I wrote a column today about how conservatives are already planning out their talking points for the first (reported) post-Roe death. It’s just a matter of time.
In the states…
An Ohio judge suspended the state’s abortion ban indefinitely. The block on the ban was set to expire on October 12th, so this decision means enforcement of the law has to stop entirely while the broader court case about the law is battled out.
In Arizona, an appellate court also blocked enforcement of the state’s trigger ban until the case against the 1864 law (yes, really) is settled. Meanwhile, the Phoenix city council is looking into making abortion ‘crimes’ as low of a priority as possible if/when the ban does start to be enforced.
Wow, I am really sick of hearing about Georgia Republican Hershel Walker. But apparently the Senate candidate pressured his ex for a second abortion. Not that it will mean a fucking thing to Republicans.
More than 700 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals in Tennessee have written an open letter to GOP lawmakers published in a full-page ad in The Tennessean yesterday, urging them to reconsider the state’s total ban. (Tennessee’s law makes abortion a felony punishable by 15 years in prison and has an ‘affirmative defense’ mandate for doctors who provide a life-saving abortion.) From the letter:
“This law puts the government in charge of deciding which healthcare options are available to patients, setting a dangerous precedent that violates the sacred physician-patient relationship. And because it includes zero exceptions—not for rape, incest, fetal anomaly, or even to protect the mother’s life—it forces health care providers to balance appropriate medical care with the risk of criminal prosecution.”
POLITICO notes that doctors in Pennsylvania are taking a more political role than ever post-Roe, with normally cautious groups like the Pennsylvania Medical Society warning about “the potential criminalization of physicians.” Lisa Goldstein, a pediatric psychiatrist in the state, told reporters, “This is the first time I’ve really seen the doctor community really activate like this. Doctors are usually very careful in their public life, but there’s none of that feeling right now. We’re out there saying what we believe.”
This seems like a bad time to host anti-contraception events, but that’s exactly what DePauw University in Indiana did last week when the brought in an author to talk about the supposed negative impact of hormonal birth control on women’s brains. Abortion access in Indiana is tenuous at best—the state passed a near-total abortion ban (currently blocked). And a new report from the Indiana Department of Health shows a 40% increase in maternal mortality over the course of a year. One recommendation from the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee was to increase access to contraception—so maybe let’s cool it on the anti-birth control chatter?
A CBS poll of the Arizona gubernatorial race shows Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs deadlocked. On Face the Nation yesterday, Hobbs called out Lake on abortion:
“Under a Kari Lake administration, we would have government-mandated forced births that risk women's lives. And her position is the one that's extreme. It's out of touch with where the majority of Arizonans are who support access to safe and legal abortion. And under her administration, women would not be safe.”
Kansas clinics are being inundated with out-of-state patients and they’re having a hard time keeping up: NPR looks at the influx of women at Planned Parenthood Great Plains, where the clinic can only see 10-15% of the people who need care. Emily Wales, executive director, says, “It keeps me up at night every night that there are patients whose calls are going answered, but their needs are unmet.”
Nearly half of the abortion clinics that have closed in the U.S. are in Texas; an op-ed at the Chicago Tribune points out that abortion access in Illinois could depend on the state Supreme Court elections; and California nurse practitioners will be allowed to provide first trimester abortions without a doctor’s supervision come January, which will be a huge help for clinics overwhelmed with out-of-state patients.
Michigan Public Radio reports on Proposal 3, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, and the questions it would still leave even if passed. And in Florida, the lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis—brought by a prosecutor fired for saying he wouldn’t pursue abortion cases—doesn’t seem to be going DeSantis’ way. What a shame.
The Boston Globe reports that despite abortion remaining legal in Massachusetts, the lack of providers in some areas of the state are causing serious accessibility issues.
Vermont voters will decide whether to protect abortion rights in the state constitution this November: Proposal 5 would add a 22nd Article to the constitution that “an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course…” (Full text here) A nurse in Vermont has written an op-ed in support of the proposal that debunks anti-choice myths about the Article that have been bouncing around the state.
In the nation…
Did you know that crisis pregnancy centers are getting state TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) dollars? In a piece about the country’s diaper crisis, Yahoo Finance points to a report from organization Equity Fwd that shows at least ten states have diverted TANF funds away from families in need, giving them instead to anti-abortion groups. And—like everything else crisis pregnancy centers say—the organizations’ claims that they’re providing women with diapers and baby clothes is a big old lie.
Equity Forward Director Ashley Underwood told Yahoo Finance, “Instead of providing direct material support to people, they're using this money for overhead costs to pay for staff salaries, to engage with SEO marketing professionals, to expand their outreach to promote themselves, and all sorts of things that are not providing services to people in need. They solely exist to deter people from getting abortion care.”
The rise of Catholic hospitals in the U.S. hasn’t just limited abortion access, The Washington Post reports, but the availability of birth control as well. Four of the country’s ten largest health systems are Catholic, and in Alaska, Iowa, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin, 40 percent or more of hospital beds are in Catholic medical centers.
The Washington Post also takes an in-depth look at women voters after Dobbs and whether or not their turnout could power the midterms. The San Diego Tribune gets into the My Body, My Data Act—digital privacy legislation proposed by California’s Rep. Sara Jacobs as a way to fight back against the surveillance of women in a post-Roe world. And I can’t think of a better (or worse) time for this piece from The Atlantic on whether it’s possible to hide a pregnancy in the era of zero online privacy.
First Lady Jill Biden spoke about helping a friend recover from an abortion at a political fundraiser this weekend and what it’s been like to see Roe overturned:
“Women will not let this country go backwards. We’ve fought too hard for too long. And we know that there is just too much on the line.”
And anti-abortion activists are big mad that they are being arrested for breaking the law. Apparently they’re claiming that the Biden administration has launched a ‘war’ on anti-choicers because some activists are facing federal charges after blocking access to a clinic. Cue the world’s tiniest violin.
Listen up…
I’ve written a lot about the conservative war on birth control—and how they’re using young people and social media to wage it. This podcast from Reveal is a great listen on the link between ‘wellness’, feminist rhetoric and the slick cultural campaign to get young people to turn away from contraception.
NPR has a short segment on Vice President Kamala Harris’ efforts on abortion rights that’s worth a listen.
And if you listen to anything today, let it be this. The New Yorker Radio Hour has an incredible show up right now: Stephania Taladrid has been following a network of women who are secretly distributing abortion pills (they call themselves “pill fairies”) across the United States. You can read the accompanying article here.
You love to see it…
Thousands of protesters marched for abortion rights in Washington, DC and cities across the country on Saturday—part of actions organized by the Women’s March.
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