Pregnancy and childbirth

A Palestinian baby girl, Sabreen Jouda, who was delivered prematurely after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike along with her husband and daughter, lies in an incubator in the Emirati hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

A Palestinian baby in Gaza is born an orphan in an urgent cesarean section after an Israeli strike

Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it. Their home was hit by an Israeli airstrike shortly before midnight.
 
FILE - The emblem of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is shown on a podium in Vail, Colo., Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, in Denver. Pregnant workers have the right to a wide range of accommodations under new federal regulations for implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The regulations take an expansive view of conditions related to pregnancy, from fertility treatments to abortion and post-childbirth complications. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Morning sickness? Prenatal check-ups? What to know about new rights for pregnant workers

 
FILE - A pregnant woman stands for a portrait in Dallas, May 18, 2023. Complaints about pregnant women being turned away from emergency rooms spiked in the months after states began enacting strict abortion laws following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The cases are detailed in federal documents obtained by The Associated Press and raise serious questions about the state of emergency pregnancy care in the U.S. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom

 
FILE - This booking photo provided by the Chicago Police Department on May 16, 2019, shows Clarisa Figueroa, who is charged in the death of 19-year-old expectant mother Marlen Ochoa-Lopez. Figueroa, a Chicago woman accused of luring the pregnant teenager to her home and cutting her baby from her womb with a butcher knife nearly five years ago, pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday, April 16, 2024, and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. (Chicago Police Department via AP, File)

Chicago woman pleads guilty, gets 50 years for cutting child from victim’s womb

 
FILE - An exam room is seen inside Planned Parenthood on March 10, 2023, in Fairview Heights, Ill. Workers are entitled to workplace accommodations for abortions and some pregnancy-related conditions under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, according to federal regulations published Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

New rules for Pregnant Workers Fairness Act include divisive accommodations for abortion

 

Doctors save baby of pregnant woman killed in Israeli airstrike on Rafah

Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it. Their home was hit by an Israeli airstrike shortly before midnight Saturday - emergency responders learned that her mother was 30 weeks pregnant. In a rush at the Kuwaiti hospital, medical workers performed an emergency cesarean section. (AP video: Mohammed Jahjouh)
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Experts group says abortion in Germany should be decriminalized during pregnancy’s first 12 weeks

Shouts of ‘Shame! Shame!’ during abortion fight in Arizona House

Arizona lawmaker reveals abortion plans

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Participants in the 'March for Life' rally stand with banners reading 'Every life is a gift', 'Life is life' and 'Euthanasia no thanks' in Munich, Germany, Saturday, April 13, 2024. An independent experts commission has recommended that abortion in Germany should no longer fall under the country’s penal code and be made legal during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Currently, abortion is considered illegal in Germany, but not punishable if a woman undergoes mandatory counseling and a three-day wait period before she has the procedure. (Uwe Lein/dpa via AP)

Abortion in Germany should be decriminalized during pregnancy’s first 12 weeks, experts recommend

An independent expert commission has recommended that abortion in Germany should no longer fall under the country’s penal code and be made legal during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
 

Woman with history of DUIs sentenced to 15 years to life for California crash that killed mom-to-be

A California woman with a history of convictions for driving under the influence has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for a crash that killed a 23-year-old pregnant woman and left her baby in critical condition.
 
FILE - Thousands of protesters march around the Arizona Capitol in protest after the Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision Friday, June 24, 2022, in Phoenix. An Arizona Supreme Court ruling, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, allowing enforcement of an abortion ban is the latest action to elevate abortion as a key political issue this year. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Arizona just revived an 1864 law criminalizing abortion. Here’s what’s happening in other states

Abortion was already a major issue in U.S. elections in 2024. An Arizona Supreme Court ruling elevated it more.
 
Arizona state Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, speaks to reporters on the House floor at the Capitol, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Phoenix. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state can enforce its long-dormant law criminalizing all abortions except when a mother's life is at stake. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Shouts of ‘Shame! Shame!’ erupt in Arizona House as fight over abortion ban engulfs lawmakers

The fight over a newly revived 1864 Arizona law criminalizing abortion throughout pregnancy unless a woman’s life is at risk has engulfed the state’s lawmakers.
 
