Tag Archives: SCOTUS

House passes bill to ban gender affirming care for minors

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Friday was a bad day. Texas has taken a major step toward banning transgender minors from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy — care that medical groups say is vital to their mental health — after the state House gave Senate Bill 14 initial approval Friday. Trans Texans and LGBTQ advocates consider … Continue reading →

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An example of how a pro-abortion rights campaign could go

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This was from last week, and I’ve been thinking about it since. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, one of the five women suing Texas for abortion access blamed the state’s Republican senators for her near-death experience … Continue reading →

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Countersuit in the “wrongful death” abortion saga

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Wild. A man who is suing his ex-wife’s friends for allegedly helping her get an abortion may have known about her plans and done nothing to stop her, according to a new legal filing. Marcus Silva brought a wrongful-death lawsuit … Continue reading →

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DOJ sues Tennessee over its ban on gender affirming care for minors

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There will be more of these to come, including and especially in Texas. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Tennessee’s recently passed law that bans gender-affirming care for minors, emphasizing it “denies necessary medical care to youth … Continue reading →

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On the (likely) future Biden/Trump matchup

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s way too early to pay any attention to state polling, but there are a few general principles to discuss here. President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid on Tuesday, setting up a potential rematch with former President Donald Trump … Continue reading →

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Meanwhile, in other mifepristone news

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Keep an eye on this. A federal judge said during a Monday hearing that he’s leaning towards ruling in favor of a company that makes generic mifepristone in its quest to prove it has standing to sue over West Virginia’s … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS halts the anti-mifepristone ruling

Posted on April 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Supreme Court ruled Friday to pause lower court rulings that would have imposed restrictions on mifepristone, keeping the drug accessible while the case proceeds. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would not have granted the stay. Despite the … Continue reading →

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Anti-mifepristone order still paused

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

SCOTUS needs a couple more days. The Supreme Court extended its stay on lower court rulings on mifepristone until Friday just before midnight, meaning that the drug will remain accessible and available at least until then. The order, written by … Continue reading →

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Anti-mifepristone litigants respond to SCOTUS appeal

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Today we find out what SCOTUS will do. The anti-abortion doctors who first brought the case seeking to get mifepristone yanked from the markets filed a reply brief Tuesday, starting the clock on the Supreme Court’s response. It’s the latest … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS pauses that anti-mifepristone ruling

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A brief timeout. The Supreme Court granted the Department of Justice’s emergency request to temporarily halt lower court rulings that would have reimposed restrictions on mifepristone that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had lifted in recent years. The stay … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit barely limits ridiculous anti-mifepristone ruling

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

In other words, the Fifth Circuit did Fifth Circuit things. The notoriously right-wing Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld much of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling on mifepristone from late last week in an early Thursday decision that may prompt the … Continue reading →

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The doctors involved in the lawsuit to clarify Texas’ draconian forced birth law

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. Last spring, Dr. Judy Levison started to give her routine answer when a patient, who was 15 weeks pregnant, asked why she should receive a blood test that picks up certain fetal defects. Some women simply want to … Continue reading →

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Tuesday mifepristone update

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First things first, that lawless ruling from the wingnut Texas judge has been appealed. The U.S. Justice Department on Monday asked a federal appeals court to keep the abortion pill mifepristone on the U.S. market as litigation plays out, days … Continue reading →

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We await what’s next with mifepristone

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

“Everything is on the table”, whatever that ultimately means. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said the administration is willing to do whatever it takes to protect access to the abortion drug mifepristone, after a federal judge in Texas suspended the … Continue reading →

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Mifepristone access banned and expanded

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

So as you might have heard, this happened on Friday. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas stayed the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of abortion drug mifepristone nationwide Friday, including in blue states with robust abortion protections. The … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead to the inevitable litigation over a trans sports ban

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The feds have weighed in. The Department of Education on Thursday formally proposed a rule change to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools, that would be at odds with anti-trans bills being signed into … Continue reading →

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The Observer on the effect that banning abortion has had on Texas doctors

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m glad this won’t end up being one of their last stories. Doctors have a code, a set of principles meant to guide their practice: Give care. Act justly. Respect patients. Do no harm. But for Texas doctors, especially obstetrician-gynecologists, … Continue reading →

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Another “future doctor shortage” article

