iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

It won't get nearly as much attention, but I'll also highlight that the first 2/3 of the article is a legal critique of the viability line, arguing that it lacks a normative foundation. I'm grateful to @convergepitt.bsky.social for connecting scholars across disciplines so work like this can exist!

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

There are lots of other figures and findings in the article, which I hope you check out! We break out the results by demographic and discuss how it would impact voter turnout (spoiler alert: all three ballots increase turnout).

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

We also found strong voter understanding of what each referenda would protect, with 76.5% of people receiving the no-limit ballot reporting that it would protect 3rd tri abortion. Even when limiting to those who said the no-limit ballot would protect 3rd tri abortion, 62.7% said they would vote yes.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

We found strong support for all 3 options (67% support for the viability limit; 68% for the viability limit w health exception; and 66% for no limit).This 2-point difference was not statistically significant & suggests that a viability limit is not a decisive driver of support for referenda.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Co-authored w two med school professors, Dana Loll & Tamar Krishnamurti, we surveyed 2,000 people who were randomly assigned to see 1 of 3 abortion rights ballot measures: (1) strict viability limit (2) viability limit w health exception & (3) no limit. Sample was balanced for age, sex & pol party.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

My newest (and 1st empirical) article went online last night through @jessicavalenti.bsky.social's Abortion Everyday Newsletter!! You can read the exclusive and download the article here. Short 🧵 on the article below, forthcoming in the Emory Law Journal. jessica.substack.com/p/viability-...

jessica.substack.com

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Viability’ Limits Don’t Move Voters

Abortion rights don’t need to be watered down to win, new study shows

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Thanks, Hank!!! I appreciate all your support over the years!

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Thank you so much, Paul!! I’m so grateful for your support!

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Roz also lived in my neighborhood, attended the synagogue I recently joined, and fought for rights that my generation takes for granted. So the honor is more than a title, it is a deep gratitude for the name I get to carry.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

And it is especially beshert for me because her daughter (Jessica Litman) was the chair of the academic placement committee at Michigan Law the year that I applied to Pitt. In other words, long before this professorship was created, Roz's daughter helped me become an academic!

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I'm so honored to be the inaugural Roslyn M. Litman Endowed Professor of Law in Civil Liberties. Roz was a pioneer. She graduated from Pitt Law in 1952 and spent her life advancing civil rights. It is such a gift to be a part of honoring her legacy. (1/3)

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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Having set out to show that telemedicine [abortion] services don’t screen their clients, they inadvertently proved the opposite." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

motherjones.com

Kristan Hawkins helped kill Roe. Now she’s fighting to control the movement she created.

How the Charlie Kirk of abortion moved from the fringes to the mainstream.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I loved participating in this story abt a new crop of cases challenging abortion bans based on the pregnant person's right to life. Kind of wish I hadn't cursed on the record, but 🤷‍♀️! Grateful for the shout out to "From Medical Exceptions to Reproductive Freedom" (co-authored w @dsc250.bsky.social)

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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 27/09/2026

NEW: A Texas woman died after being denied an abortion and her family sued the state and her doctors for violating her right to life. They say the ban should be struck down. It's one of several cases challenging abortion laws under state constitutional rights to life and liberty @autonomynews.co

autonomynews.co

New Lawsuits Argue That Pregnant People Also Have a Right to Life

Lawyers are fighting abortion bans in state court by establishing that pregnant people have a right to life and liberty—or at least self-defense.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

So happy that "The New Abortion Battleground" (co-authored with @dsc250.bsky.social & @rebouche.bsky.social) was cited yesterday by the Sixth Circuit in finding a Tennessee law unconstitutional that criminalizes helping a minor obtain an abortion (even out of state where it is legal)

law.justia.com

Welty v. Dunaway, 25-5738 (6th Cir. 2026)

After the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, Tennessee enacted a near-total abortion ban and later passed the Underage Abortion Trafficking Act, which included the “Recruitment Provision.” This provision...

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Jews for a Secular Democracy @jfasd.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

There is no single religious answer to the question of when life or personhood begins. So what happens when government adopts one religious answer and turns it into law? Watch the full conversation with @greerdonley.bsky.social and Susan J. Frietsche: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrZX...

youtube.com

"Abortion Rights and Christian Nationalism" with Greer Donley and Susan Frietsche - Sept. 9, 2026

YouTube video by Jews for a Secular Democracy

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The Redux article is forthcoming in the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law! Long ago, I was the EIC of that journal, so I'm thrilled to be working with them as a professor. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

Abortion Disorientation Redux

<div> In 2024, we published Abortion Disorientation in the Duke Law Journal. It uncovered how states were changing their legal definition of abortion in the fi

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The original DLJ article (linked below) goes into depth on why abortion definitions are inherently vague, tracing individual stories of denied care to ambiguities in the statutory language. It also reaches normative conclusions that we do not repeat in the new piece. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

Abortion Disorientation

The word “abortion” pervades public discourse in the wake of <i>Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</i>. But do we know what it means? Not only do law

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

My favorite thing abt this paper has always been the appendices! The 1st appendix has every state's abortion definition, which is color coded, & shows changes side-by-side. The 2nd appendix does the same for health-related ban exceptions. I refer to these constantly bc I want the statutory language!

