Abortion Providers

The Senate is considering cutting off taxpayer funding to six Planned Parenthood sites and several other women's health clinics in New Hampshire that provide privately funded elective abortions. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee is split 3-2 over passing the House bill that state officials warn could put New Hampshire's Medicaid program in jeopardy. The committee's majority proposes exempting hospitals, but state officials have said that may not remove the risk to the $1.4 billion annual Medicaid program.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Texas cannot ban Planned Parenthood from receiving state funds, at least until a lower court has a chance to hear formal arguments. A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Friday with a lower court that there's sufficient evidence the state's law preventing Planned Parenthood from participating in the Women's Health Program is unconstitutional. The program provides basic health care and contraception to 130,000 poor women.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A federal judge temporarily blocked Kansas yesterday from enforcing new abortion regulations that would prevent two of the state’s three abortion providers from continuing to terminate pregnancies. US District Judge Carlos Murguia’s injunction will remain in effect until a trial is held in a lawsuit challenging the rules. A new licensing law and state health department regulations took effect yesterday. The new law requires hospitals, clinics, and doctor’s offices to obtain an annual license from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to perform more than...

AUSTIN, Texas - A federal judge on Monday stopped Texas from preventing Planned Parenthood from getting funds through the state's Women's Health Program - a decision the state immediately appealed. US District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin ruled there is sufficient evidence that a law banning Planned Parenthood from the program is unconstitutional. He imposed an injunction against enforcing it until he can hear full arguments. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott appealed Yeakel's decision, asking the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to remove the injunction.

WICHITA, Kan. - Kansas officials are easing contentious new regulations governing abortion clinics, but the move may not be enough to placate abortion providers who have persuaded a federal judge to block earlier versions, the Associated Press has learned. In an advance copy of the permanent rules that will take effect Nov. 14, a comparison with the temporary version of the rules shows Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials have removed some provisions criticized during a public comment period and in a federal lawsuit.

OMAHA - Inspired by a contentious Nebraska law, abortion opponents in five other states have won passage of measures banning virtually all abortions after five months of pregnancy. The late-term bans - based on the premise that fetuses at that stage can feel pain, a view that has been disputed - are among a record wave of more than 80 restrictions aimed at reducing access to abortion, all of them approved this year in state legislatures. Other measures expand pre-abortion counseling requirements, ban abortion coverage in new insurance exchanges, and subject abortion clinics...

The law that requires pregnant girls seeking abortions tell their parents or get a judge's OK is back before the New Hampshire House. The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on a bill to change the requirement that a judge issue a ruling within 48 hours to within two court business days. That would mean girls filing petitions late in a week would not hear back over a weekend, effectively lengthening their wait time. The law requiring parental notice took effect Jan. 1 after lawmakers overrode Gov. John Lynch's...

The New Hampshire Senate is considering changes to the law that requires pregnant girls seeking abortions tell their parents or get a judge's OK. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing Thursday on a House-passed bill to change the requirement that a judge issue a ruling within 48 hours to within two court business days. That would mean girls filing petitions late in a week would not hear back over a weekend. The law requiring parental notice took effect Jan. 1 after lawmakers overrode Gov. John Lynch's veto.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Attorney General Drew Edmondson has agreed to a court order requested by abortion providers to temporarily block enforcement of a new state law, which requires women to get an ultrasound and hear a detailed description of the fetus. The agreement was announced yesterday before a hearing in Oklahoma County District Court on the request for a temporary restraining order by the Center for Reproductive Rights. District Judge Noma Gurich said attorneys for both sides told her they would accept the order.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Texas cannot ban Planned Parenthood from receiving state funds, at least until a lower court has a chance to hear formal arguments. A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Friday with a lower court that there's sufficient evidence the state's law preventing Planned Parenthood from participating in the Women's Health Program is unconstitutional. The program provides basic health care and contraception to 130,000 poor women.

