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By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Department of Health on Friday notified the state’s two abortion providers that its ban on the procedure had taken effect under a law triggered by the Supreme Court ruling. The law bans abortions except to protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency.
The notices advise the facilities that performing an abortion in violation of the law is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Planned Parenthood said it would no longer be able to offer abortions at its Little Rock facility. Before the ban took effect, Planned Parenthood offered medication abortion but not surgical abortions at the facility. Another clinic, Little Rock Family Planning Services, offered surgical abortions at its facility.
“Planned Parenthood Great Plains is doing everything in our power to ensure that they have the resources they need to have an abortion, including support in traveling outside of their communities for care,” Emily Wales, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said in a statement. “Arkansas, we will continue to be here for you.”
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
— The U.S. Supreme Court ends nearly 50 years o f constitutional protection for abortion.
— Biden vows to fight for abortion rights, criticizes ‘extreme’ court.
— Many states have already taken steps to curtail abortion.
— Fears are voiced over possible rollback of LGBTQ and other rights.
Follow AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortions: https://apnews.com/hub/abortion
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
AUSTIN, Texas — Jeffrey Hons of Planned Parenthood South Texas said the group’s abortion services in Texas have been “paused” statewide as they await guidance from their attorneys.
The announcement comes Friday, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right established in Roe v. Wade to terminate a pregnancy. The issue reverts to the states, many of which have taken steps to curtail or ban abortions.
A website affiliated with Planned Parenthood is advising that it is legal to travel out of state to get an abortion.
Meanwhile, Dr. Bhavik Kumar, of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast said his organization turned away several people on Friday who were waiting to get an abortion following news of the Supreme Court’s opinion. “In the background of all of this are folks trying to access care,” Kumar said.
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WASHINGTON – Mayor Muriel Bowser declared Friday that abortion remains legal in the nation’s capital despite the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
“We are a pro-choice city,” she said at news conference held at the local branch of Planned Parenthood. “Nothing has changed in Washington, D.C.”
But Bowser cautioned that the district is vulnerable because it is not a state and Congress retains oversight over it.
She pledged to continue fighting “to make sure we remain a safe city for abortion care and a legal city for abortion care.”
On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned the right established in Roe v. Wade to terminate a pregnancy. The issue reverts to the states, many of which have taken steps to curtail or ban abortions.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In Alabama, where a disproportionately large number of Black women seek abortions, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called the Supreme Court decision an “egregious assault on basic human rights.”
“The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP believes that the ruling today will force Alabama women to make decisions that cause women to seek healthcare in backhouses,” said Benard Simelton, the state president.
Statistics from the Alabama Department of Public Health show more than twice as many Black women as whites sought abortions in 2020 despite Black people making up only about a quarter of the state’s population.
Alabama’s three women’s clinics stopped performing abortions after the ruling Friday because of concerns about being prosecuted under a 1951 state law that made it a crime to induce an abortion except to preserve the health or life of the mother.
The state said it would ask a court to let it begin enforcing a 2019 law that made it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The only exception would be when the woman’s health was at serious risk.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Democratic governors of California, Washington and Oregon on Friday vowed to protect reproductive rights and help women who travel to the West Coast seeking abortions following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“California, Oregon and Washington are building the West Coast offense to protect patients’ access to reproductive care,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a video statement announcing the states’ plans along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
The three states issued a joint “multi-state commitment” saying they will work together to defend patients and medical professionals providing reproductive health care.
They also pledged to “protect against judicial and local law enforcement cooperation with out of-state investigations, inquiries, and arrests” regarding abortions performed in their states.
The liberal West Coast states anticipate an influx of people seeking abortions, especially as neighboring conservative states move to outlaw or greatly restrict the procedure.
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NEW YORK – Former President Donald Trump is taking credit for the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned a landmark case making abortion legal throughout the United States nearly 50 years ago.
In a statement, Trump called the ruling “the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation.”
He says the rulings and others “were 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. It was my great honor to do so!”
The Supreme Court on Friday issued the stunning decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. Three of the justices voting in favor were Trump appointees: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
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WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden says people should be peaceful when protesting the Supreme Court opinion Friday that would allow states to ban abortion.
Biden says he knows many Americans are “frustrated and disillusioned” by the court decision. But he says that objections to the ruling should remain peaceful.
Biden said: “Violence is never acceptable. Threats and intimidation are not speech. We must stand against violence in any form, regardless of your rationale.”
Earlier this month, after a draft of the court opinion was leaked, a man carrying a gun, a knife and zip ties was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in Maryland after threatening to kill the justice.
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WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is warning that Supreme Court opinion that overturns access to abortion could undermine contraception and gay marriage rights.
The president objects to a concurring opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, who explicitly called on his colleagues to put the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage, gay sex and even contraception cases on the table.
Biden says, “This is an extreme and dangerous path the court is now taking us on.”
Thomas was part of the majority overturning Roe v Wade.
Biden says, “My administration will remain vigilant as the implications of this decision play out. I’ve warned about how this decision risks the broader right to privacy for everyone. That’s because Roe recognized the fundamental right to privacy that has served as a basis for so many more rights that we have come to take for granted.”
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SANTA FE, N.M. – A top public prosecutor in New Mexico, where abortion is available with little or no restriction, is urging lawmakers to approve legislation that would protect women who travel to the state for abortion procedures.
Albuquerque-based District Attorney and Democratic nominee for attorney general Raúl Torrez in a statement Friday urged lawmakers to take further steps to protect women and their access to abortions and reproductive health care, including visitors from other states.
Last year, New Mexico state lawmakers repealed a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures. Democrats who control the New Mexico Legislature support access to abortion, as does the state’s Democratic governor.
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WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden says he will do everything in his power to defend a woman’s right to have an abortion in states where it will be banned.
His pledge follows a stunning U.S. Supreme Court decision announced Friday that overturns Roe v. Wade and ends nearly 50 years of constitutionally protected abortion. The ruling is expected to result in abortion bans in about half of the states.
Biden decried the “extreme” court’s ruling, saying politicians should not be allowed to interfere with a decision that should be made between a woman and her doctor.
He called the decision “wrong, extreme and out of touch.”
He pleaded with abortion supporters to keep protests peaceful. He also urged Congress to act and voters to go to the polls to make their displeasure over the end of Roe v. Wade known.
Biden said: “You can have the final word. This is not over.”
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CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The only abortion clinic in West Virginia is no longer performing abortions as of Friday.
Katie Quinonez, executive director of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, said the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling issued Friday that allows states to ban abortion is making an immediate, hard-felt impact.
The state has an abortion ban law on the books that makes providing abortions a felony carrying three to 10 years of prison time. It’s unclear how the state will proceed on enforcement.
“Roe has never been enough, but in states like West Virginia, it was the only thing protecting abortion access,” she said.
She says West Virginians will be forced to travel hundreds or thousands of miles away from home to access health care and that marginalized communities will be hurt the most.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Republican Gov. Jim Justice applauded the high court’s decision Friday. Justice said he “will not hesitate” to call the Legislature into a special session if the state abortion law needs to be clarified.
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department will work to protect and advance reproductive freedom.”
He made the statement Friday, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion constitutionally legal. The high court’s ruling means states will be able to ban abortion, and about half are expected to do so.
Merrick said in a statement that the agency would protect providers and those seeking abortions in states where it is legal. He also said he would stand by the approved use by the Food and Drug Administration of the drug Mifepristone for medication abortions.
More than 90% of abortions take place in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and more than half are now done with pills, not surgery, according to data compiled by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.
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Former President Donald Trump praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overruling a woman’s right to an abortion. He said in an interview with Fox News that the decision “will work out for everybody.”