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

We also did a deep dive into the ban exceptions, finding much smaller changes. Though 7 states have altered their bans' health exceptions, the changes have been more modest overall (and almost all in response to litigation).

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

By contrast, only 7 abortion-supportive states have changed their definition of abortion since Dobbs. Only one changed its exclusions, and it removed them. No need for exclusions when abortion is protected! You can see in the 2nd chart that "abortion" means very different things in different states.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Almost all the antiabortion states that changed their abortion definition (14/16) added what we coined 'definitional exclusions.' Instead of broadening health exceptions in bans (more on that later) they are trying to define out care that intersects w abortion (eg, ectopic pregnancy & miscarriage).

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

In 2024, we published Abortion Disorientation in the Duke Law Journal. This "Redux" paper is the update with 2 more years of data. We also had the benefit of AI to help us create compelling visuals that display significant changes at a glance. So what did we find?

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

In the 4 years since Dobbs, 16 abortion-hostile states have changed their legal definition of "abortion." In my new paper with Caroline Kelly, Abortion Disorientation Redux, we code & dissect every state's abortion definition & how it has changed since Dobbs. 🧵 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

Abortion Disorientation Redux

<div> In 2024, we published Abortion Disorientation in the Duke Law Journal. It uncovered how states were changing their legal definition of abortion in the fi

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Take the case of Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz, who was sent home with an ectopic pregnancy and nearly died in Texas. The state definition already excluded ectopic pregnancy from "abortion," but it didn't help her. perma.cc/6GUK-CPLB

perma.cc

Texas hospital refused to treat woman’s life-threatening ectopic pregnancy - The Washington Post

The 25-year-old woman and her mother blame the Texas abortion ban for a delay in care that put her “in extreme danger of losing her life.”

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The fact that antiabortion legislatures are changing their definitions to try to exclude ectopic pregnancy means that they know this is a serious problem. Yet, unfortunately, the changed laws haven't fixed the risk aversion. Medicine is not always clear & doctors are scared.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I've been tracking changes in state abortion definitions since Dobbs. 8 antiabortion states have changed their definition of abortion in the past 4 years to exclude ectopic pregnancy. W/o an exclusion, ectopic pregnancy treatment can fall under a ban. This chart is in a new paper (online soon!)

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

What a difference a panel can make! A rarely balanced panel for the 5CA (an Obama, Biden, and Bush appointee). You can tell in the questions.

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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Higginson notes that multiple federal courts have examined the FDA's abortion pill policies and found them TOO strict rather than (as Louisiana argues) not strict enough.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

For those who can't listen in, this is a great live tweet of the questioning!

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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 24/08/2026

Risky bet with this Supreme Court but: “Do pregnant people really have no right to protect themselves unless they’re on death’s door? Is that really the constitutional floor?” said @greerdonley.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-a...

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Lots of support in opinion for the fundamental right to medically necessary abortions, including those needed to prevent self harm: "If, however, there is a fundamental right to a life-saving abortion, Idaho’s exclusion of self-harm impinges on that right." lawyeringproject.org/wp-content/u...

lawyeringproject.org

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Great decision from Idaho yesterday. "Idaho could not make a mother undergo a bone marrow transplant to save her child. Can it require a pregnant woman to give up her ovaries or her kidneys in the hopes of saving a fetus? Answering that question will require...this case must go to trial."

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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 24/07/2026

NEW: A federal judge ruled that FDA restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone are scientifically unjustified in suit filed by independent clinics—says 2023 REMS is unlawful, FDA must reconsider. Louisiana suing FDA for allowing telehealth Rx in same reg storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

screenshot from page 1 of the opinion:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
CHARLOTTESVILLE DIVISION
WHOLE WOMAN’S HEALTH )
ALLIANCE, et al., )
)
Plaintiffs, ) Civil Action No.: 3:23-CV-00019
)
v. )
)
UNITED STATES FOOD AND DRUG ) By: Hon. Robert S. Ballou
ADMINISTRATION, et al., ) United States District Judge
)
Defendants. ))
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Since 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has determined that mifepristone is a safe and effective medication for early pregnancy termination. Each time the FDA has reviewed mifepristone, it has reaffirmed its safety and efficacy.1 But the FDA has consistently imposed certain prescribing and dispensing restrictions, known as Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (“REMS”), because it concluded such restrictions were necessary to ensure that the drug’s benefits outweighed its risks. The 2023 REMS imposed by the FDA on mifepristone require that (1) prescribing pharmacies be specially certified, (2) prescribing clinicians be specially certified, and (3) prescribers and patients sign a form acknowledging the treatment and
its risks. Dkt. 78-7 at 389–92. Abortion providers in Virginia, Kansas, and Montana brought this case to challenge the 2023 REMS as excessively restrictive, unwarranted, and inconsistent with
the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. The issue before this....

