This week: Tennessee gynoticians force women to wait 48 hours for a safe, legal abortion; Maine gynoticians are pushing medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers; Missouri is fining insurers for covering abortion (srsly!); the Texas GOP is making it even more impossible for minors to obtain safe and legal abortion; and Sen. Lee Bright continues his quest to make sure rape and incest survivors are denied their basic rights in South Carolina. 

Tennessee Gynotician: Governor Bill Haslam

Tennessee Law Establishes 48-Hour Abortion Waiting Period

May 19, 2015

by Anita Wadhwani , via USA Today

Women seeking an abortion in Tennessee will now have to make two trips to a clinic, waiting 48 hours after getting in-person counseling from a doctor before being able to return for the procedure, under a new measure that Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law Monday.

South Carolina Gynotician: Lee Bright (again.)

Politician Sabotages Anti-Abortion Bill After Exceptions For Rape And Incest Get Added

May 20, 2015

by Miriam Berg via Planned Parenthood

South Carolina Senator Lee Bright really wants to ban abortion after 20 weeks even in cases of rape and incest — he sponsored one of four bans introduced in the state this session. But once a 20-week ban was amended to include these exceptions, Bright threw a fit and tried to block a vote on it.

Maine Gynotician: Deborah Sanderson

Maine GOP Proposes TRAP (Targeted Restrictions Against Abortion Providers) Law In Anti-Choice Push

May 18, 2015

by Nina Luss-Schultz via RH Reality Check

Republicans in the Maine legislature are pushing forward a TRAP bill that would task the state Department of Health and Human Services with creating new licensing requirements targeting abortion clinics across the state.

Missouri Gynotician: Governor Jay Nixon

Missouri Fines Aetna For Abortion Payments

May 19, 2015

by Summer Ballentine via The Salt Lake Tribune

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced Tuesday that insurer Aetna has agreed to pay $4.5 million for violations of state law that included paying for…abortions when the women were not eligible under their policies, marking the largest insurance penalty in state history. ... A 1983 Missouri law requires that women buy optional insurance for...abortion coverage.

Texas Gynoticians: Jane Nelson

Suffer the Children: New target for anti-abortion Lege

May 22, 2015

by Mary Tuma, via Austin Chronicle

Among the steep hurdles it would create for abortion-seeking minors: The bill assumes every patient is under 18 years old until she presents a valid government ID; imposes on victims an increased burden of proof of abuse; gives a presiding judge five business days (instead of two) to issue a ruling; and (contrary to current law) should the judge fail to rule, the girl would be denied an abortion rather than granted one. It also forces both the physician and judge to report violence claims without the normal safeguards for minors, potentially exposing abused girls to further abuse.

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