Courts in Texas, Okla. wrestle with state abortion laws

Oct 30 2013

Meanwhile, in California, autism advocates take exception with positive reviews of the transition to Medi-Cal.

Los Angeles Times: Oklahoma Abortion Law Clarified, Headed Back To Supreme Court
Oklahoma's high court on Tuesday set the stage for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether states can restrict doctors from prescribing two drugs used to induce abortion in the early stages of prnegancy. The case could be the first test of whether the court's conservative majority will uphold a string of new state laws across the country that seek to strictly regulate legal abortions (Savage, 10/29).

Bloomberg: Texas David Gets Judge's Help In Abbott Abortion Fight
Wendy R. Davis spoke for more than 10 hours from the floor of the Texas Senate in June, trying to block a legislative package that would limit the availability of abortion in the second-most populous U.S. state. A Democrat from Fort Worth, Davis failed in her bid to block the bill, which was signed by Republican Governor Rick Perry July 18. This week, a federal judge revived Davis's argument in her now-famous filibuster (Harris and Mildenberg, 10/30).

The Texas Tribune: State Seeks Emergency Stay Over Abortion Ruling
The Texas attorney general's office is seeking an emergency stay, asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel's ruling against abortion regulations in House Bill 2. Beginning Tuesday, abortion providers would have been required to obtain hospital admitting privileges within 30 miles of the abortion facility and follow federal standards for the administration of abortion-inducing drugs (Aaronson, 10/29).

California Healthline: Autism Advocates Disagree With Rosy Assessment Of Health Families Transition
Toby Douglas, director of the state's Department of Health Care Services, called the withdrawal of autism services "some bumps" in the transition of Healthy Families children to Medi-Cal managed care. Autism advocates begged to differ, characterizing it as a disaster in the lives of many families with autistic children because kids who received applied behavior analysis -- known as ABA therapy -- under Healthy Families stopped receiving it in the Medi-Cal system (Gorn, 10/29).