reproductive health

State employees in Kentucky are receiving an upgrade to their benefits package. Gov. Andy Beshear announced this week that the Personnel Cabinet will amend regulations to offer six weeks of paid family leave.

A temporary block of Indiana’s near-total abortion ban will remain in place for just a few women who filed a religious freedom lawsuit challenging the law after a split Indiana Supreme Court chose not to hear an appeal in the case.

Individuals rely on birth control to treat a host of medical conditions. But birth control has become a hot-button issue, embroiled in political debates. And that worries some patients and providers about future access to the medications.

Officials with a Planned Parenthood chapter serving six states – including Kentucky – say they have experienced a “significant surge” in demand for permanent and long-acting reversible birth control options following Donald Trump’s election victory earlier this month.

A pregnant Kentuckian filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Kentucky’s two strictest abortion bans, saying she wants to “ensure that other Kentuckians will not have to go through what I am going through.”

An anti-abortion group is suing the Indiana Department of Health over its decision to stop sharing individual terminated pregnancy reports which the group says violates Indiana’s public records law. The state argues the reports fit the definition of medical records, which are exempt.

Insurance coverage for abortion care in the U.S. is a hodgepodge. And the proliferation of abortion bans in various states has exacerbated the confusion.

Since Indiana's near-total abortion ban went into effect more than a year ago, some reproductive health care providers said they’ve had to adjust the conversations they have with patients about birth control.

A study looks at the rate of self-managed abortion since Roe v. Wade fell. The study found that the use of mifepristone to self-manage abortion has nearly doubled from 6.6% in 2021 to 11.0% in 2023.

It’s been nearly one year since Indiana’s near-total abortion ban took effect, limiting access to care to just a few narrow exceptions. It will take some time for data to better reflect the impact the law has had on Hoosiers.