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Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly roundup. Every Monday, we’ll send you a summary of the biggest stories about bodily autonomy. We’ll also include links to pieces that Garnet or Susan have published.
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Let’s dive in.
On Autonomy News
Most "exceptions" to abortion bans aren't exceptions at all, explains maternal fetal medicine physician David Hackney in this excerpt from his new book. These "crumbs of autonomy" only provide doctors with a potential defense against criminal charges—not actual protection. (Share this story on Bluesky.)
David Hackney, MD
Breaking news
California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have strengthened the state’s “shield” law by preventing the governor from complying with extradition requests from abortion-hostile states. While Newsom refused an extradition request for an abortion provider from Louisiana, there is no guarantee that another governor would do the same, and Republican candidate Steve Hilton said he would honor such requests—though he later took that back. In a letter to lawmakers, Newsom said that the power to grant or refuse an extradition request lies with the governor, and he was “troubled by the precedent that would be set” by limiting that power. The bill passed with enough votes that the legislature could easily override the veto, but California lawmakers haven’t done that since 1979.
Federal news
On Thursday, the Senate health committee will hold a hearing at 10:30am ET on the confirmation of Heidi Overton, the anti-abortion doctor Trump tapped to be the next leader of the Food and Drug Administration. Most observers, us included, have expected that Overton won’t be confirmed until after the midterm elections, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see this hearing scheduled now. That said, the committee won’t necessarily vote on the nomination the same day, and the most they can do is advance the nomination to the full Senate. Republican Senators Susan Collins and John Husted—who face stiff reelection challenges from Democrats—are both on this committee. The hearing is probably happening now because Trump himself wants Overton confirmed before the midterms, which could put the allegedly “pro-choice” Collins in the spotlight especially.
The same committee recently grilled Trump’s third nominee for Surgeon General, Nicole Saphier. While Saphier said she had seen no evidence that vaccines cause autism, she has in the past questioned some vaccine recommendations. She has also shown some willingness to criticize Trump and his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., such as by calling the administration’s statements about Tylenol’s safety during pregnancy “patronizing.” However, she is also a “wellness” influencer who has spoken favorably about the MAHA movement, and said she supports the FDA’s unnecessary “review” of the abortion drug mifepristone.
Speaking of mifepristone, a religious investor in the FedEx Corporation proposed that shareholders require the board to create a risk report on shipping abortion drugs due to “unsettled” enforcement of the Comstock Act. Anti-abortion advocates want to use Comstock to ban abortion pills nationwide, but Proposal 6—filed by IWP Capital, LLC and the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas—says it’s not asking FedEx to stop any lawful shipments or to begin inspecting packages. Rather they claim the report would simply outline how the company “oversees the legal, regulatory, and reputational risks of transporting mail-order abortion drugs such as mifepristone.” Shareholders will vote on it at the company's annual meeting next Monday.
During the first 18 months of the Trump administration, while it detained a record number of pregnant people, Immigration and Customs Enforcement recorded 18 miscarriages among detainees. But after October 3, 2025, that data just stops.
In other agency news, the FDA has acknowledged there is a shortage of estrogen patches commonly used in menopause hormone therapy, and says it’s working to increase supply. Meanwhile, Trump is attempting to take full control of National Institutes of Health research grants.
Federal lawsuits
The Supreme Court could rule at any time on an Alaska surrogate’s emergency request to pause a California court order that granted legal parentage of Baby Rumi to his genetic parents. Surrogate McKenna West relocated to Texas to give birth after the parents initially requested an abortion for the baby’s congenital heart defect. West claimed that Rumi could be transported to California to be placed in hospice care, but his parents told the Supreme Court that isn’t true. His parents do plan to transfer him to a Los Angeles hospital where he’ll get the additional surgeries he needs; the baby’s Texas doctor recommended this course of action. Their attorneys wrote: “Because Respondents are providing the precise medical care for their child that Applicant also desires, there is no emergency. A right to life is not at issue here.” The request is being considered by Justice Elena Kagan.
An update in a Virginia lawsuit against the FDA: We told you in July that a judge ordered the agency to reconsider mifepristone regulations for being too restrictive. Now, the abortion provider that sued has asked the court to retain its jurisdiction over the case until the FDA completes its bogus "review" of the drug "given the very real possibility of political interference" in the agency’s decisionmaking. The filing from Whole Woman's Health Alliance, which has clinics in four states, provides a helpful timeline of the far-right pressure campaign on the FDA to further restrict mifepristone despite scientific evidence. It also cites Attorney General Todd Blanche's comments in a private call that the DOJ was working with the FDA to restrict access to mifepristone. The Virginia ruling and another similar opinion from a Hawai’i judge complicate things in Louisiana’s case, which argues mifepristone isn’t restricted enough.