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Third in the series. This one covers our future nurse shortage, too. More than a year and a half after Texas implemented its six-week abortion ban, and months after Dobbs, medical providers say they are facing impossible situations that pit their … Continue reading →

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Abortion funds go back to work

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Glad to see it, but I’m waiting for another shoe to drop. Some abortion advocacy nonprofit groups have resumed paying for Texans to get abortions out of state after a court ruling last month. These groups, called abortion funds, stopped … Continue reading →

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Whole Woman’s Health opens its New Mexico clinic

Posted on March 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A little bittersweet, I have to say. One of the largest independent abortion providers in the nation opened a new clinic in New Mexico on Thursday, nearly nine months after it shuttered its clinics in Texas after the U.S. Supreme … Continue reading →

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Oklahoma Supreme Court upholds abortion rights

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest, for obvious reasons. A divided Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a portion of the state’s near-total ban on abortion, ruling women have a right to abortion when pregnancy risks their health, not just in a medical emergency. … Continue reading →

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More on the lawsuit that seeks to clarify exceptions to Texas’ forced birth laws

Posted on March 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A couple of interesting articles to read to enhance our understanding of the lawsuit filed by five women who claim that Texas’ anti-abortion laws have harmed them. From Vox: In theory, even after the Supreme Court’s anti-abortion decision in Dobbs v. … Continue reading →

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The next frontier in forced birth litigation

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is truly wild, and potentially very scary. A Texas man is suing three women under the wrongful death statute, alleging that they assisted his ex-wife in terminating her pregnancy, the first such case brought since the state’s near-total ban … Continue reading →

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Five women harmed by Texas’ anti-abortion law file a lawsuit over it

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this ought to be interesting. Five women who say they were denied abortions despite grave risks to their lives or their fetuses sued the state of Texas on Monday, apparently the first time that pregnant women themselves have taken … Continue reading →

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Democratic AGs file lawsuit to ease access to mifepristone

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good, albeit a bit confusing at this point in time. A dozen Democratic state attorneys general have opened a new front in the legal war over mifepristone, the “gold standard” medication used in the majority of all US abortions. In a federal lawsuit filed … Continue reading →

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Abortion funds remain protected from prosecution

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good news, in the kind of world where this is needed at all, for now. A federal judge issued a favorable ruling for Texas abortion funds, indicating they likely cannot be criminally charged for helping people travel out of state … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit again takes Paxton off the hook for testifying in abortion funds’ lawsuit

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s like deja vu all over again. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will not have to testify in court as part of a lawsuit over whether abortion funds can help people access the procedure in states where it’s still legal. … Continue reading →

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Wendy Davis’ lawsuit against SB8 dismissed

Posted on February 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. A federal judge has dismissed a narrow challenge to Texas’ ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. The lawsuit was brought by former State Sen. Wendy Davis, best known for her 13-hour filibuster of a 2013 abortion … Continue reading →

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Abbott tells state agencies and universities to hire more white people

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, let’s be honest, that’s what this is about. Gov. Greg Abbott’s office is warning state agency and public university leaders this week that the use of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — policies that support groups who have … Continue reading →

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State Bar lawsuit against Paxton survives motion to dismiss

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton must face an ethics lawsuit by state attorney regulators over a case he brought challenging results of the 2020 election, according to a court ruling posted on Monday. Judge Casey Blair on Friday … Continue reading →

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New Mexico sues its “abortion sanctuary cities”

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. New Mexico’s top prosecutor on Monday asked the state’s highest court to overturn abortion bans imposed by conservative local governments in the Democratic-run state where the procedure remains legal after Roe v. Wade was struck down. The move comes … Continue reading →

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Emergency miscarriage care

Posted on January 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s another thing most of us have not had to think much about in the past when abortion was generally legal. [A uterine aspiration (also commonly known as a D&C) or the removal of tissue from the uterus via suction] is a … Continue reading →

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More on our future doctor shortage

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is unsustainable. Abortion restrictions have forced Texas obstetrician-gynecology residency programs to send young doctors out of the state to learn about pregnancy termination, a burdensome process educators say is another example of abortion bans undermining reproductive health care. At … Continue reading →

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It’s going to be a brutal legislative session for LGBTQ folks in Texas

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I really wish this weren’t the case, but it is. It’s going to be bad. Two bills that would ban classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in Texas public schools before certain grade levels are poised to receive … Continue reading →

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