Latest Pregnancy and childbirth News

Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024? Arkansas organizers hope to join the list

Jul. 05, 2024 00:44 AM EDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Organizers of an effort to scale back Arkansas' abortion ban face a Friday deadline to submit enough signatures to try to put their proposal before voters in November's election. If they're successful, Arkansas would be the sixth state where election...

Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?

Jul. 03, 2024 19:05 PM EDT

Organizers in Arizona and Nebraska turned in more than enough signatures Wednesday to put abortion-related ballot questions before voters in November's election if a sufficient number of them are deemed valid. They now bring to five the number of states where election officials are...

Judge rules that federal agency can't enforce abortion rule in Louisiana and Mississippi

Jul. 03, 2024 12:20 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Monday granted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as employers in two Southern states, temporary relief from complying with a federal rule that would have required them to provide workers with time off and other workplace accommodations for...

San Diego County to pay nearly $15M to family of pregnant woman who died in jail 5 years ago

Jul. 02, 2024 20:37 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego County will pay nearly $15 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of a 24-year-old pregnant woman who died in jail after a sheriff's deputy and a medical worker watched her collapse in a cell five years ago. The settlement reached Friday night after...

In wake of Supreme Court ruling, Biden administration tells doctors to provide emergency abortions

Jul. 02, 2024 16:55 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration told emergency room doctors they must perform emergency abortions when necessary to save a pregnant woman’s health, following last week's Supreme Court ruling that failed to settle a legal dispute over whether state abortion bans override a federal law...

Some Nebraskans say misleading words led them to sign petitions on abortion they don't support

Jul. 01, 2024 20:24 PM EDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tea Rohrberg was heading into her county's treasurer's office in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday when she says she was approached by a man and asked if she wanted to sign a “pro-choice petition.” Because she believes access to abortion is a right all women should have, she...

Infant mortality rate rose 8% in wake of Texas abortion ban, study shows

Jul. 01, 2024 17:34 PM EDT

In the wake of Texas' abortion ban, the state's infant death rate increased and more died of birth defects, a study published Monday shows. The analysis out of Johns Hopkins University is the latest research to find higher infant mortality rates in states with abortion restrictions....

Stingray that got pregnant despite no male companion has died, aquarium says

Jul. 01, 2024 16:05 PM EDT

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A stingray that got pregnant at a North Carolina aquarium this winter despite not having shared a tank with a male of her species for many years has died. The Aquarium and Shark Lab in Hendersonville said on Facebook late Sunday that the stingray,...

Iowa’s Supreme Court tells lower court to let strict abortion law go into effect

Jun. 28, 2024 15:48 PM EDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday the state’s strict abortion law is legal, telling a lower court to dissolve a temporary block on the law and allowing Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant. ...

Mississippi sets new laws on Medicaid during pregnancy, school funding, inheritance and alcohol

Jun. 28, 2024 11:54 AM EDT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is enacting several new laws, including one that says sign language courses may replace foreign language courses for students to earn credit toward high school graduation. A look at some of the other new laws taking effect on July 1: ...