Internets users are more likely to search on Google for the word “abortion” in regions with strict abortion regulations, little access to abortion services and low abortion rates than in other areas, two researchers from Children’s Hospital Boston’s Informatics Program found in a recent study, the Boston Herald reports. Researchers Ben Reis and John Brownstein reviewed abortion rates and policies in every U.S. state and 37 countries, comparing their findings with the number of Internet searches for the word “abortion…

This legislative session, Arizona lawmakers and Gov. Jan Brewer (R) enacted several laws that affect reproductive rights, including a measure that prohibits municipalities from offering abortion coverage in their health insurance plans, the Arizona Republic reports. The laws took effect July 29. Many of the laws were supported by the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative not-for-profit organization. The center also proposed a “parents bill of rights,” which became law after various modifications…

On Tuesday, Alaskan voters approved Ballot Measure 2, which will require notification of parents or guardians before a minor can receive an abortion, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The new law is scheduled to go into effect 90 days after the election is certified, which could happen by mid-September, meaning the law would take effect mid-December, the Daily News reports. Alaska health officials said they will form an internal work group to determine how the state needs to implement the law’s requirements (Demer, Anchorage Daily News, 8/25)…

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said Tuesday that he supports an advisory legal opinion issued by state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) that concluded the state Board of Health has authority to regulate abortion clinics, the AP/WTOP reports. In the opinion released Monday, Cuccinelli argues that abortion clinics in Virginia should be regulated the same as outpatient surgical centers. During a town hall meeting, McDonnell said he agreed with Cuccinelli’s opinion…

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is seeking an injunction to bar antiabortion-rights protester Mary Susan Pine from entering any driveway leading to the Presidential Women’s Center, a Florida clinic that offers abortion services, the Palm Beach Post reports. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Florida, represents the first time a Florida resident has been charged under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, according to Sharon Levin, vice president and general counsel of the National Abortion Federation (Musgrave, Palm Beach Post, 8/23)…

The Washington Post: “Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has concluded that the state can impose stricter oversight over clinics that perform abortions, a move immediately decried by abortion-rights organizations and others as an attempt to circumvent the General Assembly, which has repeatedly rejected similar measures. Cuccinelli’s legal opinion empowers the Board of Health, if it chooses, to require the clinics to meet hospital-type standards…

A legal opinion released Monday by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) concludes that the state Board of Health can require abortion clinics to meet the same standards as hospitals, a change abortion-rights advocates say could force 17 of the state’s 21 abortion clinics to close due to the financial burden of meeting the new requirements, the Washington Post reports. The opinion was a response to requests from state Del. Robert Marshall (R) and state Sen…

Kentucky attorney Amelia Adams could face six months in jail for contempt of court after refusing to reveal the name of a 17-year-old client who sought judicial permission to have an abortion without her parents’ consent, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that states that require parental consent for minors seeking abortion services must provide an alternative by which a girl can anonymously request an exception from a judge. Adams’ client — identified in court records as J.J…

Beginning Aug. 28, abortion providers in Missouri will have to present women seeking abortions with brochures stating that the “life of each human being begins at conception” and that the procedure “will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The statements are being added to the brochures as part of a new law (SB 793) modifying the state’s 24-hour waiting period statute (Townsend, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/22)…

Historically, Connecticut voters have supported social moderates, but the success of several antiabortion-rights candidates this year has caught the interest of advocates on both sides, the Hartford Courant reports. Jillian Gilchrest, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, said, “In Connecticut, traditionally, the Republican voter has been pro-choice,” adding, “[B]ut this is a different kind of campaign and different kind of election year.”A number of candidates who oppose abortion-rights defeated abortion-rights supporters in the Republican primaries…