Abortion news: Indiana Planned Parenthood faces challenge from state; other states limiting options

Oct 21 2011

Across the country, state officials and lawmakers are weighing in on abortion clinics and practices.

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Ind.'s Planned Parenthood Resists Call To Split Its Abortion Services, Citing 2 States
Indiana officials contend the state's Planned Parenthood chapter could end a fierce legal dispute over abortion funding by simply separating its abortion business from other services. But advocates for the organization view the idea as a red herring pushed by critics seeking to entirely defund the country's largest abortion provider. Their skepticism is fueled by experiences from Planned Parenthood chapters in two other states where non-abortion services were targeted even after such a split (Wilson, 10/19).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: To Curb Abortions, States Focus On The 'Supply-Side'
States enacted a record number of abortion restrictions in the first half of 2011, many of them requiring 24-hour waiting periods, ultrasounds or parental permission to deter women from obtaining abortions. But these types of 'demand-side policies' have not had much of an impact in the past on national abortion rates, according to an article in the most recent edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (Gold, 10/19). 

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Supes Target Antiabortion Pregnancy Centers 
[San Francisco's Board of Supervisors] gave initial approval to a proposed law that would bar pregnancy crisis centers from engaging in false or misleading advertising practices. ... The legislation targets centers that oppose abortion, and the idea is to assure that women with unplanned pregnancies don't seek counseling there with the expectation that they'll be provided a range of information on how to deal with their situation, including the option of obtaining an abortion (Gordon, 10/19).