The Supreme Court on Friday voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. Three of the justices voting in favor were Trump appointees: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
“This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago,” Trump said, according to the channel. “I think, in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody.”
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BOSTON — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed an executive order in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on abortion that he said is intended to protect access to reproductive health care services in Massachusetts.
The order prohibits state agencies from assisting another state’s investigation into a person or business for receiving or delivering reproductive health services that are legal in Massachusetts. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in about half the states.
The order also protects Massachusetts providers who deliver reproductive health care services from losing their professional licenses or receiving other professional discipline based on potential out-of-state charges.
Under the executive order, the state will not cooperate with extradition requests from other states pursuing criminal charges against individuals who received, assisted with, or performed reproductive health services that are legal in Massachusetts.
“In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v Wade, it is especially important to ensure that Massachusetts providers can continue to provide reproductive health care services without concern that the laws of other states may be used to interfere with those services or sanction them for providing services that are lawful in the Commonwealth,” Baker said in a written statement.
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WASHINGTON – Police in the nation’s capital are bringing in additional officers and mobilizing in anticipation of growing protests outside the U.S. Supreme Court. The court issued a highly charged decision that ends constitutionally protection to abortion nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wade made abortion legal.
U.S. Capitol Police says it has been working closely with other law enforcement agencies in order to prepare for demonstrations. A law enforcement official says the department is mobilizing its civil disturbance unit and also bringing on additional officers Friday.
The official could not publicly discuss details of the internal security procedures and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Hundreds of people had already descended outside the court after the ruling was handed down on Friday.
— Mike Balsamo reported from New York City.
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RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is an abortion rights supporter and this year’s chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. He said Friday, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sharply limits abortion, that North Carolina women will still be able to obtain reproductive health care in the state.
“For 50 years, women have relied on their constitutional right to make their own medical decisions, but today that right has been tragically ripped away,” Cooper said in a news release.
The North Carolina legislature is controlled by Republicans, but they lack veto-proof majorities should they attempt to pass additional abortion restrictions now. Cooper put out a fundraising appeal Friday citing the decision in urging assistance to prevent the GOP from obtaining veto-proof majorities in November.
All 170 legislative seats are on the fall ballot. Cooper urged donors to contribute to campaigns to help elect Democrats.
“Democratic governors are the last line of defense against these types of extreme bills,” he said in a separate fundraising email. “What it comes down to is this: Reproductive rights are fundamental, and we will not go back.”
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who in 2019 signed into law a near total ban on abortion, said the state will ask a judge to lift an injunction and clear the way for the state to enforce the ban.
At the time, the Alabama law was the nation’s most stringent abortion ban, making it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exemption for pregnancies caused by rape and incest.
“Today is a giant step forward for our country as, after decades, Roe is finally overturned. Folks, after almost 50 years of standing up for unborn babies, our prayers have been answered,” Ivey said in a statement, adding “now that Roe is overturned, the state will immediately ask the court to strike down any legal barriers to enforcing this law.”
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The state of Missouri is acting quickly to enforce a state law banning abortion in the wake of a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits abortion rights for millions of women.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he was acting immediately to enforce a state law banning abortion except in “cases of medical emergency”
The 2019 Missouri law included a trigger provision making effective upon notification by the attorney general that the U.S. Supreme Court had overruled Roe v. Wade in whole or in part. The court issued a ruling Friday that ended nearly 50 years of constitutional protection for abortion.
“With this attorney general opinion, my office has effectively ended abortion in Missouri, ” said Schmitt, a Republican who also is running for U.S. Senate.
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Former President Barack Obama has condemned the U.S. Supreme Court ending constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years.
Obama said on Twitter that the decision is tantamount to an attack on freedoms for millions of Americans. The court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday. The decision is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
Three of the court’s liberal justices wrote in a joint dissent that the decision would bring “sorrow” for the many millions of American women who will be losing a “fundamental constitutional protection.”
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