Pregnancy Can Be Lethal for DV Victims. So Why Are Their Abortions 'Elective'?

2.19.25

Click to skip ahead: Attacks on Abortion Pills delves into what happens now that RFK is officially leading HHS.

Legislation Watch has more on the Missouri bill that would create a registry of pregnant women.

In the States, a deep dive into the consequences of Iowa’s abortion ban, the rise of ‘equal protection’ bills, good news out of Maryland, and more.

In the Nation, Planned Parenthood responds to the NYT hit piece, and Beto O’Rourke’s tribute to Cecile Richards.

Criminalizing Care reminds us that Republicans are desperate to change the narrative on arresting providers.

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Attacks on Abortion Pills

Now that RFK Jr. is officially leading the Department of Health and Human Services, conservatives are sure to ramp up their attacks on abortion medication. In fact, the roadkill aficionado has already announced plans to “study” the safety of abortion pills—despite decades of evidence proving they’re safe.

Over 100 studies confirm the pills are safe and effective, with serious complications occurring in less than 1% of cases. That’s why conservatives rely on misleading data. Expect Kennedy—and the anti-abortion groups he’ll turn to for bogus research—to claim that women who take abortion pills end up in the ER more often than those who have procedural abortions. But as I’ve written before, going to the ER is not the same as needing treatment.

Some women visit the hospital after taking abortion pills because they’re surprised by the amount of bleeding—but the vast majority are sent home without intervention. And again, serious complications are exceedingly rare.

Still, conservative media and politicians will lie, insisting the medication is dangerous to justify their unpopular restrictions under the guise of “protecting” women.

Take Kennedy’s recent Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham, in which he claimed the Biden administration stopped doctors from reporting abortion pill complications. The truth? They simply removed an unnecessary, extra, abortion-specific reporting requirement. Doctors still report complications the same way they do for any other drug!

For more on RFK, abortion medication, and how HHS could restrict reproductive rights, read below:

RFK Jr. Accidentally Reveals Trump's Plan on Abortion

Legislation Watch

I wrote about Missouri House Bill 807 yesterday, but I had to say a few more things. The legislation, which would create a state-run registry of pregnant women deemed “at risk” for seeking out abortions, is a textbook example of how Republicans are working to empower anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs).

The legislation calls for the state to hire “independent contractors” with a “proven record of providing resources to expectant mothers and children” to run the registry and program. That’s obvious code for CPCs. Republicans routinely use legislation disguised as “helping women” to funnel money into these religious fake clinics.

But the clearest sign this bill is about weaponizing CPCs comes from the biggest question people have asked since its introduction: How would the state identify pregnant women ‘at risk’ of abortion? And who decides what that means? This is exactly what CPCs do.

Think about it: CPCs are notorious for collecting and mishandling client data. They photocopy women’s IDs, log their names in databases, and track personal details—marital status, period history, even whether they’re ‘abortion-minded.’ If Missouri wants people to help them identify women who might seek abortions, CPCs are the obvious choice.

And as I wrote yesterday, these centers are deeply connected to maternity homes and private evangelical adoption agencies, where they’ve been known to pressure vulnerable women into terminating their parental rights.

In short: This Missouri bill isn’t just about tracking pregnant women—it’s about giving CPCs the power of the state to target marginalized people.

In the States

Florida Democrats are introducing legislation to repeal the state’s 6-week abortion ban—even though they know it won’t pass. The goal is to spotlight Florida’s worsening reproductive health crisis, where most voters support abortion rights. (Amendment 4 fell just short of the 60% of votes required to pass in November.)

SB 280 and HB 741 would permit abortion until ‘viability,’ and pro-choice lawmakers say they hope the legislation will force a “conversation” with their Republican colleagues.

Since the 6-week ban took effect, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) reports a 28% drop in abortions. But that number doesn’t account for women self-managing their abortions—not to mention, the AHCA is hardly a reliable source. The agency has a long anti-abortion record, including spending millions on an ad campaign falsely claiming Amendment 4 was a threat to women’s safety.

As Rep. Anna Eskamani told the Florida Phoenix, “The reality is that the rate of abortion that you’re tracking through something like AHCA is just not going to capture the full picture here.”

Democrats also told the Tallahassee Democrat that they’re concerned that information on maternal mortality isn’t being released; the state’s maternal mortality review committee hasn’t published a review in years. Republican-led states have also been disbanding their committees or stacking them with anti-abortion activists.

Meanwhile, I really appreciated this piece from Little Village Magazine on just how dangerous Iowa’s abortion ban is—especially because it highlights something we don’t talk about enough: the connection between intimate partner violence and abortion.

The article mostly reports on how vague Iowa’s ban is—particularly around when it’s legal to perform a life-saving abortion. One provider told reporter Alice Cruse that one of the most common reasons she sees women seeking abortions is because they’re victims of intimate partner violence.

