Abortion, Every Day (11.3.23)

Colleges in anti-abortion states see drop in female applicants

Click on section headers to skip ahead in the newsletter: In Abortion on the Ballot, I look at a new poll in Ohio and the potential impact of a Republican win in Virginia. In the States, a look at ballot measure efforts in Nebraska, Florida and South Dakota. And in Abortion Criminalization Coverage, I highlight some best media practices around the Idaho ‘abortion trafficking’ case. In the Nation, Grace writes about Republican infighting, and in Stats & Studies, I flag new research about young women avoiding colleges in states with abortion bans. Finally, a fun shout out in our You Love to See It section.

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Abortion on the Ballot

Yesterday, I told you about a new poll that looked at how a Republican-crafted ballot summary might impact Ohio’s Issue 1, the proposed amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Ohio Northern University tested out the false and incendiary language that voters will see next week and put it up against the language of the amendment itself. Unsurprisingly, it showed that that voters were more likely to support Issue 1 when they saw the amendment without the bullshit summary.

There’s a lot of talk about the results of that poll today, from TIME to an analysis at local station WKBN. But it’s really this graph that demonstrates why conservative lawmakers fought so hard to include their language in the ballot summary:

Don’t despair, though! The Columbus Dispatch points out that even with the false language and negative framing, most voters still supported the pro-choice amendment. And all Ohio pro-choicers need is a majority to win.

So far, things are looking good: An analysis from the Ohio Capital Journal found that Democrats are leading the votes-by-mail.

Meanwhile, The Guardian has a vital piece reminding us what’s at stake if Republicans win in Virginia. As you know, the GOP there wants to pass a 15-week abortion ban, which they’re assuring voters is definitely not a ban. But for the people who actually need care, the language is beside the point. The publication spoke to a woman who originally booked an appointment in her home sate of North Carolina, but found out—after driving five hours to the clinic and spending $80 for gas—that she was just past the 12-week legal limit:

“My jaw dropped. We don’t have the luxury of wasting money like that, not in this time in our lives. So every penny counts. And to get that information—it was crushing.”

The day she had her appointment at Whole Woman’s Health in Virginia, The Guardian reports, there were at least two other patients from North Carolina, two from Georgia, and one from West Virginia. All of which is to say: if Virginia loses abortion access, it’s not just a loss for the people in Virginia.

And despite Republicans’ best attempts to claim that their 15-week ban is some sort of reasonable compromise, we know 15 weeks is just a starting point. As Whole Woman’s Health CEO Amy Hagstrom Miller said, “They start with a 15-week ban, and then they push to a six-week ban, and then they push to a total ban.”

Also in election news: A new survey found that abortion was the fifth-highest priority for Kentucky voters next week, where the issue has taken center stage in the gubernatorial campaign. And in Pennsylvania, where the state Supreme Court race has been very much about abortion rights, the two candidates gave an interview to NBC10 about the contentious battle.

For more info on what’s happening in states where abortion is on the ballot next week, check out yesterday’s explainer.

In the States

As promised, let’s get into some of the news from yesterday that we couldn’t fit into the newsletter (I can’t believe I ever thought I might struggle to find news to write about every day).

Abortion rights advocates in Nebraska have filed language for a proposed ballot measure to restore abortion rights in the state—an amendment they want on the 2024 ballot. The Nebraska Examiner reports that we don’t know what the language is yet (a state law allows it to be secret for 15 days while it’s under review), there’s already disagreement brewing among abortion rights advocates.

If you’re a regular reader, you know that there’s been conflict among pro-choicers about ballot measure language across the country—especially when it comes to standards around ‘viability’. A representative with the coalition behind the Nebraska measure—which includes Planned Parenthood North Central States and the ACLU of Nebraska—told the Examiner that they’ll share more information about the language next month, but that “decisions about pregnancy and abortion belong to Nebraskans, not the government.” Very much agreed!

Meanwhile, Nebraska Sen. Danielle Conrad—who is pro-choice—told reporters that unless the group’s polling shows that the measure would get 60% support, it’s an “unserious effort.”