FILE - Supporters of Florida Voice For The Unborn demonstrate outside the fourth floor as legislators work on property insurance bills, May 24, 2022, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. The Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday, April 1, 2024, that a ballot measure to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution can go before voters in November. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)

Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?

Voters have sided with abortion rights supporters every time the issue has been directly on the ballot since the U.S.
 
Rebecca Milner, a plaintiff in the Nicole Blackmon vs. the State of Tennessee, wipes away tears as she listens to arguments presented by her attorney in court Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The case challenges the medical necessity exception to Tennessee's total abortion ban. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tennessee court to weigh throwing out abortion ban challenge, blocking portions of the law

Attorneys defending Tennessee’s sweeping abortion ban have alleged that doctors challenging the law do not want any oversight when deciding to terminate a pregnancy and instead are improperly withholding care to women facing serious medical emergencies.
 

Vatican to publish document on gender, surrogacy and human dignity next week

The Vatican will publish next week an eagerly awaited document on gender theory and surrogacy. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will hold his first news conference to present the document on human dignity on April 8.
 
FILE - Participants wave signs as they walk back to Orlando City Hall during the March for Abortion Access, Oct. 2, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. The Florida Supreme Court on Monday, April 1, 2024, upheld the state's ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which means a subsequently passed six-week ban can soon take effect. (Chasity Maynard/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)

Florida Supreme Court upholds state’s 15-week abortion ban, but voters will soon have a say

The Florida Supreme Court has cleared the way for a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
 
FILE - A group of Amish gather outside the Crawford County Judicial Center in Meadville, Pa., following a preliminary hearing, March 15, 2024, for Shawn C. Cranston, 52, of Corry, Pa., who is accused of killing Rebekah Byler and her unborn child inside the Byler home near Spartansburg, Pa., on Feb. 26. Six guns, a variety of ammunition and a pair of sneakers that may match tread marks left at the murder scene were seized during searches of the home and vehicle of a man accused of killing the pregnant Amish woman in her rural Pennsylvania home a month ago. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)

Guns and sneakers were seized from a man accused of killing a pregnant Amish woman, police say

Police investigating the killing a pregnant Amish woman in rural Pennsylvania say they seized six guns, a variety of ammunition and a pair of sneakers that may match tread marks left at the crime scene during searches of the suspect’s home and vehicle.
 
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens to a question from a reporter after voting in the Florida primary election in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Trump suggests he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy

Donald Trump is suggesting he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy, voicing for the first time support for a specific limit on the procedure.
 
A group of Amish arrive at the Crawford County Judicial Center in Meadville, Pa., for the preliminary hearing for Shawn Christopher Cranston on Friday Mar. 15, 2024. Cranston is being held in connection with the murder of Rebekah A. Byler and her unborn child in her home in Spartansburg, Pa., on Feb. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Husband of slain pregnant Amish woman testifies his young children told him of the killing

The criminal homicide case against a truck driver accused of killing a pregnant Amish woman is headed to county court for trial.
 
FILE - The Iowa Capitol is visible before sunrise, Jan. 12, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa. A bill that would have criminalized the death of an “unborn person” has been shelved in Iowa after a Senate Republican joined Democrats in voicing concerns about the potential impact on in vitro fertilization after an Alabama court found frozen embryos can be considered children. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Bill shelved that sought changes to Iowa law outlining penalties for terminating a pregnancy

A bill that sought to change wording in an existing Iowa law outlining the penalties for terminating a pregnancy has been shelved by a Republican lawmaker amid debate about its implications for in vitro fertilization.
 
FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2019 photo, South Dakota state legislators listen while Gov. Kristi Noem delivers the State of the State address at the state Capitol in Pierre, S.D. (Ryan Hermens/Rapid City Journal via AP, File)

Asked to clear up abortion bans, GOP leaders blame doctors and misinformation for the confusion

In Republican-led states across the U.S., conservative legislators are refusing to reevaluate abortion bans — even as doctors and patients insist the laws’ exceptions are dangerously unclear.
 
Democrats walk out of a Kentucky House committee hearing Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Frankfort, Ky. The walkout occurred as the GOP-led committee took up a bill dealing with expanding access to services for women facing nonviable pregnancies. (Ryan Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)

Democrats walk out of Kentucky hearing on legislation dealing with support for nonviable pregnancies

Democratic lawmakers have walked out of a Kentucky House committee hearing as the GOP-led panel was taking up a bill to expand access to prebirth and newborn services for pregnant women carrying nonviable fetuses that are expected to die before or soon after birth.
 
FILE - Kentucky Republican Sen. Whitney Westerfield testifies during a State and Local Government Committee meeting at the Capitol, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, in Frankfort, Ky. The Republican-led Kentucky Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday, March 5, 2024, to grant the right to collect child support for unborn children, advancing a bill that garnered bipartisan support. Westerfield is a staunch abortion opponent and sponsor of the bill. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)

Kentucky Senate passes bill to grant the right to collect child support for unborn children

The Republican-led Kentucky Senate has voted to grant the right to collect child support for unborn children.
 
FILE - People stage a protest on 'International Safe Abortion Day' to ask for more guarantees on the enforcement of the abortion law that they claim is seriously endangered by the high rate of doctors' conscientious objection in the country, in Milan, on Sept. 28, 2022. Italy resisted Vatican pressure and guaranteed access to abortion starting in 1978, allowing women to terminate pregnancies upon request in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, or later if her health or life is endangered. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

As France guarantees the right to abortion, other European countries look to expand access

France has become the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution and other Europeans wonder whether a rollback of rights like the 2022 U.S.
 
This microscope image provided by researchers in March 2024 shows a lung organoid created from cells collected from amniotic fluid. In a study published Monday, March 4, 2024, in the journal Nature Medicine, scientists in the United Kingdom described how they have made mini-organs from cells floating in amniotic fluid – an advance they believe could open up new areas of prenatal medicine. (Giuseppe Calà, Paolo De Coppi, Mattia Gerli via AP)

Scientists have used cells from fluid drawn during pregnancy to grow mini lungs and other organs

Scientists in the United Kingdom have created mini organs from cells floating in the fluid that surrounds a fetus in the womb.
 
This image taken from video shows police vehicles on the Fish Flats property, a few miles outside Spartansburg, Pa., Feb. 27, 2024. Investigators have no suspects in the killing of a pregnant 23-year-old Amish woman inside her home in rural northwestern Pennsylvania, and are appealing for tips from the public to help solve the crime, a state police spokeswoman said Wednesday. (Craig Rouse/WJET via AP)

An arrest has been made in the slaying of a pregnant Amish woman in Pennsylvania

A Pennsylvania man was arrested Saturday and charged in the slaying of a pregnant Amish woman whose body was found last week.
 
FILE - The Missouri State Capitol stands on Sept. 16, 2022, in Jefferson City, Mo. A Missouri lawmaker has introduced legislation in Feb. 2024, to spell out that the state’s judges can grant divorces even when one spouse is pregnant. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Why Missouri currently doesn’t allow pregnant women to be legally divorced

Judges some places don’t grant divorces when one of the parties is pregnant — and one Missouri lawmaker is trying to change that, at least in her state. For state Rep.
 
FILE - Mississippi state Sen. Nicole Boyd, R-Oxford, listens to a discussion during a Joint Legislative Budget Committee meeting, Nov. 15, 2023, in Jackson, Miss. Boyd said on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2024, that Mississippi could improve health outcomes for mothers and babies by allowing Medicaid coverage earlier in pregnancy. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Mississippi passes quicker pregnancy Medicaid coverage to try to reduce deaths of moms and babies

The Mississippi Legislature is sending a bill to the governor that will allow Medicaid coverage earlier in pregnancy in an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies.
 
