The Quickie: Alaska Court Permanently Strikes Down Restrictions on Abortion Providers
For Immediate Release: Sept. 6, 2024
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Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: AK court strikes down abortion restrictions and new polling confirms growth in support for abortion rights.
ALASKA COURT PERMANENTLY STRIKES DOWN RESTRICTIONS ON ABORTION PROVIDERS: A Superior Court in Alaska has permanently blocked a law preventing advanced practice clinicians (APCs) — such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives — from providing medication and aspiration abortion, even when they are within the APCs’ scope of practice (the “APC ban”). The APC ban, which is the only law in Alaska that restricts the kind of care APCs are allowed to provide, explicitly targets abortion access: APCs in the state could already provide nearly identical care to patients experiencing miscarriage. The court’s decision will increase the number of providers able to offer this essential health care and is a move toward improving maternal health outcomes and equity. The suit was first filed in 2019.
“By striking down these unnecessary restrictions, the court affirmed what we knew all along: every Alaskan deserves the freedom to seek abortion care from trusted providers in their own communities,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky (PPGNHAIK). “Advanced practice clinicians are critical to ensuring that Alaskans, especially people with low incomes and those in rural areas, are able to access the time-sensitive care they need. This ruling means that providers at Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky can continue serving Alaskans, no matter where in the state they live.”
Read more here.
STATES WITH THE MOST SEVERE ABORTION RESTRICTIONS PROVIDE THE LEAST AID TO WOMEN AND FAMILIES: New research from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago shows that states with the strictest abortion restrictions offer the least support for women and families. Researchers divided states into 3 categories based on the severity of abortion restrictions. They then evaluated the levels of public infrastructure that supports families, such as maternal and family social services, and mandates paid family and medical leave.
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Missouri — all states with severe abortion bans — provide the weakest support to families.
Dr. Nigel Madden, a maternal-fetal medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who led the study, explained, “It means in a lot of cases, our most disadvantaged populations are not able to take the time off that they need after giving birth, to recover and to spend time with their baby. It has both short- and long-term ramifications for people and their families.”
Read more from NBC.