“Amending the [Nebraska] Constitution and raising such an important yet complex issue is serious business, and without a thoughtful strategy in place upon launch, it could  be downright dangerous and could cause more harm than good by sparking more radical bans in the Legislature.”

She went onto say that the current 12-week ban “is most likely where many Nebraska voters and state senators are comfortable.” Hmm. Don’t love that at all. It’s interesting, because Conrad used to be the executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska and has been a vocal supporter of abortion rights. So this kind of preemptive criticism seems…odd.

I’ll keep you updated as I find out more.

The abortion rights advocates collecting signatures for a pro-choice measure in South Dakota are being threatened by state Attorney General Marty Jackley, who claims the activists are breaking the rules while gathering names. Jackley accuses Dakotans for Health of leaving petitions unattended and misleading the public. Rick Weiland, co-founder of the pro-choice group, says they’ve been provided no evidence of wrongdoing:

“Let me tell you what is actually going on here. We have hundreds of people, mostly young women circulating petitions and collecting signatures to restore reproductive rights in South Dakota. Then the “Decline to Sign” anti-choice, anti-democracy harassers literally follow our circulators around and call them baby killers and tell people not to sign.”

Weiland also said that “it isn’t rocket science” to understand that anti-abortion groups are just trying to disparate and discredit their campaign.

Also in ballot measure news, Arizona abortion rights advocates are collecting signatures for a pro-choice amendment they want on a ballot in 2024, and Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago tore into Florida Republicans and Attorney General Ashley Moody for trying to quash the state’s abortion rights ballot measure:

“Did Republicans really think women and their male allies would sit back and allow politicians to take over bodily rights, family decisions and healthcare choices — without pushing back?”

In Kansas, we saw a big pro-choice win this week when a judge has blocked the “Women’s Right to Know Act”—a package of anti-abortion laws. The Kansas Reflector reports that Judge Krishnan Christopher Jayaram called the Act “a thinly veiled effort to stigmatize the procedure and instill fear in patients that are contemplating an abortion.”

As we know, conservatives have long framed anti-abortion policies using feminist rhetoric—and “women’s right to know” legislation has been used in multiple states to mandate unnecessary ultrasounds and waiting periods, and has forced doctors to give patients inaccurate information about the risks of abortion. From Alice Wang, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights:

“Forcing medical providers to give patients government-scripted misinformation violates the state constitution and medical ethics. The court recognized that today and removed these paternalistic barriers that have restricted access to abortion for far too long.”

Finally, if you’re looking for a new podcast to listen to, consider “Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Evading the Texas Abortion Ban” from Texas Public Radio. Their latest episode is about the patients traveling from Texas to New Mexico to get care, and the one previous looked at reporters’ experiences traveling to Mexico to buy abortion medication.

Quick hits:

• Reproductive Freedom for All endorsed North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein in his run for governor;

• And a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bend, Oregon has seen a 35% increase in patients from Idaho (Related: the teen at the center of Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ case was brought to the Bend clinic).

Abortion Criminalization Coverage

I want to give a shout out to the Associated Press and The Cut for their coverage of the ‘abortion trafficking’ arrests in Idaho. Their reporting shows how traditional publications can make clear what cases like these are really about. Here’s the AP’s graph on the role of ‘abortion trafficking’, for example:

“Idaho's Republican-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Brad Little are seeking more ways to curb abortion as well. Recently, the state made it illegal to help minors get an abortion without their parents' consent, legislation aimed at preventing minors who don't have parental approval from getting abortions out of state. However, that law is being challenged in court, and prosecutors in the kidnapping case aren't relying on it.”

The reporter makes clear that while ‘abortion trafficking’ isn’t being charged directly, there’s a political reason for that! And here’s reporter Andrea González-Ramírez in The Cut, also on ‘abortion trafficking’:

“The measure makes it illegal for anyone to help a patient under 18 get an abortion, whether through taking medication or by having a procedure out-of-state, without their parents’ consent. Notably, prosecutors did not bring charges in this case under the statute, which Greer Donley, an abortion-law expert and associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, notes is currently being challenged in court. ‘I think the idea is that even if a judge temporarily enjoins that law, they still want to be able to move forward with the prosecution,’ Donley says.”

