In the states…
Today, the Kansas Supreme Court will consider whether abortion rights are protected in the state constitution. The Court ruled that it was protected in 2019, a decision that state Attorney General Kris Kobach says was wrongly decided—his office will offer their oral arguments on the case today. You can find out more about the legal nitty gritty here, but we already know how voters in the state feel about abortion: They overwhelmingly decided to protect abortion rights via a ballot measure last year.
I’ve been warning that Republican lawmakers’ push for increased birth control access was nothing more than PR—an attempt to win back some of voters’ good will in the wake of their incredibly unpopular abortion bans. The latest absolutely transparent example comes to us from Oklahoma, where Republican women led the charge in pushing through legislation they say will protect the right to contraception.
Oklahoma Senate Bill 368—barely more than a page—says that the state’s abortion law “shall not be construed to in any way prohibit, restrict, limit, or otherwise affect the provision of contraceptive drugs, surgeries, or other treatments by a duly authorized healthcare provider in accordance with the laws of this state.” But here’s the thing: the legislation doesn’t specify what kind of contraception is protected, just that they need to be in “accordance” with state law. You can guess where this is going. Oklahoma’s abortion law defines human life as beginning at fertilization, which means that conservatives who believe that IUDs and Plan B stop the implantation of a fertilized egg can argue that those forms of contraception are not protected.
So the bill, which was just passed by the Senate, is a great big pile of nothing. Oh, and if you want to know who this law was meant to ‘protect’ or assure, consider this quote from Rep. Toni Hasenbeck: “Many of my constituents are conservative, married women.” That’s what I thought.
I read a pretty ominous sentence in an article about Alabama abortion law this weekend: “Republican lawmakers say they do not plan to change the abortion law. Instead, they want to streamline adoptions.” The private adoption industry is already fraught, and we know that anti-abortion centers often have relationships with Christian adoption agencies. The last thing they need is less regulation. Rep. Ginny Shaver, however, says “It’s a big-time saving, which is really important, and trying to get kids into a permanent home as fast as possible.” It’s not hard to imagine that conservatives want to go back to the time of maternity houses and hiding pregnant young women away before they’re pressured into giving up their babies.
A Democrat in Arkansas has proposed a bill aimed at reducing some of the harm of the state’s abortion ban. Rep. Denise Garner is pushing HB 1684, which would broaden the definition of what constitutes a medical emergency in the state’s abortion law. Right now, Arkansas law says that abortion is only permissible in a medical emergency where the woman’s life is in danger from a physical condition, illness, disorder, etc. There is no exception for women’s health. Garner’s bill would allow for abortions in medical emergencies where the woman’s health is endangered, and would remove the word ‘physical’ from the law’s language—presumably opening the door to allow abortions for life- and health-threatening mental health conditions.
Another new bill in Arkansas—Republican-sponsored and just one sentence long—would ban abortion medication.
In Illinois, abortion providers continue to be inundated with out-of-state patients—with doctors and staff struggling to keep up with an ever-increasing patient load. One Planned Parenthood’s waitlist for abortions has gone from two days to three weeks. And something this piece points out, which is so vital, is that the work providers and clinics are doing is not just medical:
“A staffer is available around-the-clock to answer desperate calls from patients who run into travel issues. Workers raced to arrange a ride to the airport in the middle of the night for one patient to flee her abusive partner. They troubleshoot when a car breaks down on the trip to southern Illinois. They navigated canceled flights during a crushing winter travel season to make sure one woman made it back to her family on Christmas day after an abortion.”
And here’s the thing: This level of work, and the growing waiting list, is only expected to get much, much worse because of the 6-week abortion ban expected to pass on Florida.
Meanwhile, doctors in Nebraska are raising the alarm over just how bad things could get in the state should Republicans’ proposed abortion ban become law. They point to all of the horror stories coming out of places like Texas, where patients are unnecessarily suffering and doctors are struggling to be able to provide care. Omaha-based OBGYN Melissa Mathes says if the ban is passed, physicians will be spending time that they should be caring for patients instead asking themselves how sick a woman needs to be in order to qualify for an abortion. “There's going to be a delay in a patient's care, and sometimes that delay…a couple of hours or a day can be truly detrimental and potentially deadly for patients,” she says.
That inability to adequately care for patients is why doctors doctors anti-choice states are leaving in droves. One OBGYN who left Tennessee because of the state’s abortion ban spoke to a local news station about her decision. Dr. Leilah Zahedi-Spung, who moved to Colorado, said, “I'm not going to let anyone die under my watch. But I'm also not going to go to jail or sacrifice my entire life for it.”
Doctors’ ability to care for patients isn’t just being impacted by anti-abortion laws, but hospital mergers with religious-institutions. The Salt Lake Tribune reports today that five hospitals in Utah has been acquired by a Catholic health care system—and that they will not provide abortions, vasectomies, tubal ligation, IVF, or any other reproductive health care that doesn’t align with their new owner’s “ethical and religious directives.” This comes at a time, of course, when the state has passed a law requiring that abortions only be performed at hospitals.
Here’s a really good rundown of the Ohio ballot measure fight and the way that conservative lawmakers and activists are trying to keep voters as far from abortion as possible. Something noteworthy: I’ve reported how an anti-choice group is suing to stop the ballot measure, but what I didn’t realize is that the lawsuit is completely unprecedented. Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights points out that no one has ever asked the state Supreme Court to reverse a unanimous Ballot Board vote over whether a proposed amendment should be split into multiple amendments. Jeff Rusnak, a political strategist with the pro-choice amendment campaign, puts it simply: “They’re trying to change the rules because they know they can’t win.”
