A Year Without Adriana Smith

2.19.26

Click to skip ahead: Thank You, Kentucky Doctors; The Rise of ‘Equal Protection’ Extremism; Talking Point Alert: “Deterrence”; Adriana Smith Has Been Gone for One Year; In the States: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Alaska; Federal Court Says Massachusetts Can Warn People About CPCs; Legislation Watch

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Thank You, Kentucky Doctors

Before we get into the latest shitty thing Republicans have done, I just wanted to say thank you to the healthcare providers in Kentucky who showed up today to demand an end to the state’s abortion ban.

For the third year in a row, Kentucky Physicians for Reproductive Freedom went to the state Capitol to tell lawmakers exactly what the law has done to patients and providers—and how urgently they need them to step in.

In addition to the providers who showed up today, more than 600 medical professionals signed a letter urging lawmakers to do the right thing.

Watch the full press conference here, and consider leaving a comment to thank the incredible healthcare providers and activists who refuse to stop advocating for the women of Kentucky.

The Rise of ‘Equal Protection’ Extremism

Yesterday, Abortion, Every Day reported that a Tennessee gubernatorial candidate wants to see abortion patients face the death penalty—but he’s just one of a growing number of (male) politicians willing to say out loud that they want to punish women. And it’s an issue the Republican Party is going to have to deal with sooner or later.

In Illinois this week, for example, a Republican legislator who proposed ‘equal protection’ legislation resigned from his leadership position in the state Senate. Sen. Neil Anderson said in a letter that he’s “not willing to compromise or set aside what I believe to be true regarding the rights and protection of our unborn neighbors.”

Anderson’s bill would have punished patients as murderers, and in what I’m sure is a total coincidence, the Republican legislator also just refiled a bill to reinstate the death penalty for first-degree murder.

Here’s where things get really telling: Capital News Illinois reports that Anderson held a press conference about the legislation alongside Jeff Durbin—leader of the so-called ‘abolition’ group End Abortion Now. Durbin is a true fucking maniac who was once caught on leaked audio saying, “If you take the life of a human being…you forfeit your right to live.”

Anderson says he’s been working with Durbin and End Abortion Now for over a year. I’ve been warning about this for a while now: these self-proclaimed abortion abolitionists are lobbying legislators all over the country, even in pro-choice states like Illinois.

That said, not every Republican lawmaker is on board. When Iowa legislators introduced an equal protection bill this session, GOP leaders refused to move it forward. Here’s Iowa Rep. Steven Holt:

“House File 2316 is supported by a group called abortion abolitionists. They are very aggressive in their approach and are upset that I didn’t assign it to a subcommittee. I will not assign any legislation to a subcommittee that would throw women in jail, as this bill proposes.”

To be clear: this is not because Holt—or any other Republican who opposes these bills—are benevolent men who can see reason on abortion. They just don’t like that ‘abolitionists’ are saying the quiet part out loud. Women are already being arrested for their pregnancy outcomes, and abortion bans already punish women. But Republicans want plausible deniability, and ‘abolitionists’ remind voters what anti-abortion legislation is really about.

Talking Point Alert: “Deterrence”

As equal protection bills gain steam, it’s worth paying attention not only to what ‘abolitionists’ are saying—but how they’re saying it. Because while these guys are deeply immoral losers, they’re not stupid. They know if they’re going to sell the death penalty for abortion patients, they have to sound a lot less crazy than they are.

Enter “deterrence.” They love this term: the idea is that they don’t really want to punish women. Their laws would simply “deter” women from ending their pregnancies.

That Illinois Republican who proposed an equal protection bill, for example, said at his press conference that “nobody up here wants to put women in jail,” and “the important part of this bill is deterrence.” Bradley Pierce of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion said something similar at a recent Talking Points USA event:

“We want there to be the terror of the law, the threat of the law that prevents them from doing it in the first place—and deters them from doing it in the first place.”

And when Texas Rep. Brent Money introduced equal protection legislation last year, he said the bill would reduce abortions through “the deterrence factor.”

Let’s be serious, you can practically see these assholes get a hard-on every time they talk about hurting women—so we all know this has nothing to do with ‘deterrence’. But the more we know about how they’re trying to soften their extremism, the better.

Adriana Smith Has Been Gone for One Year

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been one year since the world lost Adriana Smith—the Georgia woman whose body was forcibly kept alive after suffering brain death because she was pregnant.

Adriana was only 9 weeks along, but the hospital refused to honor her family’s wishes because of Georgia’s abortion ban. Instead, they violated this woman’s body and devastated her family. Her mother, April Newkirk, said at the time, “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there.”

As you may remember, the nation’s biggest and most powerful anti-abortion groups remained silent about Adriana—even in the wake of massive national outrage.

It was months before the hospital ‘delivered’ Adriana’s son and finally let her body go. Now, a year after Adriana was declared braindead, Newkirk has erected billboards across Atlanta calling for “Justice for Adriana Smith.”

Newkirk says she wants people to remember her daughter, and for Georgia to do something about the law.

“I want my face to be seen, I want my voice to be heard, I want to advocate for my daughter, she was special to me.”

In the States: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Alaska

Want to know how important funding abortion is? The Cobalt Abortion Fund in Colorado spent $2.4 million last year helping thousands of people get care—an eye-popping number that reminds us just how much need has exploded post-Dobbs. (By comparison, the fund provided just over $200k to abortion seekers the year before Roe was overturned.)