This is how you do it. You rely on experts over taking prosecutors’ word for it, and you provide context rather than stopping at the surface. One of the nice things about being a non-traditional, independent publication is that I can say things explicitly—but that’s a freedom not everyone has! It can be hard for mainstream outlets to thread the needle in stories like these; and I think these two pieces did a great job. (Oh, and NPR is calling the case Idaho’s “first ‘abortion trafficking’ arrest” so good for them too!)

In the Nation

There’s some intra-party drama over Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s block of military promotions and his ‘protest’ of the Pentagon’s abortion policy. While a group of Republican Senators pushes through dozens of senior military officials, circumventing Tuberville, others are trying to rile up support for the Alabama Senator from the anti-abortion movement. 

POLITICO reports that a Tuberville staffer contacted anti-abortion groups last week to rally support against any Republican Senators who might work with Democrats to fill those military positions. The email from Tuberville’s communications director Steven Stafford tells the groups that “we need to get very loud” against Republicans thinking about bypassing Tuberville’s block—and threaten them with primary challenges:

“In my opinion it is imperative for all of the groups to make clear, in some words, that any Republican who votes for this will be primaried. In my view, if enough mushy middle Republicans come out in opposition, then this is over. But they only need nine squishes. And they will get there if we don’t act.”

As POLITICO points out, it’s pretty rare for senators to suggest primaries against their own party members—and especially rare for staffers to suggest it. 

Conservative media is also getting in on the action, calling out Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America for not flexing their considerable political power in support of the Senator. In the meantime, the Senate confirmed three more senior military promotions, including the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And in Vanity Fair, veterans are also speaking out against Tuberville, pointing out that he’s derailed the careers of hundreds of personnel. Two of those veterans shared their abortion experiences, noting that additional hurdles for women in the military would just exacerbate an already difficult experience:

“Tommy Tuberville shouldn’t be allowed to hold up promotions, because he doesn’t think that the military should allow women to go and get abortions. That’s what it’s really all about. It’s about controlling women. It’s about controlling what women do. It’s about controlling their reproductive health.”

Quick hits:

• The Guardian looks at the Republican war on the word ‘ban’;

• New polling shows that most voters oppose Mike Johnson’s policy stances and other extreme GOP policies;

• There’s a mobile billboard is driving around D.C. messaging the new Speaker’s anti-abortion record;

• And in international news, abortion stigma is still rampant in Mexico, even as ending a pregnancy is decriminalized.

“Johnson has made it clear that, if given the chance, he would wholeheartedly approve of GOP bans on birth control like the morning after pill. Johnson has referred to it as an “abortifacient.” Not only is this medically incorrect, it's also a dangerous lie that Johnson can now spew into one of the biggest microphones in Washington, DC.”

-Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood, writing in Teen Vogue about just how dangerous newly-elected Speaker Mike Johnson is.

Stats & Studies

The infant mortality rate has gone up for the first time in 20 years. The New York Times reports that the rates are especially bad among Black and Native American mothers, who are three times more likely to die than their white and Hispanic counterparts. Their babies are twice as likely to die. These CDC numbers are a stark reminder of the maternal mortality crisis in the U.S.—and a harbinger of just how much worse things will get now that Roe has been overturned. I’m afraid of what that data is going to look like in a year or two.

A new study shows that Roe’s demise is impacting where women choose to go to college. Researchers from Portland State and the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine found that there’s been a decrease in female applicants to colleges in states with abortion bans. So far, there’s just been a 1% drop—but as Grace pointed out to me today, that’s thousands of students!

We already know from Gallup that 72% of unenrolled college-aged adults report that abortion rights laws are important to them when deciding where to attend college, so we’re like to see even bigger gaps in coming years. It’s also likely that these applicant drops are related to LGBTQ rights; states with abortion bans often are the same states that are attacking trans people and access to gender-affirming care.

You Love to See It

Congratulations to friend-of-the-newsletter Amelia Bonow of Shout Your Abortion, whose picture made it onto LifeNews alongside this hilariously epic headline: “Millennial Culture Loves Abortion Because It’s Obsessed With Sex and Shuns Marriage.” I’ve never been more jealous in my life!

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Today’s In the Nation section was written by AED researcher Grace Haley.