docket
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67347356/whole-womans-health-alliance-v-united-states-food-and-drug-administration/?order_by=desc
two page order https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vawd.128384/gov.uscourts.vawd.128384.96.0.pdf

screenshot from page 47 of the opinion:

CONCLUSION
The REMS modifications are arbitrary and capricious. The FDA has steadfastly found, over the past quarter century, that mifepristone is a safe and effective medication. The explanation for the REMS and ETASUs imposed by the FDA in 2023 does not identify the risk alleviated by the restrictions. Nor does the FDA explain how, without these restrictions, prescribing the drug becomes an intolerable risk which would require withdrawal of the drug from the market. The FDA failed to reasonably justify its 2023 REMS modification decision, disregarding substantial contrary evidence from the medical community and comparative regulatory data, and inadequately addressing the burdens imposed on providers and patients. While Plaintiffs’ claim that the FDA exceeded its statutory authority fails, the Agency’s failure to consider relevant evidence and provide a reasoned explanation renders the 2023 REMS modification arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA and the Fifth Amendment.

two page order
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vawd.128384/gov.uscourts.vawd.128384.96.0.pdf
...the Court DIRECTS the parties to file a joint status report within 10 days of this order setting forth their positions on how this case should proceed as to the constitutional claims. The remand order will be entered following determination of the status of the constitutional claims.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I love being a part of the team helping with these amicus briefs! And always grateful to the attorneys at Covington for doing all the heavy lifting!

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Liza Fuentes @lizafuentes.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

In 2025, 1.13 million abortions were provided in the US formal healthcare system, more than before Dobbs. Nationally, most abortions occurred in person. by December 2025, 29% of US abortions were provided via telehealth. Nearly 15,000 abortions/month were provided under shield laws by Dec 2025.

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CONVERGE at The University of Pittsburgh @convergepitt.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

This Wednesday, join @garnethenderson.com , @greerdonley.bsky.social , Beatrice Chen MD, and Christina Chang MPP as they unpack the ongoing Louisiana mifepristone litigation and what it signals for the future of reproductive health! 🔗 Register now pitt.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #mifepristone #repro

Flyer for CONVERGE Seminar "Beyond the Courtroom, Beyond the Headlines: What the Louisiana Mifepristone Case Means for the Future of Reproductive Health".

Date: Wednesday, May 20th at 4pm EST

Moderated by Garnet Henderson, Journalist & co-founder of Autonomy News

Join CONVERGE as we unpack the recent Louisiana mifepristone litigation, and explore what it signals for abortion access, FDA authority, healthcare delivery, state policy, and the future of reproductive health.

Featured speakers: Greer Donley, JD, Beatrice Chen, MD, and Christina Chang, MPP

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David S. Cohen @dsc250.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Thanks for the shoutout @mjsdc.bsky.social! "They've made Sam Alito very mad" - this should go on our resumes. w/ @greerdonley.bsky.social @rebouche.bsky.social

Right. In Alito’s view, red states have absolute freedom to persecute abortion providers and patients, while blue states have no authority to protect them. It’s so obvious what he’s doing here. By the way, we should give a shout-out to the law professors who devised and promoted shield laws—David Cohen, Rachel Rebouché, and Greer Donley. They’ve made Sam Alito very mad. So don’t ever let anyone tell you law review articles don’t matter.

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Cedar River Clinics @cedarriverclinics.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

We deeply appreciate the law professors who championed these laws to combat the public health crisis prompted by the Dobbs decision for millions of Americans. These law professors include @dsc250, @rebouche.bsky.social, and @greerdonley.bsky.social.

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David S. Cohen @dsc250.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I am really proud of the work that @rebouche.bsky.social @greerdonley.bsky.social and I did to conceive of and advocate for shield laws. They've made a huge and tangible difference for people in this country. But now we can add another thing to be proud of -- they piss off Sam Alito. Poor Sam.

Sam Alito whining about abortion shield laws. Poor Sam.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

CC: Alta Charo, Glenn Cohen, Marsha Cohen, @hollylynchez.bsky.social, @hankgreely.bsky.social, Peter Grossi, Ralph Hall, Joel Hoffman, George Horvath, Peter Barton Hutt, Joan Krause, Elizabeth McCuskey, @jennoliva.bsky.social, Jordan Paradise, Christopher Robertson, Joanna Sax, @amwhelan.bsky.social

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

I'm always grateful for my co-partners in this endeavor, Lewis Grossman & @pzettler.bsky.social (and now @nathancortez.bsky.social)! And also to the other incredibly brilliant amici, who I admire and learn from all the time! (One of them, Becky Eisenberg, taught me FDA Law!)

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Most of the heavy lifting came from the ⭐ Covington & Burling lawyers, who worked so hard to get this done under time pressure. This is the *SIXTH* amicus brief this group of scholars has collaborated on since the precursor to this case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, started in 2023.

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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

I'm really proud to have submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court today in the case concerning access to an abortion pill, mifepristone, on behalf of FDA Law Scholars. TLDR: the 5th Circuit's order is inconsistent with FDA law. Check it out 👇 www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

supremecourt.gov

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