Another incredible number? Nearly 40% of the people served by the fund were residents of Texas.

Colorado has become a safe haven for care—with a massive influx of out-of-state patients over the last few years. As you can imagine, the fund also reports that their spending has increased drastically. So if you’d like to support the group, you can do so here.

Speaking of pro-choice states looking to help: Connecticut lawmakers are moving to strengthen abortion protections, including bolstering shield laws. Members of the Reproductive Rights Caucus announced yesterday that they’ll spend this session pushing to protect providers and patient data. The legislators also want to strengthen the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA)—which mandates that hospitals provide life-saving and stabilizing care, including abortions. We love to see it!

Less terrific news today out of Florida, where the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has quietly scrubbed their website of a tool that helped users find abortion providers. The Orlando Weekly reports that the agency’s site usually has a “healthcare provider finder” with a drop-down menu of specialized providers, including abortion clinics. But as of this week, clinics are gone from that menu. Abortion providers have also been removed from a glossary of healthcare providers on the website.

We shouldn’t be surprised, of course. This is the agency that Gov. Ron DeSantis used to push out misinformation about abortion in an attempt to quash Amendment 4, the pro-choice ballot measure that was defeated in 2024 despite winning majority support.

Also in Florida: Planned Parenthood’s Lakeland clinic will permanently close. The last day for appointments will be March 6, the group shared. As you likely know, we’ve seen a steady spate of clinic closures since Republicans ‘defunded’ Planned Parenthood in their budget law.

Alaska anti-abortion activists and leaders are upset about legislation that would expand pharmacists’ ability to prescribe medication—saying the change would increase women’s ability to obtain abortion pills.

In an email alert from Alaska Right to Life, director Pat Martin warned that the legislation would expand access to abortion medication from two Planned Parenthood clinics “to virtually every city, town, and village that has a hospital, clinic, or pharmacy.” Sounds great to me!

Legislation like this is vital for folks who live in rural areas and may have easier access to a pharmacist than a physician. And let’s remember that abortion is legal in Alaska!

The Alaska Medical Board is also speaking out against the legislation, but it’s worth remembering that every member of that board was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. All of them male.

Quick hits:

• The Tennessee Supreme Court has declined to intervene in a suit challenging the state’s abortion ban, which means that trial will move forward;

• Republican candidates for Texas attorney general debated over abortion and other issues this week;

• Over in Maine, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins released a campaign launch video that features a virulently anti-abortion lawmaker;

• And Reproductive Freedom for All has endorsed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for reelection.

Federal Court Says Massachusetts Can Warn People About CPCs

Finally, a good outcome in one of these cases! Regular readers know that crisis pregnancy centers have been bringing lawsuits across the country—claiming that state regulations preventing them from lying to women violate their free speech rights. And they’ve been successful in way too many of these suits.

Not this week, though! A federal judge ruled that a Massachusetts public education campaign warning people against CPCs did not violate the groups’ religious or free speech rights.

Your Options Medical sued over the campaign in 2024, claiming that Democratic leaders were using state funds to “defame, threaten, and intimidate pro-life pregnancy resource centers.” In truth, the campaign just told people how to identify a crisis pregnancy center, and warned about the misinformation the centers are known to peddle.

And while U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin acknowledged that the language of the campaign was “scalding,” he ruled that the criticisms weren’t based on religious views, “but rather on the quality of their medical services and advertising practices.” Sorokin also noted that “simply pointing out the political and religious ties of PRCs as a factual matter does not amount to targeting PRCs for their political and religious speech.”

As I’ve written many times over, Republicans are making a big bet on crisis pregnancy centers: they’re expanding funding for the fake clinics, introducing legislation that would effectively outlaw regulating the groups, and are increasingly claiming that CPCs can “replace” the Planned Parenthood clinics being shuttered by GOP policies.

These so-called free speech suits are doing something similar: they want to make crisis pregnancy centers unregulated and untouchable, freeing them up to spread conservatives’ extremist agenda nationwide. (And a big part of that agenda is quietly and informally banning contraception.)

Given all that, it’s nice to have a win!

Legislation Watch

• Alabama Republicans are pushing legislation (SB 209) that would not only mandate abstinence-only education, but would make it illegal to teach kids how to obtain contraception. I’ll have more for you on this one soon because it is a doozy.

• A West Virginia bill (SB 805) would make abortion pill ‘reversal’ a covered expense under the state’s “Mothers and Babies Pregnancy Support Program.” Incredibly, the Republican sponsor calls the bill “pro-choice.” (I’m so tired, y’all.)

• The Mississippi House has passed legislation (HB 1613) which would make mailing abortion medication felony drug trafficking.

• Iowa Republicans are advancing a bill (SSB 3115) that would ban telehealth abortion pills and mandate providers share biased and inaccurate information about the supposed dangers of mifepristone.

• Kentucky Today and public radio station WUKY have more on the Kentucky bill (HB 646) that would make abortion pills a controlled substance and ban the “promotion” of the medication.

Coming Soon: in anticipation of next week’s hearing in the Louisiana mifepristone lawsuit, we’ll be taking you through some of the legal arguments and amicus briefs (which are wild). So keep an eye on your inbox!