providers (trap) bill containing provisions related to admitting privileges and licensing and requiring clinics to have a transfer agreement with a hospital. 2013 – a law was signed in ohio by governor john kasich, which mandates, among other things, that doctors who do not test for a fetal heartbeat when a patient seeks an abortion, tell the patient in writing if there is a heartbeat, and then tell them the statistical likelihood that the fetus could be carried to term, are subject to criminal penalties; specifically, "the doctor's failure to do so would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in jail, for the first violation and a fourth-degree felony, carrying up to 18 months in jail, for subsequent violations." 2013 – united states, kansas lawmakers approved sweeping anti-abortion legislation (hb 2253) on april 6, 2013, that says life begins at fertilization, forbids abortion based on gender and bans planned parenthood from providing sex education in schools. 2013 – a bill banning abortion after twelve weeks was passed on january 31, 2013, by the arkansas senate, but vetoed in arkansas by governor mike beebe. on march 6, 2013, his veto was overridden by the arkansas house of representatives. a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the arkansas law in may 2013, and in march 2014, it was struck down by federal judge susan webber wright, who described the law as unconstitutional. 2014 2014 – louisiana passed a law that appeared to require it to maintain a database of women who had abortions in the state and the type of abortion the woman had. 2014 – act 620 passed in louisiana. modeled after a law passed earlier in texas, it required that any doctor performing abortions also have admittance privileges at an authorized hospital within a 30-mile radius of the abortion clinic, among other new requirements. at the time the law was passed, only one doctor had these privileges, effectively leaving only one legal abortion clinic in the state. 2014 – burwell v. hobby lobby, 573 u.s. ___ (2014), was a landmark decision by the united states supreme court allowing closely held for-profit corporations to be exempt from laws its owners religiously object to if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law's interest. it is the first time that the court has recognized a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief, but it is limited to closely held corporations. the decision is an interpretation of the religious freedom restoration act (rfra) and does not address whether such corporations are protected by the free-exercise of religion clause of the first amendment of the constitution. for such companies, the court's majority directly struck down the contraceptive mandate, a regulation adopted by the us department of health and human services (hhs) under the affordable care act (aca) requiring employers to cover certain contraceptives for their female employees, by a 5–4 vote. the court said that the mandate was not the least restrictive way to ensure access to contraceptive care, noting that a less restrictive alternative was being provided for religious non-profits, until the court issued an injunction three days later, effectively ending said alternative, replacing it with a government-sponsored alternative for any female employees of closely held corporations that do not wish to provide birth control. 2014 – mccullen v. coakley, 573 u.s. ___ (2014), was a united states supreme court case. the court unanimously held that massachusetts' 35-feet fixed abortion buffer zones, established via amendments to that state's reproductive health care facilities act, violated the first amendment to the u.s. constitution because it limited free speech too broadly. 2014 – a bill banning abortion after twelve weeks that was passed by the arkansas senate in 2013 was struck down by federal judge susan webber wright, who described the law as unconstitutional. 2014 – the protection of life during pregnancy act 2013 (irish: an tacht um chosaint na beatha le linn toirchis 2013 was signed into law on 30 july by michael d. higgins, the president of ireland; it commenced on 1 january 2014. the protection of life during pregnancy act 2013 act no.35 of 2013; previously bill no.66 of 2013) is an act of the oireachtas which defined the circumstances and processes within which abortion in ireland could be legally performed. the act gave effect in statutory law to the terms of the constitution of ireland as interpreted by the supreme court in the 1992 judgment attorney general v. x (the "x case"). that judgment (see above events in 1992) allowed for abortion where pregnancy endangers a woman's life, including through a risk of suicide. 2015 2015 - in 2015, the 7th u.s. circuit court of appeals upheld a decision to strike down the admitting privileges requirement of wisconsin's act 37, passed in 2013. 2015 – until 2015, the law in france imposed a seven-day "cool-off" period between the patient's first request for an abortion and a written statement confirming her decision (the delay could be reduced to two days if the patient was getting close to 12 weeks). that mandatory waiting period was abolished on 9 april 2015. 2015 – tennessee established a required 48-hour waiting period before obtaining an abortion. 2015 – kansas became the first state in the united states to ban the dilation and evacuation procedure. the law was later struck down by the kansas court of appeals in january 2016 without ever having gone into effect. 2015 – arizona governor jan brewer signed into law in april 2012 abortion restrictions that prohibited the procedure after 20 weeks. the u.s. ninth circuit court of appeals overturned this law in january 2015. 2015 – california's fact act, which mandated that crisis pregnancy centers provide certain disclosures about state services, was passed. the law required that licensed centers post visible notices that other options for pregnancy, including abortion, are available from state-sponsored clinics. it also mandated that unlicensed centers post notice of their unlicensed status. the centers, typically run by christian non-profit groups, challenged the act on the basis that it violated their free speech. after prior reviews in lower courts, the case was brought to the supreme court, asking "whether the disclosures required by the california reproductive fact act violate the protections set forth in the free speech clause of the first amendment, applicable to the states through the 14th amendment." the court ruled on june 26, 2018, in a 5–4 decision that the notices required by the fact act violate the first amendment by targeting speakers rather than speech. 