This month, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a groundbreaking lawsuit in Texas. The Center's global advocacy work was spotlighted at the UN's commemoration of International Women's Day in New York. Good news from North Dakota in our case—the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled to keep the total ban on abortion blocked. And a new resource from the Center answers frequently asked questions about medication abortion from a global standpoint.

United States

Center Files Groundbreaking Lawsuit in Texas

This month, the Center filed a lawsuit against the U.S. state of Texas on behalf of five Texas women—each denied abortion care after facing severe and dangerous pregnancy complications—and two Texas obstetrician-gynecologists. While the women's conditions should have qualified under the state's abortion restrictions exceptions, they were denied care in Texas and their conditions worsened, posing great risks to their fertility, health, and lives. The case, Zurawski v. State of Texas, seeks to clarify the scope of the state's "medical emergency" exception under its extreme abortion bans.

Abortion Remains Legal in North Dakota

The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled last week that the U.S. state’s total abortion ban violates the state constitution and should remain blocked. This decision means that abortion will remain legal and people's access to essential care will be protected in North Dakota while the case proceeds in a lower court. The ruling came in a case filed on behalf of abortion providers in July 2022 by the Center and its partners. The lawsuit argues that the ban is unconstitutional under the state’s constitution, which guarantees the rights of life, liberty, safety, and happiness—all of which protect the right to abortion.

Global

Center Commemorates International Women’s Day at the United Nations

Leaders from the Center participated in two sessions at the United Nations as it commemorated International Women's Day on March 8 in New York. The Center's Associate Director of Global Advocacy, Paola Daher, delivered a statement on behalf of 10 civil society organizations, highlighting the need to grow transnational solidarity in the face of the increasing backlash against women's and girls' rights. Jihan Jacob, the Center's Senior Legal Adviser for Asia, spoke on a panel about the impacts of assisted reproductive technology in Asia stating, "These technological and medical advancements are relevant for the respect, protection, and fulfillment of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, particularly on deciding if, when, and how often to have children."

Medication Abortion in Global Context: Frequently Asked Questions

In recent years, medication abortion has become more widely available, making abortion safer and easier for many to access. Global demand for medication abortion reflects its numerous advantages as an abortion method. Medication abortion often costs less on average than other common forms of abortion care and can be administered on an outpatient basis, thus reaching many areas where abortion services are otherwise difficult to access. The Center's new Medication Abortion in Global Context: Frequently Asked Questions resource provides answers to frequently asked questions, including how medication abortion works to end a pregnancy, recommendations for using medication abortion, as well as helpful reports by the World Health Organization and others.

"[Zurawski v. State of Texas] is the first lawsuit of its kind. It is the first lawsuit in which individual women have sued a state for the harm that they endured because abortion care has been criminalized in the wake of Roe's reversal."

—Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights