¼ª²ÊÍøÍøÕ¾

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles granted a partial victory on Tuesday to a physician who performs abortions and last year sued state and local prosecutors and state health and medical officials.

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.

Doctors in states with strict abortion restrictions say an increasing number of pregnant women are seeking early prenatal testing. They're hoping to detect serious problems while they still have time to choose whether to continue the pregnancy or have an abortion.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles issued an order Saturday halting enforcement of a provision to require surgical abortions that occur after 12 weeks — like those for cases of rape and incest — be performed only in hospitals.

Hundreds of abortion-rights activists and voters watched Gov. Roy Cooper affix his veto stamp to the bill that would have banned all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The veto launches a major test for leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly to attempt to override Cooper’s veto after they recently gained veto-proof majorities in both chambers.

The state House took an initial vote in favor of proposed new abortion restrictions Wednesday, with final votes in the House and Senate expected on Thursday.

Lawyers for Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore filed a motion in federal court on Tuesday asking to enter the case as defendants. This comes after Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein's office has said it will side with the doctor challenging the abortion restrictions.

A general counsel for the state told Republican legislative leaders of Attorney General Josh Stein's decision Monday. The lawsuit filed by a physician says state laws and rules affecting access to the drug mifepristone are preempted by the FDA's authority to regulate the drug.

As states across the country restrict abortion, President Biden and some other Democrats want to ease federal restrictions on the procedure.

With more restrictive laws on abortion going into effect across the country, uncertainty about the future of reproductive health care is growing. But there is one group of people who are prepared to do what they’ve always done to provide access for those who don’t have it: abortion doulas.