- Arizona doctors can now legally provide abortions in California for Arizona patients needing to travel out of state for care. The bill, titled Senate Bill 233, allows Arizona abortion providers to be quickly approved for work in California. It was introduced by Newsom last month after the Arizona Supreme Court’s near-total abortion ban, which has since been repealed. Abortions provided to patients traveling from other states have more than doubled in California, according to a recent analysis by The Guttmacher Institute. California has struggled to build new clinics and train new providers, and the governor’s office says Arizona doctors treating patients in California could help ease the strain. (Articles here and here)
- Louisiana lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation making the possession of abortion pills without a prescription a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It now heads to the Governor’s desk, who is expected to sign it. The first-in-the-nation legislation could be a model for other red states grappling with how to stop their residents from traveling out of state to get abortion pills or ordering them online despite their abortion bans. Under the Louisiana bill, pregnant women who obtain the medication for their own use would be exempt from criminal liability. But friends or family who help them get the pills and non-pregnant women who obtain them as a precaution could face criminal penalties for possession. (Article here)
May 24, 2024
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