“Multiple academic studies have found that a state’s domestic violence rate is positively correlated with restricted access to abortion, and that the exacerbation of such violence surrounding a pregnancy may lead to an uptick in maternal mortality,” Cruse writes. But despite this, “such violence still does not qualify a patient for a special exception.”

In other words, even though pregnancy can be deadly for domestic violence victims, their abortions are still considered ‘elective.’

Something else noteworthy: Iowa Democrats expect Republicans to bring legislation pushing for a total ban. “I am a hundred percent sure there will be a bill,” says Rep. Elinor Levin.

Anti-abortion activists are not being shy about their lobbying efforts: Maggie DeWitte of the Pro-Life Coalition says they’re pushing for legislation that “would entail that life begins at the moment of fertilization and as such would be guaranteed full protection under our law.”

And we know what “full protection under our law” means: equal protection—punishing abortion patients as murderers. Multiple states—Idaho, Indiana, South Carolina, and Texas—are considering so-called equal protection bills that would classify having an abortion as a homicide. In all those states, homicide can carry the death penalty.

Oklahoma was also considering a bill to punish abortion patients as murderers; it failed to pass out of committee just today. And North Dakota’s bill failed in their state House last week.

That’s why it’s good to see these extremist bills getting more local media coverage. This week, outlets in Indiana and Oklahoma reported on the dangerous legislation, exposing Republicans’ intent to the public. They want to pass these laws quietly—coverage like this makes sure voters notice. (Side note: WTHR in Indiana also points out that under the proposed bill there, a minor who has an abortion could be sent to adult court as a murder defendant.)

In better news, Maryland’s legislative Women’s Caucus announced a list of priority bills this week to expand health care and childcare access. One of them, HB 930, would create a “Public Health Abortion Grant Program Fund” to expand abortion access in the state.

Quick hits:

• The Kansas City Star reports on the first abortion since the end of Missouri’s ban;

• Infant mortality has spiked in Arkansas since the state banned abortion;

• And Planned Parenthood of Illinois now offers abortion medication through their app, PPDirect.

In the Nation

I told you a little bit yesterday about the New York Times hit piece on Planned Parenthood—a piece chock full of cherry-picked information and anti-abortion rhetoric. I was glad to see that PPFA president Alexis McGill Johnson went on Morning Joe this week to discuss the “irresponsible piece of journalism.” You can watch below:

In Planned Parenthood-adjacent news, Beto O’Rourke has written a lovely piece at his Substack about Cecile Richards’ life:

“[N]o matter how hard-fought the win, no matter how just the cause, no victory is ever final. Whether it’s Roe V. Wade or the Voting Rights Act (gutted by the Court’s 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision) — or even the Constitution itself and the governing premise that we are all equal under the law — anything we achieve can be taken from us by those who oppose progress, freedom and justice. So we must continue to fight for as long as we still draw a breath, focused on winning those victories and securing them against the relentless attacks that always follow.

And that, of course, is exactly what Cecile did in her life. If that sounds exhausting, it is. But it sure beats the alternative.”

I said something similar tonight at the Brooklyn Public Library when asked how I keep doing this work without curling up into a ball and crying every day: You just do, because the alternative is unthinkable. Though to be real, sometimes a balled-up cry is necessary, too.

Criminalizing Care

I had to share this Christian Post headline about Louisiana’s attempt to arrest and extradite a New York abortion provider who (legally!) mailed abortion medication to a patient. Take a look:

There is a lot going on here—and every word is a clue to conservatives’ messaging tactics.

First, a refresher: Louisiana issued an arrest warrant and extradition order for Dr. Maggie Carpenter, claiming her teen patient was ‘coerced’ into an abortion by her mother. But it’s worth noting that the mother has been arrested on abortion charges, not on ‘coercion’ charges.

Republicans don’t care about the specifics—they just want to dodge public backlash. They know voters don’t support arresting doctors or mothers of teen patients over abortion, so they’re desperately reframing this case as being about ‘coercion’ instead of abortion rights. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill even tweeted, “The allegations in this case have nothing to do with reproductive health care, this is about coercion.”

And remember, this isn’t some last-minute spin—it’s a strategy they’ve been planning since 2023. Part of that strategy is ensuring that the media plays along; if Republicans say the word ‘coercion’ enough, outlets will be forced to publish something about it. And with conservative-friendly publications like the Christian Post, Republicans can pretty much dictate what that coverage looks like.

So instead of media coverage that highlights how Louisiana is trying to extradite a doctor and punish a mother for helping her daughter, Republicans get to push a narrative that makes it seem like New York is protecting someone who “drugged” a teenage girl.