A Friday court ruling in favor of abortion providers in Missouri dealt a blow to pro-life advocates fighting the “return of abortion” in their state. Since the Nov. 5 passage of an abortion rights amendment to the Missouri constitution, which passed by a narrow 51.6 percent, multiple laws restricting abortion and regulating abortion facilities have been struck down in state courts. Pro-life advocates and legislators fought the amendment all the way to the state’s Supreme Court but failed to overturn the measure moving to a people’s vote. Currently, abortions are...

Wednesday’s narrow, pre-trial ruling — from George H.W. Bush appointee Rhesa Barksdale, George W. Bush appointee Leslie Southwick and Barack Obama appointee James Graves Jr. — focused on the challengers’ attempt to hold Planned Parenthood’s national organization financially liable by arguing that the group’s lawyers wrongly advised their affiliates in Texas and Louisiana to continue billing Medicaid while the case played out. The appeals court held that the attorneys can’t be sued by a third party for advice they gave to their own clients. “If private attorneys did not have...

The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a pair of cases from abortion opponents who say laws limiting anti-abortion demonstrations near clinics violate their First Amendment rights. The majority did not explain their reasoning for turning down the appeals, as is typical, but two conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, disagreed. The cities said the laws were passed to address disturbing behavior from protesters outside of health care clinics.

On Monday, the Supreme Court handed abortion rights advocates a rare win when they declined to take up a pair of cases seeking to challenge a decades-old decision limiting protesters’ actions near the entrances of abortion clinics. But, experts say that even though this result is positive, the decision’s reach is limited and does nothing to roll back the near impunity the Trump administration has extended to anti-abortion protesters who target abortion clinics. Anti-abortion activists who brought the cases sought to overrule Hill v. Colorado, a 2000 decision in which...

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said he would “explicitly overturn” 25-year-old precedent that legalizes protest-free buffer zones outside abortion clinics to prevent anti-abortion preachers and protesters from obstructing patients’ access to care. On Monday, the Supreme Court turned down a challenge from anti-abortion activists who sought to eliminate protest-free zones outside clinics, landing a critical blow to an emboldened anti-abortion movement following Donald Trump’s election.

The Seventh Circuit ruled against those who challenged a bubble zone law in March 2024, finding precedent barred the appeal. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for an official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building in Washington on Oct. 7, 2022. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for an official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building in Washington on Oct. 7, 2022. Alex Wong/Getty Images The Supreme Court decided on Feb. 24 not to hear a case challenging...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case challenging what are known as abortion “buffer zone” or “bubble zone” laws, which numerous municipalities have enacted to restrict pro-life ministries outside abortion clinics. Coalition Life, a St. Louis pro-life group, had last summer petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the buffer law enacted by Carbondale, Illinois. A federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit had earlier ruled against Coalition Life in the case. Coalition Life had been engaging in peaceful...

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a pro-life challenge against protest restrictions around abortion clinics in Illinois, as activists argued the laws infringe on their First Amendment rights, a decision met with a fiery dissent by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. The court rejected appeals from Coalition Life, which describes itself as "America's Largest Professional Sidewalk Counseling Organization" in New Jersey and Illinois, who had challenged previous lower court rulings that dismissed their lawsuits.

The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a pair of cases from abortion opponents who say laws limiting anti-abortion demonstrations near clinics violate their First Amendment rights. The majority did not explain their reasoning for turning down the appeals, as is typical, but two conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, disagreed. The cities said the laws were passed to address disturbing behavior from protesters outside of health care clinics.

Justice Clarence Thomas issued a forceful dissent on Monday after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging First Amendment restrictions for protesters outside abortion clinics. Thomas, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, criticized the Supreme Court’s refusal to revisit Hill v. Colorado (2000), a precedent that upheld so-called free speech “buffer zones” around clinics, calling the decision a failure to resolve long-standing confusion among lower courts.