. She had gotten a customer service job. Her partner was driving a van for a medical service. They moved out of his family’s house into their own apartment. Their son has his own room. She bought new furniture: a sectional and a bed.

“This was our first time actually buying a brand-new, out-of-the-box mattress, not off of Facebook or something,” she said.

She felt proud to be able to give her son attention, toys, a stable home, things she said she never had herself. But she could not afford to do that for two. “I don’t want to be that parent,” said Samerah, whose mother was a teenager when she was born. “I don’t want to bring my kid into something that I can’t afford to take care of, because they don’t deserve it. I grew up in that kind of reality. And I know what it does to people.”

Samerah said she had gotten an abortion once before, the year after her son was born, for similar reasons. She said she made an appointment to get an IUD immediately after her procedure Tuesday.

As states pass more abortion restrictions, it increasingly is poor women who must grapple with their effects. Half of American women who got an abortion in 2014 lived in poverty, double the share from 1994, when about one-quarter of the women who had abortions were low-income, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Theories for why include demographic change, increased funding for abortions for low-income women, and higher-income women having more access to highly effective contraception.

The longer women have to wait, the more expensive their procedures become. Abortions at Trust Women range in cost from $650 for earlier stages to $2,350 for later stages. Financial assistance is also available.

Sarah, who works at a roofing company, found out she was 13 weeks pregnant on Aug. 23. But then the law went into effect, and she raced to find a clinic in another state.

“It has just been a scramble to get this taken care of, especially since I just ran out of time so quickly,” said Sarah, 21, who asked that her last name not be published to protect her privacy.

She finally got her abortion at the Oklahoma City clinic Sept. 20. She had to put off a car payment to cover her part of the $1,550 charge. Her partner, a police officer, split the cost and drove her the three hours from Dallas where they live.

She said she had been on her own for some time. Her mother died in a car crash when she was 9, and her father died of cancer when she was 19. And though she feels much more financially stable now than in her teens — she was putting herself through college studying criminal justice until the coronavirus pandemic — she said she could not support a baby.

“I would have to put my life on hold,” she said. “I don’t know if I would be able to go back to school."

Sarah had never been pregnant before, but she said she knew her decision was right. Still, it was difficult. In the weeks that she waited for her appointment, she said it was impossible not to think about what was growing inside her. The ultrasound confirming her pregnancy, which she received at a center run by an anti-abortion group, was performed by a woman who typed ‘Hi, Mommy’ and ‘Hi, it’s me' into the screen and gave Sarah the printout.

“It’s hard not to have the instinct to want to form a bond with it,” Sarah said. “And just having to remind myself every day, you can’t do it. Like, it’s just not the time for you. So that’s been the hardest part.”

Trust Women draws anti-abortion groups too. A recreational vehicle operated by anti-abortion activists that advertises free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds sometimes parks across the street at Rancho Village Food Mart.

Raymundo Marquez, 23, a cashier there, said his brother, an owner of the shop, allows it. But Marquez has conflicted feelings. He believes that abortion is wrong. When his girlfriend got pregnant in high school, they did not consider it. But he said it was hard to judge someone else for doing it, because he knows there are children who are homeless and neglected.

“It’s sad both ways,” he said.

By Tuesday afternoon, one protester had appeared, standing tall in a green flowered jacket and green flats, praying and looking toward the clinic’s security booth. Inside, Louis Padilla, the security guard, was watching her. She is a regular, and sometimes he walks outside to debate her.

Padilla said that he was Catholic and Republican but that he was won over to the cause of the clinic after working there for a while. Each woman has her own story, he said, and who are men like him to judge them? He mows the clinic’s lawn, puts up its flag and sometimes fixes appliances because repairmen refuse to come to an abortion clinic. He even bought a drone with his own money to watch the protesters outside.

The situation in Texas may be temporary. A hearing Oct. 1 will give the law’s opponents another chance to convince a judge to suspend it. But other restrictions are looming. In Oklahoma, there are five, including a law that requires abortion providers to be board-certified obstetricians. If it takes effect as scheduled Nov. 1, four of the eight doctors licensed to work at Trust Women could no longer do so.

