Abortion, Every Day (3.20.24)

Anti-abortion groups propose their own 'pro-choice' ballot measure

Click to skip ahead: In Ballot Measure Updates, news from Arkansas and Nebraska (you won’t want to miss this one). In the States, an Arizona senator talks about her upcoming abortion. In the Nation, Democrats go all in on abortion for state legislative races. In 2024, Trump admits he’s considering a national ban. And in Stats & Studies, there were over 1m abortions in 2023 despite bans across the country.

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Ballot Measure Updates

Much to the annoyance of conservatives, whenever abortion rights is on the ballot, abortion rights wins. They’ve tried scare tactics, anti-trans talking points, and straight up attacks on democracy—but so far nothing has worked. Abortion rights is just too popular. And so anti-abortion groups figure if they can beat us, pretend to be us. Seriously.

Since last year, a Nebraska group called Protect Our Rights has been pushing a pro-choice amendment that would protect abortion rights in the state constitution until ‘viability’. But now a new group—with a similar sounding name, Protect Women and Children—is proposing a different amendment, one that would enshrine abortion rights up until the end of the first trimester.

Oh-so-coincidentally, Nebraska recently passed a 12-week abortion ban. That means this amendment—which just so happens to be supported by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Nebraska Right to Life, and the Nebraska Family Alliance—would enshrine an abortion ban into the state constitution. The group is calling their amendment “a better choice.”

In a press release, Karen Bowling of the Family Alliance said, “Now, instead of the abortion industry’s extreme proposal, which grants the abortionist sole authority to determine fetal viability and allows minors to obtain an abortion without parental notification, voters may have a second option on their ballot.” (I can’t bring myself to quote the press release from SBA Pro-Life America, but it’s even worse.)

Admittedly, it is a good idea. Conservatives know how popular abortion rights are, and so their best bet to get their way is to make people think as if they’re voting for abortion rights protections, rather than a ban. (It reminds me of the Republican legislators who started to frame their 12-week bans as “legislation to allow abortion up until 12 weeks.”)

More wild ballot measure news: The Arkansas Advocate reports that a new group formed in opposition to a pro-choice ballot measure in the state also happens to be the Arkansas governor’s campaign manager.

Chris Caldwell, who advises Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and is leading her 2026 re-election campaign, formed an organization called Stronger Arkansas that’s dedicated to “the disqualification and/or defeat” of three proposed amendments, including the Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024.

But wait, there’s more! Stronger Arkansas is just filled to the brim with folks connected to Sanders: the treasurer, Cathy Lanier, was the governor’s campaign finance director; and the group’s vice chair is the mother of Sanders’ deputy chief of staff.

Quick hits:

• KFF Health News has a piece on why Missouri’s ballot measure fight is becoming a national election issue;

• Anti-abortion activists marched in Connecticut today in opposition to a pro-choice ballot measure;

• And the Montana Free Press reports that the Montana Supreme Court ruled that Attorney General Austin Knudsen overstepped his authority when he tried to block a pro-choice ballot measure.

In the States

In Arizona, Sen. Eva Burch have a remarkable floor speech where she announced that she needs an abortion for a nonviable pregnancy:

“I don’t think people should have to justify their abortions. But I’m choosing to talk about why I made this decision because I want us to be able to have meaningful conversations about the reality of how the work that we do in this body impacts people in the real world.”  

Burch talked about how the state law forced her to have an invasive and medically unnecessary transvaginal ultrasound, and how she was mandated to listen to an “exhaustive list of disinformation.”

"I'm a perfect example of why this relationship should be between patients and providers," she said. Watch her full remarks below:

Also in Arizona: The New York Times has a piece today about the 1864 abortion ban that’s in front of the state Supreme Court, and how a decision upholding that total ban could benefit Democrats at the polls. It’s true, a total abortion ban would certainly drive voters, but I found this article a bit strange. Because despite the headline—“Democrats Could See Opportunity in an 1864 Abortion Ban”—no Democrats actually suggested such a thing.

Instead, it’s the NYT reporter pointing out that a negative ruling from Arizona’s Supreme Court could ‘help’ Democrats. And when Democrats say that such a decision would be horrific for the women of their state, the reporter frames it as a refusal to admit that they secretly hope the ban is reinstated, writing, “few in the state are willing to openly acknowledge the political calculus.”

Again, very odd. I understand needing an interesting frame for an article, but just reporting that abortion is on the chopping block in Arizona should be enough. Why make it sound as if those on the left are hopping for a ban?? I do!

Extra credit: Remember when an Arizona Supreme Court justice recused himself from the abortion case after an Abortion, Every Day report went viral?

Speaking of state Supreme Courts: Wyoming’s abortion bans are headed to the state’s highest court. (Yes, there are two of them: one total ban, and one ban that’s specific to abortion medication.) This week, Judge Melissa Owens, who has been overseeing the court battle, asked the state Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the bans violate the state constitution.

Now, that doesn’t mean the Court will agree to hear the case. But Wyoming Public Media reports that while the Justices have previously denied similar requests, this time the case is more developed. I’ll keep you updated as I find out more.

WUNC’s “Due South” podcast has an episode on what’s changed in North Carolina since an abortion ban went into effect:

Ohio’s Supreme Court race is primed to be all about abortion rights, The Washington Post reports, with Democrats making clear that justices will decide how to interpret the new abortion rights amendment voters passed in November. The truth is that Republicans have been giving them ready-made ads and talking points: because as soon as Issue 1 passed, GOP legislators were talking about how to override the will of the people. What better message to send to voters when they decide on the next justices?

