Abortion, Every Day (10.30.2023)

The person most likely to turn you in for abortion? Your healthcare provider

In the States, all eyes are on Ohio and Virginia as abortion rights bellwethers. A new report in Stats & Studies looks at criminalization trends of self-managed abortions. In the Nation, some rare good news. The Care Crisis looks at how hospitals are interpreting abortion bans. And in the Battle over ‘Ban’, a top anti-abortion leader makes the anti-abortion movement’s end goal crystal clear.

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In the States

With just over a week until election day, all eyes are on Ohio and Virginia. In Ohio, Democrats are banking on abortion rights: Issue 1, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution is polling at 58%. (You can see why Republicans wanted to raise the ballot measure standards to require 60% of the vote.) And in Virginia, Republicans think they have a winning strategy to defend themselves against post-Roe losses: Claim their bans aren’t bans, and focus on abortions later in pregnancy.

What happens in both of these states is likely to determine the abortion strategies of both parties moving forward.

POLITICO reports that anti-abortion activists see defeating Issue 1 as more than just a way to enact an abortion bans in Ohio. They’re also hoping that if Issue 1 fails, Democrats will no longer see abortion as such a winning issue—and will stop talking about it so damn much. Because right now, Ohio Democrats up for re-election in 2024 are hammering their opponents early and often in the hopes that it will ensure their victory next year. From Carol Tobias, the president of the National Right to Life Committee:

“Democratic candidates are being told that support for abortion is the magic bullet—the special weapon that’s going to help them win. So stopping this measure in Ohio is going to bring those efforts not definitely to a halt, but it’s going to at least make everybody stop and think that maybe this isn’t quite the issue that they thought it was.”

But turnout for the off-year election has been incredibly strong: As of a week ago, more than 300,000 early ballots were cast. And pro-choicers have far out-raised conservatives on the issue.

Still, despite Republicans’ insistence that abortion rights isn’t the winner Democrats believe it to be, they’re still hard at work lying their asses off about Issue 1. The Washington Post reports that misinformation about the pro-choice amendment—initiated by anti-abortion activists and repeated by state leaders like Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine—is a sign of conservatives’ “uphill battle.”

Patrick Brown, of the conservative group, Ethics and Public Policy Center, told WaPo, “The victory we fought for fifty years is proving to be a lot harder than people thought.”

As you know, anti-abortion activists and Republicans have been claiming that the measure would allow abortion ‘up until birth’ and dismantle parental rights. Most recently, they’ve even argued that Ohio doesn’t need to protect abortion rights because abortion is already legal in the state. Lauren Beene, a doctor with Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, says, “The anti-choice people are trying to pretend the six-week ban doesn’t exist and our governor didn’t sign it into law.”

(For more about the Republican lies on Issue 1, make sure to check out last week’s Associated Press article that points out how much of the misinformation is coming from a government-run website.)

Election day in Virginia, however, seems like it’s going to be a much closer call. That’s part of the reason that anti-abortion activists have spent so much time, money and energy on the state. In fact, just a few days ago, Women Speak Out Virginia—a state-level partner of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America—announced their largest financial initiative to date: a $1.5 million campaign to support Republican General Assembly candidates who back 15-week abortion bans.

And just as is the case in Ohio, anti-abortion activists in Virginia are hoping that election wins will dissuade Democrats from hyper-focusing on abortion. In a recent interview, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said, “If we hold the House and maybe even take the Senate, it means that they have overreached.”

If Gov. Glenn Youngkin brings home both legislative chambers for Republicans, two things happen. The first is that abortion rights will be on the chopping block, and the last relatively safe haven for reproductive rights in the South will be gone. The second is that the conservative donors who want Youngkin to be a late entry into the presidential race will be emboldened. Larry Sabato, the director of the center for politics at the University of Virginia, told The Guardian, “If he wins both houses, then it will take about 10 minutes for the national media to say we’ve got a new challenger: ‘Glenn Youngkin, the giant killer, and Donald Trump’s never faced this before’.”

The good news is that Virginia voters believe that Democrats are better suited to handle abortion rights by a 17 point margin. And anecdotally, voters have abortion rights top of mind: Democrat Joshua Cole, running for a House seat, told The 19th, “As we’re knocking doors, this is what people are talking about.”

Obviously, Abortion, Every Day will be paying close attention to both states.