Samerah made it to the Oklahoma clinic with the help of financial assistance funds, which covered plane tickets for her and her son. Her abortion was covered too. But her partner had to pay his own way there. He was fired, she said, when he asked for time off. And she lost several days’ pay.

She does not believe that the people who passed the law considered the consequences for women like her. Those officials, she said, go to their jobs in “their car that doesn’t have problems starting up, with a tire that is not flat.”

Meanwhile, she, her partner and her son will go back to Texas to a real fear that they may not be able to pay rent for October.

“I have to go home and figure out what to do in the next month, and the next month is in a couple of weeks. Like, what am I going to do, you know?”

On a windy Tuesday morning, the parking lot outside a small brick building on the Southside of Oklahoma City was filling up fast. The first to arrive, a red truck shortly before 8 a.

On a windy Tuesday morning, the parking lot outside a small brick building on the Southside of Oklahoma City was filling up fast. The first to arrive, a red truck shortly before 8 a.m., was from Texas. So was the second and the third. The building houses one of Oklahoma’s four abortion clinics, and at least two-thirds of its scheduled patients now come from Texas. So many, in fact, that it is trying to hire more staff members and doctors to keep up. The increase is the result of a new law in Texas banning abortions after about six weeks, a very early stage of pregnancy. As soon as the measure took effect this month, Texans started traveling elsewhere, and Oklahoma, close to Dallas, has become a major destination. “We had every line lit up for eight hours straight,” said Jennifer Reince, who works the front desk phones at the clinic, Trust Women Oklahoma City, describing the first week the measure was in force. The effects of the new law have been profound: Texans with unwanted pregnancies have been forced to make decisions quickly, and some have opted to travel long distances for abortions. As clinics in surrounding states fill up, appointments are being scheduled for later dates, making the procedures more costly. Other women are having to carry their pregnancies to term. Marva Sadler, senior director of clinic services at Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four clinics in Texas, said she believed that many patients were not able to arrange child care or take time off work without losing their jobs to travel to other states. “I think a majority of women are being sentenced to being parents,” she said. The law is the latest in a string of successes by the anti-abortion movement, which for years has pushed for more conservative judges and control over state legislatures. Now the Supreme Court is preparing to take up an abortion case — the first to be argued before the court with all three of former President Donald Trump’s conservative appointees — that has the potential to remove federal protection for abortion altogether. In Texas, the new state law has effectively accomplished that, at least for now. Samerah, who requested that her last name not be published, was just five weeks pregnant when she lay on an examining table in Houston to get an ultrasound. It was Aug. 31, the day before the law went into effect. She had heard about it on the news and knew that it banned abortions after cardiac activity was detected. But when the doctor performed the ultrasound, there was no sound, and she was told to come back the next day for her procedure. When she returned and lay again in a darkened room, staring up at a set of paper dancers hanging from the ceiling, the doctor got a different result. “He said, ‘Take a deep breath,’ and budoom, budoom, budoom, all you hear is a heartbeat,” said Samerah, who is 22. “In that same breath, all the things I had been crossing my fingers about just came out, and I just bawled and bawled and bawled.” She walked into the hallway, her mind racing, and saw other women there too. “We were all just crying in the hallway like, ‘What are we going to do?’” The answer for many women in her position has been to race to get an abortion in a different state. About half the patients at Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Louisiana, are now from Texas, up from about one-fifth before the law. At Little Rock Family Planning Services, in Arkansas, Texas patients make up 19% of the caseload now, compared with less than 2% in August. Oklahoma does not require two trips to a clinic to get an abortion in most cases, so it has been a common choice. Trust Women had 11 Texas patients in August; it has 110 so far in September. Patients come from as far away as Galveston and Corpus Christi. Some drive through the night in time for a morning appointment. The high demand from Texas has meant that the clinic’s schedule is full for weeks. Last week, the earliest appointments were for mid-October. Samerah arrived last Monday from Beaumont, a city near Houston, where she lives with her partner and their 2-year-old son. The news of her pregnancy, she said, threatened the life they had built for him. Their financial circumstances had only recently stabilized. She had gotten a customer service job. Her partner was driving a van for a medical service. They moved out of his family’s house into their own apartment. Their son has his own room. She bought new furniture: a sectional and a bed. “This was our first time actually buying a brand-new, out-of-the-box mattress, not off of Facebook or something,” she said. She felt proud