Minnesota OB-GYN says strict abortion bans limit medical student training
Medical doctors don’t always train in the states where they end up working. And for OB-GYNs in particular, that can mean navigating conflicting state laws around which procedures are allowed.
Democrat U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison is an OB-GYN who represents Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District. She has introduced a bill that would provide funding to help medical residents in states with strict abortion bans travel for some of their training
For more on the proposal, MPR News host Nina Moini talked with Dr. Erin Stevens, legislative chair of Minnesota’s section of the American College of OB-GYNs, or ACOG.
SOURCE: MPR News, by Nina Moini and Alanna Elder, 9 July 2026. https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2026/07/09/minnesota-obgyn-says-strict-abortion-bans-limit-medical-student-training
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“We Want Texans to Know Their Rights”: Q&A with Mayday Health on the Impact of Surveillance on Abortion Care
Last May, EFF reported that a sheriff’s office in Texas searched data from more than 83,000 automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras to track down a woman suspected of self-managing an abortion. ALPRs are promoted as tools for keeping communities safe by finding missing persons and locating stolen vehicles, but this case showed how ALPRS can be weaponized to investigate people’s private healthcare decisions.
And these aren’t the only tools in the surveillance arsenal: others include location tracking tools like Locate X, which can show a person’s visit to an abortion clinic, or search histories which might be used as evidence of a person’s interest in obtaining abortion pills. Taken together, these tools create a dangerous surveillance pipeline that threatens everyone’s health privacy.
Too often, though, the public is unaware of the threat, and one non-profit is working to change that. Following EFF and 404 Media’s report on Texas’s use of Flock cameras, eye-catching billboards popped up in Houston, warning drivers that if they’re pregnant, the state of Texas could be tracking them.
SOURCE: EFF, by Kenyatta Thomas, 9 July 2026. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/we-want-Texans-know-their-rights-qa-mayday-health-impact-surveillance-abortion
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Southern California Planned Parenthood says defunding damage will last for ‘years to come
California affiliates can resume federal billing for healthcare services after a one-year ban lapses, but questions remain.
Even though Planned Parenthood has regained access to hundreds of millions of dollars for healthcare services, one of the nation’s largest affiliates in Southern California says the damage done to patients and providers will take years to rebuild.
“The expiration of the federal defunding of Planned Parenthood is welcome news, but the damage it has done to our patients and providers will last for years to come,” said Krista Hollinger, President and CEO of Anaheim-based Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties.
SOURCE: SB Sun, by Pat Maio, 8 July 2026. https://www.sbsun.com/2026/07/08/southern-california-planned-parenthood-says-defunding-damage-will-last-for-years-to-come/
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Abortion on the ballot? How Kansas, Missouri votes stand as proxies for ongoing fight
The word abortion will not appear on the Aug. 4 ballots in Kansas and Missouri. But high-profile votes in both states are widely viewed as proxy fights over access to the procedure
In Kansas, voters will decide whether the state’s Supreme Court justices should be elected, a major decision as state lawmakers seek to bring to heel a court that protected abortion rights in a landmark 2019 decision. In Missouri, voters will see Amendment 4, a measure that would overhaul the state’s main form of direct democracy and make it virtually impossible for citizens to amend the state constitution. That vote comes less than two years after voters used the state’s initiative petition process to enshrine abortion rights in 2024.
SOURCE: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article316427517.html
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This 36-year-old is the Chief Executive Officer of four abortion clinics in North Carolina and Georgia: Calla Hales is carrying on a family legacy by providing abortion care for women across the South.
Calla Hales has endured bomb threats and harassment in her mission to offer care to women in the South who need an abortion. The 36-year-old is the CEO of A Preferred Women’s Health Centers, which provide abortion care in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, and Augusta and Atlanta, Georgia.
Since 1973, 11 abortion providers and clinic staff have been murdered in the US and Canada, and another 26 have been wounded by gunshots, nail bombs, and arson attacks. Snipers have targeted physicians in their homes and in churches. One doctor and his wife were kidnapped and held hostage for a week in 1982. Despite all of this, Hales has persisted.
Here, she tells special correspondent Bonnie Fuller why she refuses to back down.
SOURCE: Cardinal Alpine, by Bonnie Fuller. 6 July 2026. https://cardinalpine.com/news/reproductive-rights/this-36-year-old-is-the-ceo-of-four-abortion-clinics-in-nc-and-ga/
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Missourians can now access the abortion pill for the first time since 2018
A Jackson County judge struck down restrictions on medication abortion, ruling they violated the Reproductive Rights Amendment approved by voters in 2024
Missourians can now access the abortion pill for the first time since 2018. A Planned Parenthood clinic in Gladstone is the second location in Kansas City to offer the service.
On June 18, a Jackson County judge struck down restrictions that essentially banned abortion pills, ruling that they violated the Reproductive Rights Amendment approved by voters in 2024.
SOURCE: KSHB, by Lauren Schwentker. 8 July 2026. https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/missouri/clay-county/missourians-can-now-access-abortion-pill-for-the-first-time-since-2018