Other states where abortion is playing a key role: Kentucky’s gubernatorial race has been unusually focused on abortion these days, with Republican Daniel Cameron coming under fire for his flip-flopping on abortion ban exceptions. And in Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court race has become a referendum on abortion; Democrats hope will be a replay of what happened in Wisconsin, where liberals took control of the court after an election focused on abortion rights.

We’re waiting for the Florida Supreme Court to rule on a challenge against the state’s 15-week abortion ban—a decision that will also determine the future of a newer, 6-week, ban. But as a reporter told public radio station WLRN, “the decision could come down next week, it could come down next year.” If Republicans’ 6-week ban went into effect, it could cut the number of abortions performed in the state by half.

In the meantime, even the 15-week ban has had a stark effect on care. Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, says they’ve seen patients with life-threatening conditions who haven’t been able to end their pregnancies: “Doctors have not been able to sign off on that because of these confusing laws and this completely arbitrary number of 15 weeks.”

Whether Florida’s pro-choice ballot measure will get to voters is also up to the state Supreme Court (which is stacked with Ron DeSantis appointees). The Court needs to approve the language of the amendment, which the Republican Attorney General, of course, claims is misleading.

Quick hits:

• The Los Angeles Times reports that less than 17% of California hospitals and medical centers have completed state-mandated training to combat unsconscious bias in those who care for pregnant patients;

• Students at Northeastern University in Massachusetts have launched a petition to get abortion medication on campus.

• And a reminder that one of the New Jersey Republicans up for reelection, state Sen. Ed Durr, wrote this about abortion on Facebook: “A woman does have a choice! Keep her legs closed.”

If you missed my column this weekend about the normalization of horror, check it out here:

Breaking the Overton Window 

Stats & Studies

If/When/How has published an absolute must-read report today on the criminalization of self-managed abortions from 2000 to 2020. The abortion rights organization found that despite Republican assurances that legislators have no interest in going after abortion patients, dozens of people across the country—including minors—have been investigated or arrested.

I’m still reading the report so I can take my time with it, but a few key take-aways: As I wrote about earlier this month, most of the people who were criminalized over self-managed abortion were charged under laws that were not abortion bans. Instead, charges included things like child abuse and endangerment, homicide, unlawful practice of medicine, etc. Laura Huss, a senior researcher at If/When/How told The Guardian, “This criminalization is happening in spite of the law, not because of it.”

“It’s really important also to acknowledge, to name and to recognize that the wrongful charges that we’ve seen are illegitimate uses of state power and must be challenged,” she said.

The report also found that people’s history of pregnancy loss or abortion was included in media coverage or court documents in 15% of cases that were prosecuted; and in 38% of cases, public records “included references to the accused’s demeanor, perceived ambivalence, or both.”

Finally, something striking but not surprising: The people who were reported to police for self-managing an abortion were frequently turned in by those they trusted. To me, this one of the most heart-breaking aspects of criminalization: the way that conservatives are depending on communities turning on each other. (I wrote about this a bit in my column on anti-abortion ‘snitch culture’.)

Just check out this graph:

From If/When/How Report: Self-Care, Criminalized: The Criminalization of Self-Managed Abortion from 2000 to 2020

Horrifying. I highly recommend reading the full report. And if you want to donate to If/When/How, click here.

In related news—and a sign of what we can expect to see here in the U.S.—a new report in the U.K. shows that police are increasingly trying to test women for the presence of abortion medication, and seeking information from menstrual tracking apps.

The Care Crisis

The Washington Post published an investigation this weekend about how hospitals are dealing with abortion bans—and how doctors are not getting the kind of guidance that they need from their employers. WaPo interviewed dozens of doctors, lawyers and hospital administrators in states with abortion bans, and got records from 50 hospitals:

“The Post review found that many hospitals have failed to provide specific guidance or policies to help doctors navigate high-stakes decisions over how to interpret new abortion bans—leading to situations where patients are denied care until they are on the brink of permanent injury or death.”

In addition to finding that hospitals took a legally cautious approach to interpreting their state’s abortion ban—in some cases simply mirroring the language of the law itself—WaPo also reports that doctors are struggling to follow both state and federal law. (The federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act says hospitals must treat and stabilize patients with life-threatening pregnancies; many state laws won’t allow that.)