to be able to give her son attention, toys, a stable home, things she said she never had herself. But she could not afford to do that for two. “I don’t want to be that parent,” said Samerah, whose mother was a teenager when she was born. “I don’t want to bring my kid into something that I can’t afford to take care of, because they don’t deserve it. I grew up in that kind of reality. And I know what it does to people.” Samerah said she had gotten an abortion once before, the year after her son was born, for similar reasons. She said she made an appointment to get an IUD immediately after her procedure Tuesday. As states pass more abortion restrictions, it increasingly is poor women who must grapple with their effects. Half of American women who got an abortion in 2014 lived in poverty, double the share from 1994, when about one-quarter of the women who had abortions were low-income, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Theories for why include demographic change, increased funding for abortions for low-income women, and higher-income women having more access to highly effective contraception. The longer women have to wait, the more expensive their procedures become. Abortions at Trust Women range in cost from $650 for earlier stages to $2,350 for later stages. Financial assistance is also available. Sarah, who works at a roofing company, found out she was 13 weeks pregnant on Aug. 23. But then the law went into effect, and she raced to find a clinic in another state. “It has just been a scramble to get this taken care of, especially since I just ran out of time so quickly,” said Sarah, 21, who asked that her last name not be published to protect her privacy. She finally got her abortion at the Oklahoma City clinic Sept. 20. She had to put off a car payment to cover her part of the $1,550 charge. Her partner, a police officer, split the cost and drove her the three hours from Dallas where they live. She said she had been on her own for some time. Her mother died in a car crash when she was 9, and her father died of cancer when she was 19. And though she feels much more financially stable now than in her teens — she was putting herself through college studying criminal justice until the coronavirus pandemic — she said she could not support a baby. “I would have to put my life on hold,” she said. “I don’t know if I would be able to go back to school." Sarah had never been pregnant before, but she said she knew her decision was right. Still, it was difficult. In the weeks that she waited for her appointment, she said it was impossible not to think about what was growing inside her. The ultrasound confirming her pregnancy, which she received at a center run by an anti-abortion group, was performed by a woman who typed ‘Hi, Mommy’ and ‘Hi, it’s me' into the screen and gave Sarah the printout. “It’s hard not to have the instinct to want to form a bond with it,” Sarah said. “And just having to remind myself every day, you can’t do it. Like, it’s just not the time for you. So that’s been the hardest part.” Trust Women draws anti-abortion groups too. A recreational vehicle operated by anti-abortion activists that advertises free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds sometimes parks across the street at Rancho Village Food Mart. Raymundo Marquez, 23, a cashier there, said his brother, an owner of the shop, allows it. But Marquez has conflicted feelings. He believes that abortion is wrong. When his girlfriend got pregnant in high school, they did not consider it. But he said it was hard to judge someone else for doing it, because he knows there are children who are homeless and neglected. “It’s sad both ways,” he said. By Tuesday afternoon, one protester had appeared, standing tall in a green flowered jacket and green flats, praying and looking toward the clinic’s security booth. Inside, Louis Padilla, the security guard, was watching her. She is a regular, and sometimes he walks outside to debate her. Padilla said that he was Catholic and Republican but that he was won over to the cause of the clinic after working there for a while. Each woman has her own story, he said, and who are men like him to judge them? He mows the clinic’s lawn, puts up its flag and sometimes fixes appliances because repairmen refuse to come to an abortion clinic. He even bought a drone with his own money to watch the protesters outside. The situation in Texas may be temporary. A hearing Oct. 1 will give the law’s opponents another chance to convince a judge to suspend it. But other restrictions are looming. In Oklahoma, there are five, including a law that requires abortion providers to be board-certified obstetricians. If it takes effect as scheduled Nov. 1, four of the eight doctors licensed to work at Trust Women could no longer do so. Samerah made it to the Oklahoma clinic with the help of financial assistance funds, which covered plane tickets for her and her son. Her abortion was covered too. But her partner had to pay his own way there. He was fired, she said, when he asked for time off. And she lost several days’ pay. She does not believe that the people who passed the law considered the consequences for women like her. Those officials, she said, go to their jobs in “their car that doesn’t have problems starting up, with a tire that is not flat.” Meanwhile, she, her partner and her son will go back to Texas to a real fear that they may not be able to pay rent for October. “I have to go home and figure out what to do in the next month, and the next month is in a couple of weeks. Like, what am I going to do, you know?”