FILE - Kentucky Republican Sen. Whitney Westerfield testifies during a State and Local Government Committee meeting at the Capitol, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, in Frankfort, Ky. Lawmakers in Kentucky advanced a bill Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, that would grant women the right to collect child support for their unborn children, reflecting a broader effort in some Republican-led states to push legislation conferring a fetus with the same rights as a person. Westerfield, a staunch abortion opponent, is sponsoring the legislation — Senate Bill 110 — that would allow child support to be applied retroactively to cover a fetus. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)

Kentucky lawmakers advance bill allowing child support to begin with pregnancy

Lawmakers in Kentucky have advanced a bill to grant the right to collect child support for unborn children.
 

Pregnant woman found dead in Indiana in 1992 identified through forensic genealogy

Authorities say a pregnant woman who was found dead in 1992 in the basement of an Indiana home has been identified through forensic genetic genealogy and DNA provided by her father.
 
Kinsley Boyette, assistant director of the Aquarium and Shark Lab by Team ECCO, poses in this undated photo next to Charlotte, a round stingray, in Hendersonville, N.C. The aquarium said Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, that Charlotte is pregnant, even though she's lived at the aquarium for years without a male companion of her species. (Aquarium and Shark Lab by Team ECCO via AP)

Charlotte, a stingray with no male companion, is pregnant in her mountain aquarium

A stingray that has lived for years in a North Carolina aquarium without a male companion is pregnant.
 
Kaniya Harris, a senior at American University, poses for a portrait at the university's campus in Washington, Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Abortion rights advocates are trying to get initiatives to protect reproductive on the ballot in several states this year, and one major difference has emerged in their proposed language — whether to include mental health as an exception. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Mental health emerges as a dividing line in abortion rights initiatives planned for state ballots

Abortion rights advocates are trying to get initiatives to protect reproductive health on the ballot in several states this year.
 
FILE - An operating room technician performs an ultrasound on a patient at Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, La., on July 6, 2022. Doctors in states with strict abortion restrictions say an increasing number of pregnant women are seeking early prenatal testing, hoping to detect serious problems while they still have time to choose whether to continue the pregnancy. (AP Photo/Ted Jackson, File)

Post-Roe v. Wade, more patients rely on early prenatal testing as states toughen abortion laws

Doctors in states with strict abortion restrictions say an increasing number of pregnant women are seeking early prenatal testing.
 
FILE - Supporters of Florida Voice For The Unborn demonstrate outside the fourth floor as legislators work on property insurance bills, May 24, 2022, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. The Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday, April 1, 2024, that a ballot measure to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution can go before voters in November. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)

Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?

Voters have sided with abortion rights supporters every time the issue has been directly on the ballot since the U.S.
 
Protesters gather outside the state house in opposition to a proposed abortion ban debated, Aug. 30, 2022 by the South Carolina House of Representatives in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/James Pollard)

South Carolina woman seeks clarity on abortion ban in lawsuit backed by Planned Parenthood

A South Carolina woman who traveled elsewhere for an abortion just days after reaching six weeks of pregnancy wants a court to affirm that the state’s ban on the procedure should not take effect until later in a pregnancy.
 

New Hampshire House refuses to either further restrict or protect abortion rights

The Republican-led but closely divided New Hampshire House rejected three abortion bills Thursday, refusing to either further restrict or protect reproductive rights.
 
FILE - Mississippi state Rep. Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, speaks, Feb. 28, 2023, at the state Capitol in Jackson. McGee is supporting a proposal that would allow Medicaid coverage earlier in pregnancy in an effort to improve health outcomes in one of the poorest states in the U.S. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Mississippi eyes quicker Medicaid coverage in pregnancy to try to reduce deaths of moms and babies

Mississippi could start providing Medicaid coverage earlier in pregnancy in a bid to improve health outcomes for moms and babies.
 
FILE - State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, watches as Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers delivers his State of the State address virtually as members of the Senate watch from the Senate Chambers at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Jan. 12, 2021. Republicans who control the Wisconsin state Assembly were poised Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, to pass a bill that would call for a binding statewide referendum on whether abortion should be banned after 14 weeks of pregnancy. (Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

Wisconsin Republicans approve bill banning abortions after 14 weeks of pregnancy

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Assembly have passed a bill that would call for a binding statewide referendum to ban abortion after 14 weeks of pregnancy.
 
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