abortion rights

Lawyer volunteers line up as N.Y. abortion providers seek out advice

Abortion rights protesters hold a youth rally in Washington Square Park in anticipation of Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision in New York City, U.S., June 3, 2022. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

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  • About 50 New York law firms have expressed an interest in staffing a new hotline
  • The initiative is being spearheaded by New York Attorney General Leticia James

(Reuters) – A new hotline staffed by volunteer lawyers in New York is fielding a stream of inquiries from reproductive healthcare providers in the state worried about how the end of nationwide abortion rights protections could affect their operations, organizers said this week.

“Unfortunately, what we have received is what we expected,” said Claudia Hammerman, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, which is coordinating law firm participation in the effort.

The New York hotline is the centerpiece of a month-old abortion rights initiative spearheaded by state Attorney General Letitia James in conjunction with law firms and reproductive rights organizations responding to the U.S. Supreme court last month overturning the constitutional right to abortion.

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After two weeks, the hotline

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Judge won’t block law banning most Mississippi abortions

JACKSON, Miss. — As attorneys argued about abortion laws across the South on Tuesday, a Mississippi judge rejected a request by the state’s only abortion clinic to temporarily block a law that would ban most abortions.

Without other developments in the Mississippi lawsuit, the clinic will close at the end of business Wednesday and the state law will take effect Thursday.

One of the clinic’s attorneys, Hillary Schneller of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the judge should have blocked the law.

“People in Mississippi who need abortions right now are in a state of panic, trying to get into the clinic before it’s too late,” Schneller said. “No one should be forced to live in fear like that.”

Mississippi legislators passed the “trigger” law before the U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, sought a temporary restraining order that would have allowed it to remain open while the lawsuit played out in court.

“This law has the potential to save the lives of thousands of unborn Mississippi children,” Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said after the judge’s ruling. “It is a great victory for life. I

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What would it mean if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

The draft is not final and could undergo significant changes before the court’s formal opinion is released. In the meantime, however, CNN readers have asked hundreds of questions about what a reversal of the Supreme Court’s abortion rights precedents would mean and how it will affect access to the procedure.

We’re reading as many as we can and answering some of the most popular questions here.

Is the Supreme Court actually overturning the law or merely saying the decision belongs with each state’s law?

The Supreme Court, if it adopts the draft opinion, will be overturning previous court precedent that preempted state laws banning abortion before the fetus is viable, a point around 23 weeks into the pregnancy. In overturning the Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood decisions, the Supreme Court would be allowing states to pursue bans and other restrictions on pre-viability abortion.

However, such a ruling will not have the effect of banning abortion nationwide. According to the logic expressed in the draft decision (and with the caveat that it can still be changed before the final opinion comes out), the question of abortion policy would then go to state and local lawmakers — and potentially
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New abortion laws could see many women, doctors face criminal charges

New abortion laws could see many women, doctors face criminal charges
New abortion laws could see many women, doctors face criminal charges
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  • Period tracking apps, tele-health appointments, mail-in pharmacy requests and other data could be used as evidence in criminal cases for those involved in abortions, experts said.
  • States that have already passed laws redefining “personhood” to include an unborn child may mean people who seek out abortions or anyone helping them could face charges of feticide or aggravated assault, among other charges.
  • o date, more than 80 elected district attorneys and attorneys generals around the country, including in red states, have committed to using their discretion to not charge individuals or those who help them in ending a pregnancy should federal abortion rights be overturned.
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