With abortion largely banned in Texas, an Oklahoma clinic is inundated

The US Justice Department has sued Texas over a new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.”

US Justice Department sues Texas over state's new abortion law

The US President Joe Biden has openly condemned the US supreme court for rejecting to ban the abortion law.

Biden said the supreme court judges, all appointed by former President Donald Trump, delivered an assault on a woman’s rights.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-supreme-court-refuses-to-block-texas-law-banning-most-abortions-410121">US Supreme Court refuses to block Texas law banning most abortions</a>

"The Supreme Court's ruling overnight is an unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade, which has been the law of the land for almost fifty years," Biden said in a statement. "This (Texas) law is so extreme it does not even allow for exceptions in the case of rape or incest."

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Last night, the Supreme Court’s decision on Texas’ SB8 dealt a significant blow to Roe v. Wade. 
 
We will not stand by and allow our nation to go back to the days of back-alley abortions. We will use every lever to defend the right to safe and legal abortion. We will fight this.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) <a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1433604155785060353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Texas abortion law is one of the toughest and most restrictive abortion bans in the US in the past couple of decades.

As per the law, any member of the public from Texas can file a legal complaint against the doctors, health care providers and family members who support a woman in aborting a child after six weeks of the start of her pregnancy.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-texas-enacts-toughest-us-ban-on-abortion-410312">WATCH |</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-texas-enacts-toughest-us-ban-on-abortion-410312/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"By allowing a law to go into effect that empowers private citizens in Texas to sue health care providers, family members supporting a woman exercising her right to choose after six weeks, or even a friend who drives her to a hospital or clinic, it unleashes unconstitutional chaos and empowers self-anointed enforcers to have devastating impacts," Biden expressed. "Complete strangers will now be empowered to inject themselves in the most private and personal health decisions faced by women."

He also announced that his government will be launching a campaign to find out how can the federal government help the Texas women exercise their right to abortion, and make sure that women are able to gain access to safe and legal abortions across the country.

The US President Joe Biden has openly condemned the US supreme court for rejecting to ban the abortion law. Biden said the supreme court judges, all appointed by former President Donald Trump, delivered an assault on a woman’s rights.

The US President Joe Biden has openly condemned the US supreme court for rejecting to ban the abortion law. Biden said the supreme court judges, all appointed by former President Donald Trump, delivered an assault on a woman’s rights. Also read | US Supreme Court refuses to block Texas law banning most abortions "The Supreme Court's ruling overnight is an unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade, which has been the law of the land for almost fifty years," Biden said in a statement. "This (Texas) law is so extreme it does not even allow for exceptions in the case of rape or incest." Last night, the Supreme Court’s decision on Texas’ SB8 dealt a significant blow to Roe v. Wade. We will not stand by and allow our nation to go back to the days of back-alley abortions. We will use every lever to defend the right to safe and legal abortion. We will fight this. — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 3, 2021 × Texas abortion law is one of the toughest and most restrictive abortion bans in the US in the past couple of decades. As per the law, any member of the public from Texas can file a legal complaint against the doctors, health care providers and family members who support a woman in aborting a child after six weeks of the start of her pregnancy. WATCH | "By allowing a law to go into effect that empowers private citizens in Texas to sue health care providers, family members supporting a woman exercising her right to choose after six weeks, or even a friend who drives her to a hospital or clinic, it unleashes unconstitutional chaos and empowers self-anointed enforcers to have devastating impacts," Biden expressed. "Complete strangers will now be empowered to inject themselves in the most private and personal health decisions faced by women." He also announced that his government will be launching a campaign to find out how can the federal government help the Texas women exercise their right to abortion, and make sure that women are able to gain access to safe and legal abortions across the country.

Joe Biden lashes out at US supreme court for Texas abortion law

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