1. A group of five OB-GYNs in South Carolina have filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to stop the state from enforcing its “fetal heartbeat” law that was passed in 2023. According to the law, physicians cannot terminate a pregnancy after an ultrasound detects the sound of cardiac activity, except in medical emergencies.
The physicians are flipping the religious exemption in state law, as the lawsuit claims that the abortion ban discriminates against physicians who believe abortion care is fundamental to their religious beliefs. The presentation of this argument is among the first in the country, according to the report.
2. Doctors for America filed a lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management and other federal health agencies for removing webpages from healthcare websites. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has since ordered a temporary restraining order directing HHS, the CDC and the FDA to restore the webpages.
3. Physicians with GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, an LGBTQ+ physician association, has joined seven families with transgender or nonbinary children, the American Associate of Physicians for Human Rights and PFLAG, a national LGBTQ+ group, as plaintiffs in a lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s executive order to stop federal support for gender-affirming healthcare for transgender people under age 19.
