Abortion rights

Vice President Harris gave impassioned remarks on reproductive rights at Howard University on Tuesday, her first political event after President Biden officially said he's running for a second term.

Politics & Government

Harris starts her 2024 race with a fired-up speech on the fight for abortion rights

5:00am April 26, 2023

by Deepa Shivaram

Vice President Harris spoke at Howard University on Tuesday night — her first event of the 2024 campaign. She urged the crowd to push back against "extremist so-called leaders" on abortion limits.

Boxes containing doses of the abortion pill mifepristone are laid out at the Hope Clinic in Illinois. The Comstock Act of 1873, which outlawed the distribution of "obscene" materials such as contraception, is being cited as a basis for blocking the mailing of mifepristone.

Why anti-abortion groups are citing the ideas of a 19th-century 'vice reformer'

10:51am April 18, 2023

by Sarah McCammon

Anthony Comstock pushed Congress to crack down on what he saw as harmful vices, such as pornography and contraception. An 1873 law named for him has appeared in recent court battles over abortion.

Juliet, 15, lives in Georgia, a state that bans abortions after six weeks. There is an exception for rape, but only with a police report. Juliet became so fearful of getting pregnant from rape, she told her mom she wanted to go on birth control. "I just wanted to be a little in control," she says.

Health & Safety

Fear of pregnancy: One teen's story in post-Roe America

6:00am April 15, 2023

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

In a state that bans abortion, anxiety about rape and getting pregnant drove this teen to start on birth control, though she's not having sex.

Politics & Government

Supreme Court briefly puts on hold lower court's limits on abortion drug mifepristone

8:21pm April 14, 2023

by Ximena Bustillo

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has placed a hold on a lower court ruling that restricts access to the abortion drug mifepristone until Wednesday night.

The surprising science of how pregnancy begins

10:02pm April 12, 2023

The start of pregnancy — as well as exactly when that happens — is a hot topic in some state legislatures and U.S. courts. Understanding the nuances of what happens when has never been more important.

A police report taken July 18, 2022, in League City, Texas, details a complaint from Marcus Silva about materials he said he found in his then-wife's purse nearly a week earlier. Personally identifying information has been redacted.

Documents in abortion pill lawsuit raise questions about ex-husband's claims

3:33pm April 10, 2023

by Sarah McCammon

A Texas man is suing three women he says helped his ex-wife obtain an abortion "without even his knowledge." Experts say documents related to the case suggest he might have known ahead of time.

Mifepristone is part of a two-drug protocol that a recent study showed was used in 98% of medication abortions in 2020.

Judges' dueling decisions put access to a key abortion drug in jeopardy nationwide

7:07am April 08, 2023

by Sarah McCammon

A federal judge in Texas stayed the FDA's approval of the drug mifepristone, while a federal judge in Washington state blocked any FDA change in access.

Queue Listen Now

Physicians say roughly half of all preterm births are preventable, caused by social, economic and environmental factors, as well as inadequate access to prenatal health care.

The U.S. has a high rate of preterm births, and abortion bans could make that worse

5:00am March 15, 2023

by Sarah Varney

The rates of premature birth in the U.S. are high, especially in certain states. Experts worry that states restricting abortion have fewer maternal care providers than those with abortion access.

Abortion-rights supporters rally at the Texas State Capitol on Sept. 11, 2021 in Austin, Texas.

National

Texas man sues ex-wife's friends for allegedly helping her get abortion pills

3:13pm March 11, 2023

by Sarah McCammon

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by a Galveston County man accuses three women of helping his ex-wife obtain abortion pills used to terminate her pregnancy last year.

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, speaks near the Texas Capitol in Austin during an event to announce that her group is suing the state on behalf of five women and two doctors.

5 Texas women denied abortions sue the state, saying the bans put them in danger

4:34pm March 07, 2023

by Sarah McCammon

The lawsuit filed on behalf of five patients who said their lives were put at risk and two physicians asks a state judge to clarify exceptions for medical emergencies under Texas law.