The primary issue, though, is that medical professionals are understandably terrified of being arrested. Ellie Schilling, a pro-choice Louisiana lawyer who consults with hospitals on how to interpret the law, told reporter, “Everyone just wants to be off the radar right now—and not invite the ire of the state attorney general.”

Two things are clear: Hospitals need to do better, and anti-abortion activists will be using this (important and necessary) reporting to their advantage. I guarantee you we’re going to see the usual suspects claim that this proves hospitals and doctors putting women’s lives at risk—not their laws. That’s been their plan from the get-go.

In the Nation

Newly-appointed Speaker Mike Johnson has his first test as leader of the Republican House: the abortion-pill restrictions in the upcoming agriculture funding bill. This government spending bill is one of twelve that Johnson promised to pass in order to avoid a government shutdown by the end of the month. House Republicans have added abortion restrictions to nearly every one. 

In this case, the party is divided over an anti-abortion rider in the funding bill that attacks mifepristone by mail. Republican centrists in bluer parts of the country (like New York Republicans) want to leave anything abortion related to the states (for now) and have already voiced their objections to the restrictions. However, staunchly anti-abortion Republicans have stood behind the anti-abortion provisions and vowed to tank any version without them, leaving the bill at a stalemate. 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville made the media rounds this weekend as he continues to justify his block of military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy. He told CNN’s Manu Raju that Democrats “would rather burn down the Senate than negotiate.” This comes as Senate Republicans are pushing back against a potential resolution attempting to temporarily bypass Tuberville’s hold and nominate hundreds of military positions that remain empty.

In better news, Democrats are pushing the Biden administration to mandate that private insurers cover the new over-the-counter birth control pill. Opill will arrive in stores early next year, but it’s unclear how much the medication will cost. Washington Sen. Patty Murray, one of the letter’s authors, told CNN, “Over-the-counter birth control has the potential to be a real game-changer for so many women—but only if it’s actually affordable.”

This is especially true post-Roe, when contraception is taking on a more important role than ever. The letter was addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Labor Secretary Julie Su.

Quick hits:

• Influential anti-abortion and right-wing organizations celebrate having a seat at the table with Rep. Mike Johnson as Speaker;

• The 19th outlines Johnson’s anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ history;

• How abortion bans have renewed calls for the ratifications of the Equal Rights Amendment; 

• In international news, Russia is increasing restrictions on abortion and activists are pissed;

• And while the U.S. moves backwards, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to enshrine abortion rights in the country’s constitution by next year.

Battle Over ‘Ban’

Maybe one day there will be abortion rights news that doesn’t include something about the GOP’s war on language. Today, however, is not that day. President of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Marjorie Dannenfelser, gave an interview to POLITICO where she went on her usual spiel on the term ‘ban’.

“[Republicans have] allowed themselves to be labeled being for a ‘ban,’ and they’re not for a ‘ban.’..Fifteen weeks is not a ‘ban’ on abortion; it’s a 15-week ‘limit with exceptions.’”

And despite Republicans’ claims that these bans are ‘compromise’ or ‘consensus’ legislation, Dannenfelser made clear that 15-weeks is in no way the end goal:

“What we want is to be as ambitious for life in every legislature that there is. So there's the national legislature—that includes California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico—asking for a heartbeat bill or a life at conception.”

What was so frustrating about this interview, to be honest, was just how fucking friendly it was. There is something so schmoozy and gross about DC political journalism where the interview sounds like everyone is best buddies—even when it’s about life and death issues. (This is part of what I was getting at in my column this weekend—it’s exhausting to watch this kind of normalization.)

Reporter Ryan Lizza, for example, not only mirrored Dannenfelser’s language, calling abortion bans ‘limits’, but also took her word on vital facts—like polling numbers for 15-week bans. “I mean, I know I could look this up myself,” he said.

Dannenfelser, of course, claimed that 70% or more of Americans support bans at 15 weeks. But as I pointed out in August when the anti-abortion leader wrote a massively-fact-checked op-ed with Kellyanne Conway, Dannenfelser was forced to write that “recent polls show that 56 percent of voters support a national abortion limit of 15 weeks…” And even then, the poll they cited asked respondents whether they support a 15 week abortion ban or “abortion up until birth.” Those were the only two choices!

All of which is to say: Stop taking their fucking word for it. I’m begging you.

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Many thanks to Abortion, Every Day researcher Grace Haley, who contributed the In the Nation section.