Ohio Democrats are defending two seats and looking to gain one more, which would give them the majority on the Court. We’ve seen how abortion has been central to several state Supreme Court races recently—from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania—with campaigns spending record amounts of money.

Finally, this is why it’s so important that bullshit anti-abortion studies are debunked ASAP: The Kansas Reflector reports that one of the ‘experts’ who testified in support of an anti-abortion bill in Kansas is affiliated with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, “an out-of-state think tank whose retracted research is central to legal efforts to ban the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide.”

This is what we want: the ability for local publications to shine a light on the absolute bunk that is being proposed, and the fraudsters that Republicans rely on to lend their extremism scientific credibility.

Quick hits:

• A judge in Nevada has blocked the state from limiting Medicaid coverage for abortions, ruling that it’s a violation of equal rights protections;

• CNN on a rare competitive seat in Alabama and how abortion rights and IVF are playing a role;

• LAist with more on their series about free abortion medication on California college campuses (and how few students seem to know about it);

• And Minnesota is on track to mandate that health insurance providers cover abortion, IVF and gender-affirming care.

In the Nation

A new memo from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) outlines how abortion will play a central role in state legislative races:

“[S]tates have never been more important to shaping policy or our future. State legislatures are now the arbiters of reproductive freedom, shaping the reality facing women and their access to care.”

The group also laid out how it is going to protect and expand their control in the Michigan Minnesota, and Pennsylvania Houses, and break GOP legislative control in Arizona and New Hampshire. DLCC President Heather Williams says, “This is the most important level of the ballot that is shaping the future of abortion access across the country.”

Mother Jones has a terrific piece this week debunking anti-abortion groups’ claims that telehealth abortion enables domestic abusers. This has been conservatives’ latest attempt to restrict abortion medication, which they know accounts for the majority of abortions. Per usual, they’re trying to make it seem as if they’re doing all of this in protection of women. (Which is just so offensive on so many levels.)

Anti-choice groups argue, for example, that telehealth restricts the ability of doctors and health care providers to screen for coercion and abuse. But as professor Diana Greene Foster tells Mother Jones, it’s actually rare for people to be coerced into abortion; what’s much more likely is that a victim will be pushed into pregnancy. Make sure to read the whole thing, because this is definitely something we’re going to see come up more and more as mifepristone access heads to the Supreme Court.

Quick hits:

• I love this piece from States Newsroom reporter Sofia Resnick on abortion doulas;

• Salon on the anti-abortion claim that abortion medication drives people to the emergency room;

• Cosmopolitan has an interview with Jen Klein, director of the first-ever White House Gender Policy Council, on what the Biden administration is doing on abortion rights;

• And The Washington Post has a short podcast episode on “what to expect when you’re expecting an abortion pill argument.”

2024

Donald Trump is back at his wink-wink-nudge-nudge bullshit on a national abortion ban. In a radio interview yesterday, the disgraced former president said that he’s considering coming out in support of a 15-week ban:

“The number of weeks now, people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that, and it’ll come out to something that’s very reasonable. But people are really—even hard-liners are agreeing—seems to be 15 weeks, seems to be a number that people are agreeing at.”

In addition to using anti-choice BINGO word ‘reasonable’, Trump said ‘agreeing’ three times—which aligns with Republicans’ focus on the idea of ‘consensus.’ They know voters hate these bans, so they need to present their ban as something Americans largely can get behind.

We know, however, that 15-week bans are as unpopular as 6-week bans—and that Americans reject the notion that 15-week bans are ‘reasonable compromises’ by a more than 2-to-1 margin. What’s more, once voters realize that this so-called ‘compromise’ bill doesn’t have exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities, those numbers will look even worse for the GOP.

As you know, Trump has been loathe to commit to a national ban, which has pissed off anti-abortion groups and activists. He’s also looking for a vice presidential pick that doesn’t come with too much anti-abortion baggage. But at the end of the day, this is the guy who destroyed Roe. Every woman who comes forward with a nightmare story? That’s on him. And we can’t let voters forget it.

Meanwhile, a columnist at the National Catholic Reporter advises President Biden to stop talking about abortion so much, claiming that Democrats are “overplaying their hand” when it comes to the issue. The problem, he says, is that Democrats don’t understand what Americans really want, and that the media that keeps covering abortion “is afflicted with privileged, highly educated people who are complicit in erasing the humanity of the unborn child.” (Is this play about us??)

It’s funny how many Republicans keep telling Democrats that talking about abortion is a terrible idea—do they really think we believe them?

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Did you miss my report earlier today? Read it below!

The GOP's C-Section Plan

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Stats & Studies

New research from the Guttmacher Institute shows that despite abortion bans across the country, the number of abortions increased in 2023. In fact, for the first time since 2012, there were more than 1 million abortions in the U.S. Medication abortions accounted for over 640,000 of those abortions, making up about 63% of them. (You can see why anti-abortion groups are so keen on restricting mifepristone.)

Despite the increase, Guttmacher researchers point out that their estimate is “almost certainly an undercount,” because they only account for abortions obtained in healthcare facilities like clinics and via telehealth. In other words, the report doesn’t contain information about abortions obtained outside of the formal healthcare system, like abortion medication that’s been mailed to anti-choice states.

As you might expect, the researchers report that the country “continues to face a fractured abortion landscape, with access varying widely based on where people live and what resources they have.” And so we saw drastic reductions in abortions in states with bans, but increases in pro-choice states. Naturally, the states that saw the largest increases were those that bordered anti-choice states—like Illinois and New Mexico.

Vox has a good piece about the research, and why the number of abortions have increased—including improved access in pro-choice states with the expansion of telehealth and broader Medicaid coverage.