A Trump-appointed federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a challenge to the administration’s changes to the Title X family planning program, saying it was filed prematurely. He left the door open for the plaintiff, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, to refile the case later. Two other challenges to the Title X overhaul are ongoing, one filed by a group of 23 states and the other filed by Planned Parenthood. The changes include shifting the focus of the program toward conception—rather than contraception—and requiring grantees to align with the administration’s anti-trans, anti-DEI policies.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hold a hearing Tuesday on whether Idaho doctors can provide abortions to preserve the physical and mental health of pregnant people. A district court judge ruled in August that doctors couldn’t be prosecuted in these circumstances, but the state appealed.
Five people with Medicaid health insurance, along with several major medical societies, are suing the Trump administration over the new work requirements for Medicaid enrollees. The work requirements were instituted as part of last year’s big, ugly spending bill, and they go into effect on January 1, 2027. There’s a narrowly written exception to the rule for people who are “medically frail.” According to the lawsuit, onerous reporting and verification requirements put sick and disabled people at risk of losing their insurance when they should qualify for the exception.
State news
In the four years since Dobbs, 16 abortion-hostile states have changed their legal definition of “abortion,” mostly in an attempt to separate out conditions like ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage in order to avoid expanding exceptions.
The family of a Texas woman who died after being refused an abortion is suing to overturn the state’s ban. Tierra Walker died of preeclampsia at 20 weeks pregnant in December 2024, after complaining of seizures and multiple hospitalizations. Several doctors told her “your baby is fine” when it was the pregnancy causing her health problems. The family is also suing for damages under federal civil rights law. Susan will have more on this lawsuit from Amplify Legal later this week.
Two Oklahoma women sued the state after its abortion ban forced them to travel to terminate their nonviable pregnancies. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the state constitution protects the right to abortion care when a pregnancy risks a person’s health. The women’s attorneys at the Center for Reproductive Rights argue that the same rights should apply to patients who receive fatal fetal diagnoses, because they would be forced to continue a pregnancy but won’t bring home a baby.
In Hawai’i, more than three out of every four abortions are now done with medication. This is even higher than the national average of 65 percent, likely in part because the availability of abortion pills via telehealth has significantly improved access for people on rural islands with no abortion provider. The only clinics are on Oʻahu and Maui.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey won’t commit to adding an emergency clause to the state’s new law meant to improve access to abortion care in the third trimester. It’s currently set to take effect in November, but conservative activists hope they can get it blocked by collecting enough signatures for a potential citizen initiative to repeal it.
Utah Supreme Court Justice John Nielsen will recuse himself from considering the constitutionality of a new state law that sends specific constitutional issues to a special three-judge panel. Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, a plaintiff in the case, had pushed for Nielsen to step back because he represented Pro-Life Utah before being named to the high court. The new “constitutional court” system was created by the state legislature in an attempt to produce a more favorable outcome in several key cases, including a challenge to the state’s total abortion ban, which is currently blocked. Nielsen will be replaced by a lower court judge.
Advocates continue to call on the New York City Council to pass a local law requiring all six of the city’s sexual health clinics to provide medication abortion—currently, only four do.
In a strange statement that’s really giving 19th century morality, a Republican candidate for Attorney General in Rhode Island said he thinks men should be criminally charged when consensual sex leads to unwanted pregnancy.
Elections
Maine Senator Susan Collins said “of course” she’s voting for the Republican nominee for governor, Bobby Charles, who opposes abortion and whose own sister endorsed his Democratic opponent. Collins also voted to confirm yet another anti-abortion judge to a lifetime seat: Matthew Byrne, who served on the board of an Ohio anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center.
The Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in Michigan suggested holding a constitutional convention to ban abortion after 12 weeks. Jay DeBoyer floated the idea during a campaign event, but later told reporters in response to questions about his statement that abortion is “settled” in the state, seemingly referring to a 2024 ballot measure that protected abortion in the constitution. His running mate, Rep. John James, also opposes abortion. Don’t mess this up, Michigan.
