Abortion

State constitution protects right to abortion to protect life of mother, top Oklahoma court rules

Women in Oklahoma have a state constitutional right to an abortion when needed to save their lives, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled.

Mar 22, 2023 3:09 PM CDT

North Dakota Constitution protects abortions needed to protect women’s life and health, top state court says

The North Dakota Constitution protects the right to obtain an abortion when it is needed to preserve the life or health of a pregnant woman, the state supreme court said Thursday.

Mar 17, 2023 12:30 PM CDT

Can court ban abortion pill? Federal judge considers authority, plaintiffs’ standing

A federal judge in Texas is promising a quick ruling on a lawsuit seeking to ban abortion pills on the ground that they are unsafe and wrongly approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Mar 16, 2023 9:54 AM CDT

Wrongful death suit accuses 3 women of helping man’s then-wife obtain abortion pills

A Texas man has filed a wrongful death and conspiracy lawsuit against three women who helped his then-wife obtain abortion pills.

Mar 13, 2023 2:44 PM CDT

Weekly Briefs: Legal sector continues to gain jobs; Roe v. Wade archive auctioned

Legal sector adds 1,500 jobs The legal services sector continues to add jobs, despite reports of layoffs at some BigLaw firms. The sector gained 1,500 jobs in February, according to preliminary and seasonally adjusted figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In January, the industry gained 800…

Mar 10, 2023 11:57 AM CST

Suit filed on behalf of women denied abortions in Texas despite dangerous health complications

Doctors and hospitals in Texas are turning away pregnant women who face serious health risks and need abortions because the medical providers fear prosecution, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

Mar 8, 2023 4:07 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: Newest SCOTUS justice writes second cert-denial dissent; Roe v. Wade archive to be auctioned

Justice Jackson dissents from cert denial—again Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson hasn’t yet written an opinion in an argued case before the U.S. Supreme Court, but she has written two dissents to denial of certiorari, along with a dissent to a refusal to grant an emergency stay to an execution. All…

Feb 24, 2023 3:40 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: Judge orders reform of school-funding system; BigLaw malpractice suit settles

School-funding system violates state constitution, judge says A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that the state’s school-funding system, which is heavily dependent on local property taxes, violates the state constitutional rights of students in poor school districts. Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer said the system violates the Pennsylvania Constitution’s education clause and…

Feb 10, 2023 2:44 PM CST

Meet the Texas judge who is a favorite of conservatives in hot-button lawsuits, including abortion-pill litigation

A conservative federal judge in Texas is at the center of attention because of a pending case in which he has been asked to rule that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should not have approved the medication abortion-drug mifepristone.

Feb 10, 2023 11:43 AM CST

Does 13th Amendment protect a right to abortion? Federal judge orders briefing on the scope of Dobbs

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has asked for briefing on whether the 13th Amendment’s ban on slavery and involuntary servitude—or some other constitutional provision—protects a right to abortion.

Feb 8, 2023 9:27 AM CST

DeSantis violated Florida Constitution by suspending prosecutor, but federal court can’t act, judge says

A federal judge in Florida has ruled that the 11th Amendment prevents him from ordering the reinstatement of a reform prosecutor suspended by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Jan 24, 2023 8:54 AM CST

SCOTUS justices were questioned but not implicated in Dobbs leak probe; some are concerned about double standard

Investigators questioned U.S. Supreme Court justices as they probed the leak of a draft opinion overturning the right to abortion, but the justices were not required to sign affidavits, the official who oversaw the probe said Friday.

Jan 23, 2023 10:09 AM CST

Who leaked Dobbs? SCOTUS investigators don’t know, despite 97 employee interviews and forensic sleuthing

The U.S. Supreme Court can’t identify who leaked Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion overturning the right to abortion to Politico in May 2022, according to a report released Thursday.

Jan 19, 2023 3:11 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: Man pleads guilty in cold-case murder of law librarian; near-total abortion ban upheld in Idaho

A man convicted as a minor in 1964 for killing and raping a teen girl in Germany has pleaded guilty to the 1973 murder of a Stanford law librarian.

Jan 13, 2023 1:30 PM CST

Six-week abortion ban violates right to privacy, South Carolina Supreme Court rules

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the state’s ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.

Jan 5, 2023 3:27 PM CST