Earlier this month, a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals (which includes an appointee of anti-abortion Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb) unanimously affirmed a lower court ruling preventing the state from enforcing its near-total abortion ban on pregnant people whose faith could motivate them to get an abortion. This is the first state appellate court religious freedom and abortion decision since Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and it could be persuasive in similar cases in other states. While courts have long recognized anti-abortion religious claims, this decision fr ..read more

It’s time for oral arguments in the second abortion case this Supreme Court season, one that Jess and Imani have both written and talked a lot about in the last year. In this week’s episode, they share what they’ll be listening for during Wednesday’s arguments. They’ll also be bringing you their rapid reactions later that day, so be sure to tune in. Mentioned in the episode: Back in ‘Lawyers for Fetuses’ Territory Why Is the Biden Administration Throwing Doctors Under the Bus? Transcript Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only made possibl ..read more

This piece first appeared in our weekly newsletter, The Fallout. Next week, abortion is back before the Supreme Court in a case that pits state-level abortion bans against a federal law requiring certain hospitals to provide stabilizing abortion care in emergency room settings. And while the central question in Idaho v. United States involves the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) and whether it overrides state abortion bans like Idaho’s, what’s at stake here is the issue of fetal “personhood” and how the conservative legal movement is using this challenge to move the ..read more

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago, voters in several states have enshrined abortion rights into their state constitutions via ballot initiatives. In November, people in at least 11 more states may vote on abortion rights ballot measures. Some of the initiatives’ proposed language, like Colorado’s, pertains only to abortion access, while others, like New York’s proposed Equal Rights Amendment, protect the gamut of reproductive liberties, including gender identity and expression, reproductive health care, and pregnancy outcomes. But a majority of these initiativ ..read more

With Jess out, Elie Mystal, friend of the pod and justice correspondent at the Nation, joins Imani on a supersized episode of the pod this week! They chat about all your favorite and not-so-favorite Supreme Court justices: Samuel Alito’s long hatred for women, how much Amy Coney Barrett hates abortion, and why it’s not even worth talking about the recent calls for Sonia Sotomayor to retire. Transcript Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only made possible with the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating&nb ..read more

With anti-choice groups like Alliance Defending Freedom complaining to the Supreme Court that the Biden administration is using the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to force God-fearing hospitals to become abortion clinics, you might want to familiarize yourself with the acronym that sounds more like an antidepressant than a federal statute. (Ask your doctor if EMTALA is right for you!) That way, when oral arguments in Idaho v. United States rolls around on April 24, you’ll be prepared. What is EMTALA? EMTALA is a federal law enacted in 1986 that requires Medicare-fund ..read more

The Florida Supreme Court was busy this week in issuing decisions surrounding bodily autonomy. In twin decisions the court stripped abortion rights from the Florida Constitution—and to no one’s surprise, the reason was dodgy at best—while also allowing voters to decide whether to amend the constitution so it explicitly protects abortion. In the process, the court upheld the state’s 15-week ban and cleared the way to let a more restrictive six-week ban to take effect May 1. Jess and Imani try to make sense of these decisions and explain how they’re related to the fight for “personhood” in the S ..read more

This piece first appeared in our weekly newsletter, The Fallout. The Florida Supreme Court on Monday took a page from Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and swept away over 30 years of legal precedent to rule the Sunshine State’s constitution does not protect abortion. The ruling upholds Florida’s existing 15-week abortion ban and paves the way for an even more restrictive six-week abortion ban to take effect May 1. The effects on abortion access in the region will be devastating. The decision and the underlying fight that prompted it is complicated. Abortion rights advocates had c ..read more

UPDATE, April 2, 2024: This article has been updated to reflect Arizona, Florida, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Abortion wins elections. We saw it last year when Ohio voters enshrined abortion rights into the state constitution, and in 2022 when Kansas, Kentucky, and Michigan voters rejected abortion restrictions and affirmed expanded protections. Now, advocates and opponents alike are pushing more abortion-related measures onto upcoming ballots. Rewire News Group will be tracking abortion ballot initiatives and updating this list as groups gather ..read more

This piece first appeared in our weekly newsletter, The Fallout. Reading too much into Supreme Court oral arguments is always risky, but after Tuesday’s oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, it really seems as if the conservative legal movement’s most brazen and political attack on medication abortion may have hit a snag. Despite a well-orchestrated legal campaign against the Food and Drug Administration and “chemical abortion” brought by Erin Hawley and Alliance Defending Freedom, there’s a decent chance the justices decide that the anti-abortion doctors and dentists d ..read more