The Mormon Church sent out a letter to its Idaho bishops directing them to read a statement in opposition to Proposition 1, the ballot measure that would repeal the state’s total abortion ban, at two consecutive Sunday services, on September 20 and 27. Though many people primarily associate the church with Utah, Mormons make up just under a quarter of Idaho’s population, and many state lawmakers are Mormon as well. Meanwhile, many people arguing in favor of the ballot measure have coalesced around one pitch: Bring back the doctors who moved away since the ban took effect.
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Personhood watch
Conservative men have been filing wrongful death lawsuits against doctors for prescribing abortion pills and a legal scholar says these claims are weak. University of Iowa law professor Jill Wieber Lens argues in a forthcoming paper that first, men should lose these cases if women consented to the abortions. She also notes that plaintiffs need to prove damages in wrongful death cases and “[men’s] disembodied pregnancy experience and the short timeframe of pregnancy before medication abortion mean men are likely to lack evidence of damages.”
First Amendment watch
A California judge heard closing arguments in a case that Attorney General Rob Bonta brought against crisis pregnancy centers for promoting so-called “abortion pill reversal,” a pseudoscientific and potentially dangerous protocol. Bonta argues that two anti-abortion groups—Heartbeat International, and RealOptions Obria—violated false advertising laws, while the defendants claim they’re engaging in First Amendment-protected free speech.
Assaults on queer people
Trump’s Department of Justice announced settlements with NYU Langone Health and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in which they will stop providing pediatric gender-affirming care. NYU will pay a staggering $8.5 million to resolve allegations that they violated federal law, while UPMC will pay just under $1 million. These are at least the fifth and sixth hospitals to enter into such deals with the Trump administration, following New York’s Mount Sinai, Texas Children’s Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic, and Connecticut Children’s Hospital. As we said of the Mount Sinai settlement recently, this was a particularly cowardly time for NYU to fold, given that a federal judge recently ruled against the Trump administration in its attempts to obtain patient records from New York hospitals. While these are the only six hospitals we know of that have formally agreed to stop providing care to trans youth, providers have told Autonomy News that many, many more hospitals and clinics have backed off quietly.
Patients are calling on Magic City Wellness Center, a Birmingham LGBTQ+ health clinic that is one of the few options for Alabamians who need gender-affirming care, to train all its primary providers to oversee treatments like hormone therapy. Currently, they say, the clinic’s medical director is the only provider responsible for treating all gender-affirming care patients, which has created a waitlist more than a year long, and often means he’s hours late for appointments.
Oregon officials settled with Jessica Bates, a foster parent who refused to comply with a state policy requiring parents to support the gender identities and sexual orientations of kids in their care. Bates had attempted to adopt two foster children, and the state denied her application because of her refusal to accept this policy on the basis of her religious beliefs. Under the settlement, the state must either reinstate Bates’ application or allow her to reapply. As for the policy, Oregon officials had already quietly dismantled it after Bates won at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. You’ll simply never guess who represented her: Alliance Defending Freedom.
Extremism
A House committee advanced legislation that would make the creepy, pronatalist Moms.gov website even worse by, among other things, creating yet another funding stream for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, and suggesting that states provide information about abortion pill “reversal.”
Police say that a recent fire at a Washington state Planned Parenthood was arson, and that they have arrested a suspect. Fortunately, the fire was put out quickly and the clinic sustained minimal damage.
Actual good news
The San Antonio Reproductive Justice Fund, which pays for local reproductive health initiatives, secured a reinvestment of $1 million over the next two years from the city council. Initially, the fund helped pay travel expenses for abortion seekers. While a lawsuit from Attorney General-turned-Senate candidate Ken Paxton forced the fund to stop doing that, it still pays for doulas, health education, and other logistical support. “This victory belongs to the San Antonians who refused to let this vital investment in our community disappear,” said Laura Molinar, director of Sueños Sin Fronteras.
Quick hits
- Low-dose mifepristone is effective as emergency contraception according to a new systematic review. It’s more effective and has fewer side effects than levonorgestrel, the hormonal option known under brand names like Plan B, Aftera, and Julie.
- A new study finds that, for people in Southeastern states, the biggest concern when choosing where and how to get medication abortion is out-of-pocket cost.
- Relatedly, new data shows that 21.4 million women of reproductive age in need of low or no-cost contraceptive services live in a county with an access gap. Almost 75 percent of these women live in a county where services meet only a quarter of the local need—or less.
- More than half of women report being exposed to misleading information about contraception on social media or elsewhere, per the latest KFF Women’s Health Survey.
- Officials in South Korea say they plan to approve abortion pills for the first time next year, though only for use up to 9 weeks of pregnancy.
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