Staff Attorney Cathren Cohen’s commentary was published in the Journal of Women’s Health June 2025 Special Issue on the topic of Women's Health After Dobbs. The article highlights CRHLP’s first of its kind comprehensive database compiling statements from over 250 organizations across sectors—including health care, law, education, and labor—opposing abortion bans and the criminalization of reproductive health care.  

As Cathren explains in the commentary:

The diversity of organizations captured in the database demonstrates widespread recognition that abortion is essential and should not be banned or criminalized. The statements also offer multiple perspectives and expertise on the harms that flow from criminalizing abortion. Some statements additionally address the far-reaching and dangerous consequences of criminalizing pregnancy or health care in general. Many of the statements anticipate and describe how the Dobbs ruling disregards the professional expertise and ethical obligations of health care practitioners, is at odds with medical standards of care, and will contribute to preventable deaths and worse health outcomes for all pregnant people. 

To read the full commentary, click here. Access the database of statements and learn more about the database here: bit.ly/WidespreadOppositiontoAbortionBans.

In partnership with The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, CRHLP has released a revised version of Shield Laws for Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care: A State Law Guide. The update reflects recent legal developments in 11 states, including expanded privacy protections, strengthened defenses against out-of-state investigations, and new executive and legislative actions. You’ll also find updated interactive maps and state fact sheets. 

Tracking and analyzing these developments is part of the Center’s and the Williams Institute’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that patients, providers, and policymakers have access to clear, comprehensive, and up-to-date information on shield laws for reproductive and gender-affirming health care.  

Explore the updated guide here: https://bit.ly/CRHLPShieldLawGuide 

Professor Cary Franklin, Faculty Director for CRHLP and the Williams Institute,  unpacked and reflected on the impact of this term’s two major LGBTQ-related Supreme Court cases: US v. Skrmetti and Mahmoud v. Taylor. Professor Franklin analyzed the decisions, explained their broader implications, and discussed what they mean for LGBTQ rights and the legal landscape ahead. Watch the full recording here.

Professor Cary Franklin, Faculty Director for CRHLP and the Williams Institute, joined a panel of leading legal scholars to unpack key rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court expected to shape law and policy in the year ahead. The panel analyzed the broader implications of cases including Trump v. Wilcox, Louisiana v. Callais, and United States v. Skrmetti. Watch the full recording here.

Support the Los Angeles Guild for Reproductive Health (LAGRH) by attending their September 5 benefit, an evening of laughter and good food in support of five vital reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations, including CRHLP! 

We’re deeply grateful for LAGRH’s unwavering commitment to this work, and we encourage our community to show up by purchasing sponsorships or tickets. Individual tickets are on sale now: 

https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E358633&id=66

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

A new study reveals an ongoing decline in hospital-based obstetric services across the U.S., especially in rural states. The study finds that between 2010 and 2022, seven states saw at least 25% of their hospitals stop offering obstetric care. By 2022, more than two-thirds of rural hospitals in eight states, including Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, no longer provided such services. The losses were most acute in rural areas, where geographic isolation and low hospital density already limit access to maternal care. These closures increase travel distances for pregnant patients and are linked to worse maternal and infant outcomes. While urban areas also experienced service losses, rural closures were more widespread and may exacerbate disparities in maternal health. Read the full study here. 

Photo credit: Kevin Mohatt 

Colorado abortion provider and advocate has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s parental notification requirement for minors seeking abortion care. The suit argues that the requirement violates minors’ constitutional right to abortion under Amendment 79, an initiative passed by voters in 2024 that codified the right to abortion and health insurance coverage in the state constitution, and the state’s Equal Rights Amendment. Under current law, providers must notify a parent at least 48 hours before providing abortion care to a minor, unless the minor obtains a judicial bypass. The lawsuit asserts that this mandate creates harmful delays, particularly for patients already traveling long distances for care due to post-Dobbs restrictions in surrounding states. 

Photo credit: Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto/Getty Images

A federal appeals court has upheld West Virginia’s criminal abortion laws that effectively prohibit access to abortion medication in the state and held that federal regulation of mifepristone under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAA) did not preempt the field of abortion regulation and did not create a conflict that made it impossible for plaintiff to comply with both the state law and federal law. The court found that federal laws regulating drug safety, including mifepristone, do not override West Virginia’s regulation of medical practice, including abortion restrictions enacted after Dobbs. The case could have implications for state authority to block access to FDA-approved medications. It is one of several pending cases related to the legality and regulation of medication abortion.  To learn more about these cases, visit our Mifepristone Litigation Tracker and Federal Action Tracker, which provide timely, regularly updated information on key court cases and federal administrative actions that could shape access to medication abortion nationwide. 

With so much going on in the world of reproductive health, law, and policy, every week we'll share articles, books, and media you might have missed. 

Abortion-related Travel Could Face Another ‘Shock To The System’ Under New Spending Law 

To Expand Access to IVF, We Need to Expand Access to Abortion 

Abortion For Fetal Anomalies Is Legal Under NC’s Law — But Getting One Can Be A Complicated Process 

Andréa Becker on the Politics of Hysterectomy 

Reimagining the future of reproductive health, law, and policy.

UCLA Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy is a think tank and research center created to develop long-term, lasting solutions that advance all aspects of reproductive justice, and address the current national crisis of abortion access.