2016 2016 – the fact act of new york state made patients aware of state-sponsored services that are available at crisis pregnancy centers, rather than what crisis pregnancy centers did or did not offer. the law went into effect january 1, 2016. 2016 – south carolina governor nikki haley signed legislation that brought into effect a 20-week abortion ban. 2016 – whole woman's health v. hellerstedt, 579 u.s. ___ (2016), was a united states supreme court case decided on june 27, 2016, when the court ruled 5–3 that texas cannot place restrictions on the delivery of abortion services that create an undue burden for women seeking an abortion. it has been called the most significant abortion rights case before the supreme court since planned parenthood v. casey in 1992. 2016 – the obama administration issued guidance informing states that ending medicaid funding for planned parenthood or other healthcare providers that performed abortions might be against federal law. the administration contended that medicaid law permitted states to ban providers from the program only if the providers could not perform covered services or bill for those services. the trump administration repealed this guidance in 2018. 2016 – zubik v. burwell was a case before the united states supreme court on whether religious institutions other than churches should be exempt from the contraceptive mandate, a regulation adopted by the us department of health and human services (hhs) under the affordable care act (aca) that requires non-church employers to cover certain contraceptives for their female employees. churches are already exempt under those regulations. on may 16, 2016, the u.s. supreme court issued a per curiam ruling in zubik v. burwell that vacated the decisions of the circuit courts of appeals and remanded the case "to the respective united states courts of appeals for the third, fifth, tenth, and d.c. circuits" for reconsideration in light of the "positions asserted by the parties in their supplemental briefs". because the petitioners agreed that "their religious exercise is not infringed where they 'need to do nothing more than contract for a plan that does not include coverage for some or all forms of contraception'", the court held that the parties should be given an opportunity to clarify and refine how this approach would work in practice and to "resolve any outstanding issues". the supreme court expressed "no view on the merits of the cases." in a concurring opinion, justice sotomayor, joined by justice ginsburg, noted that in earlier cases "some lower courts have ignored those instructions" and cautioned lower courts not to read any signals in the supreme court's actions in this case. 2016 – in june, the women's rights foundation in malta filed a judicial protest requesting access to emergency contraception. in early october, a joint parliamentary committee recommended that oral contraceptives should be sold with a prescription, but that the decision was up to the malta medicines authority. on 17 october, the malta medicines authority approved the sale of emergency contraception without a prescription in all pharmacies in malta and gozo, basing its decision to make it available without a prescription on ensuring efficacy of treatment. in december 2016 emergency contraception was available for sale in pharmacies across the maltese islands. 2016 – an alabama law is passed banning dilation & evacuation (d&e). in august 2018, the eleventh circuit ruled the d&e legislation to be unconstitutional, blocking it from being enforced. 2017 2017 – a law passed by the wyoming state legislature went into effect that prohibited the sale of fetal tissue. 2017 – a law went into effect in wyoming that required abortion service providers to give women seeking abortions an ultrasound, but it had no enforcement component. 2017 – the "mexico city policy", which blocks u.s. federal funding for non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals, was reinstated by president donald trump. trump expanded the policy, making it cover all global health organizations that receive u.s. government funding, rather than only family planning organizations that do, as was previously the case. 2017 – in poland, a law is passed restricting emergency contraception by changing it from an over-the-counter drug to a prescription drug, requiring a visit to a doctor. 2017 – the trump administration of the united states issued a ruling allowing insurers and employers to refuse to provide birth control if doing so went against their "religious beliefs" or "moral convictions". 2017 – u.s. federal judge wendy beetlestone issued an injunction temporarily stopping the enforcement of the trump administration rule allowing insurers and employers to refuse to provide birth control if doing so went against their "religious beliefs" or "moral convictions". 2017 – the state legislature updated delaware's legal code around abortion. it was changed to read, "the termination of a pregnancy prior to viability, to protect the life or health of the mother, or in the event of serious fetal anomaly." 2017 – the 100th illinois general assembly repealed the trigger law component of the illinois abortion law of 1975, but left many of its other provisions intact. in the same act, the general assembly provided for abortion to be covered under medicaid and state employee health insurance. the bill was signed into law by pro-choice republican governor bruce rauner. 2017 – the reproductive health equity act was passed, which required health insurance in oregon to offer abortion coverage and to absorb most of the costs for the procedure, instead of passing them along to women. 2018 2018 – the arizona state legislature passed a law that required the arizona health department to apply for title x funds as part of their attempts to defund planned parenthood. 2018 – an alabama law is passed banning dilation & evacuation (d&e). in august 2018, the eleventh circuit ruled the d&e legislation to be unconstitutional, blocking it