Abortion rights

Trump has addressed the annual march remotely before, but Friday marked the first time a sitting president has spoken in person at the anti-abortion rights event.

A Supreme Court case in March will test the new five-member conservative majority. If justices strike federal abortion protections, look for a state-by-state quilt of abortion "deserts" and "havens."

The state now requires women and girls under 18 to obtain permission from their parents or a judge. But in a recent poll, most Massachusetts voters favored letting minors decide on their own.

Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport is challenging a 2014 state law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital in case of an emergency.

In new amicus briefs, the American Medical Association and American Bar Association are among groups opposing the law, which is scheduled for oral arguments in March.

Three years after winning a big legal battle, abortion providers still find themselves losing the ground war when it comes to keeping clinics open across the huge, populous state.

The hearing on Thursday will use Missouri — where the last remaining clinic that provides abortion could close over a dispute with health regulators — as a case study.

In Virginia and Kentucky, activists on both sides of the abortion debate are working to elect candidates at the state level with the power to affect abortion policy.

The abortion-rights group says the goal of the $45 million campaign is to unseat President Trump as well as elect candidates at all levels who support abortion rights.

At issue is a Louisiana law that mirrors a Texas law the court struck down. What's different, however, is that Justice Anthony Kennedy, who cast the decisive fifth vote in the 2016 case, has retired.

The administration called on other nations to oppose efforts to promote access to abortion. Dozens of other countries signed a competing statement supporting sexual and reproductive health care.

Activists are spreading information about self-induced abortion online and in person. The World Health Organization says a single drug, misoprostol, can be used to safely induce abortion.