The New Hampshire Senate is considering changes to the law that requires pregnant girls seeking abortions tell their parents or get a judge's OK. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing Thursday on a House-passed bill to change the requirement that a judge issue a ruling within 48 hours to within two court business days. That would mean girls filing petitions late in a week would not hear back over a weekend. The law requiring parental notice took effect Jan. 1 after lawmakers overrode Gov. John Lynch's veto.

The Senate is considering cutting off taxpayer funding to six Planned Parenthood sites and several other women's health clinics in New Hampshire that provide privately funded elective abortions. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee is split 3-2 over passing the House bill that state officials warn could put New Hampshire's Medicaid program in jeopardy. The committee's majority proposes exempting hospitals, but state officials have said that may not remove the risk to the $1.4 billion annual Medicaid program.

LONDON - Britain's largest abortion provider said Thursday that thousands of attempts have been made to hack its website following a high-profile security breach when personal details of 10,000 women were stolen. Last week a judge jailed a computer hacker for breaking into the website of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and stealing the data. The service said that in the five weeks since the man's arrest, it had recorded 2,500 more attempts to hack its website, though none have succeeded.

AUSTIN, Texas - Eight Planned Parenthood organizations sued Texas on Wednesday for excluding them from a program that provides contraception and checkups to women, saying the new rule violates their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and association. The groups, none of which provide abortions, contend in the federal lawsuit that a new state law banning organizations affiliated with abortion providers from participating in the Women's Health Program has nothing to do with providing medical care and is intended to silence individuals or groups supporting abortion rights.

FORT WORTH - Under a state law taking effect Wednesday, women eligible to take part in the Texas Women's Health Program will not be able to get care at Planned Parenthood clinics or other facilities with ties to abortion providers, meaning those women will have to find new health care providers. The $40 million state program is at the center of a face-off between conservative Republican lawmakers and the federal government, which provides 90 percent of the program's funding. Although Texas already forbids taxpayer money from going to organizations that provide...

When lawmakers take aim at abortion, they draw on an ever-growing arsenal of restrictions and mandates imposed on women, doctors and clinics. But do these measures reduce abortions? It's a question with no simple answer. Abortion providers and abortion-rights advocates say many of the laws — those requiring ultrasounds, waiting periods and specific types of counseling — are burdensome and demeaning, but rarely dissuade women who want the procedure. "The reality is that if a woman has decided that's what right for her, she'll do whatever it takes to get it done," said Peter...

FORT WORTH - Under a state law taking effect Wednesday, women eligible to take part in the Texas Women's Health Program will not be able to get care at Planned Parenthood clinics or other facilities with ties to abortion providers, meaning those women will have to find new health care providers. The $40 million state program is at the center of a face-off between conservative Republican lawmakers and the federal government, which provides 90 percent of the program's funding. Although Texas already forbids taxpayer money from going to organizations that provide abortions, the law will...

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia took a big step yesterday toward eliminating most of the state’s 21 abortion clinics, approving a bill making rules so strict the medical centers would likely be forced to close, Democrats and abortion-rights supporters said. Governor Bob McDonnell, a Republican, supports the measure, and when he signs it into law, Virginia will be the first state to require clinics that provide first-trimester abortions to meet the same standards as hospitals. The requirements could include structural changes such as widening hallways, increased training, and mandatory...

The law that requires pregnant girls seeking abortions tell their parents or get a judge's OK is back before the New Hampshire House. The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on a bill to change the requirement that a judge issue a ruling within 48 hours to within two court business days. That would mean girls filing petitions late in a week would not hear back over a weekend, effectively lengthening their wait time. The law requiring parental notice took effect Jan. 1 after lawmakers overrode Gov. John Lynch's veto.

WICHITA, Kan. - Kansas officials are easing contentious new regulations governing abortion clinics, but the move may not be enough to placate abortion providers who have persuaded a federal judge to block earlier versions, the Associated Press has learned. In an advance copy of the permanent rules that will take effect Nov. 14, a comparison with the temporary version of the rules shows Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials have removed some provisions criticized during a public comment period and in a federal lawsuit.