Two Iowa Democrats (and doctors) wrote an op-ed in the Des Moines Register decrying Gov. Kim Reynolds plan to give millions of taxpayer dollars to anti-abortion centers":
“These clinics rarely have medical providers on site and do not seek to provide care. Instead, they use shame and fear, often while wearing a lab coat, with the single-minded goal of talking people out of getting an abortion. Their manipulation can cause real damage, and delay people from getting the medical care they want and deserve.”
Meanwhile, a new poll out of the state shows that 3 in 5 Iowans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. (The Iowa Supreme Court is set to rule on the currently-blocked abortion ban.)
And a few pieces of news out of Florida: The 6-week abortion is still expected to pass; and in the meantime, POLITICO reports that conservatives are using a little-known law to punish abortion clinics in the state with constant fines. On the local level, Florida Republicans are threatening to withhold state funding from St. Petersburg over the city’s proposed allocation of $50,000 to a local abortion fund.
Quick hits:
Alabama Republicans want to offer tax credits to those who donate to anti-abortion centers that lie to women;
More on Nevada Democrats’ push to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution;
Axios on North Carolina Republicans’ plan to further restrict abortion;
Wyoming’s Wellspring Health Access in Casper is trying to rebuild in the wake of the arson attack against the clinic;
A new clinic is opening in Maryland, close to West Virginia—a welcome addition in a maternal health desert;
And Idaho Republicans continue to claim that they are trying to ‘clarify’ the state’s ban by redefining abortion.
In the nation…
Since Roe was overturned, there’s been a stark divide in the kind of abortion-related legislation we’re seeing: More and more restrictions in anti-abortion states, with increased protections in pro-choice ones. The Associated Press looks at that disconnect, but also focuses on something I think is really important: How difficult it’s been for to implement exceptions in states with abortion bans, even when those efforts are led by Republicans. They point specifically to Tennessee, a state we’ve been paying close attention to. Anti-abortion activists there have blocked any attempts to add a meaningful health and life exception. It’s a good reminder, and proof, that any Republican messaging about compromising or being ‘reasonable’ is total bullshit.
The strategy, law professor and author Mary Zeigler told the AP, seems to be a wait and see approach: Anti-abortion groups and legislators seem to believe that abortion rights’ popularity will wane. “There’s a belief that people will be more open to more and more stringent bans the further we get away from Roe v. Wade being the law,” she says.
We knew the brain drain from anti-abortion states was coming. A new study shows that 1 in 4 high school seniors are ruling out colleges based on states’ politics or policies, with abortion laws being specifically cited. This isn’t necessarily a surprise: Younger people are the the most pro-choice demographic in the country. A 2019 survey showed almost 80% of college students want abortion to be legal, for example, and recent poll reported that 1 in 3 students would change schools if they were in an anti-choice state. I think if we take a look at college admissions reports in anti-abortion states in the next year or two, the decline is going to be serious.
NPR reports on Elevated Access, an organization of volunteer pilots who fly women out of anti-choice states to places where they can obtain care. I’ve mentioned this group plenty of times, but this particular bit stuck out to me: A representative from the abortion fund Midwest Action Coalition pointed out that Elevated Access is incredibly useful for those who don’t have documents necessary for commercial flights—like undocumented immigrants or domestic violence victims. One woman they helped, for example, had an abusive partner who had destroyed her ID and birth certificate.
I told you on Friday how Republicans had introduced legislation attempting to link abortion providers to human trafficking—a gross attempt to feign giving a shit about women in order to restrict and punish abortion providers as much as possible. Over the weekend, the editorial board of The Charlotte Observer came out against the “bizarre” bill, which was sponsored by North Carolina’s U.S. senator, Ted Budd:
“This is, however, the same Ted Budd who voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and has hinted he supports banning abortion even in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life is in danger.
Without evidence that this is even an issue, Budd’s bill is a purely political move — just another thinly veiled attempt to smear and threaten abortion providers, making it riskier for them to do their jobs.”
Quick hits:
I haven’t dug into Rebecca Traister’s latest piece yet on abortion and the Democratic party (and I’ll definitely have more on it tomorrow!), but don’t wait for me—check it out today;
Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to the Defense Department urging them to continue allowing abortion access in limited circumstances for service members;
And Bloomberg gets inton how safe (or unsafe) your private data is on your period app.
Keep an eye on…
Republicans using the term ‘reasonable’ when it comes to their abortion bans. You know we’ve talked about this word a lot here at Abortion, Every Day, but I’m seeing it ramp up in recent days.
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace continues, for example, to argue for a “middle ground” on abortion—saying that she’s working on “commonsense solutions.” (Meanwhile, she wants to create a government website to collect data on pregnant women, super moderate!) This weekend, John Kasich also called for a “reasonable compromise” on abortion during an appearance on MSNBC.
And this letter to the editor from a Wisconsin state representative, is basically a checklist of conservative messaging on abortion: Republican Rep. Dan Knodl wrote in about legislation to create “commonsense changes” in the state’s abortion law. The letter uses the term ‘commonsense’ twice, as well as ‘reasonable’. Knodl also calls Democrats extremists, of course, and mentions that they just want abortion restrictions similar to those “European countries”—another Republican talking point (and a comparison that has been widely-debunked).
Abortion, Every Day (3.27.23)