Abortion, Every Day (10.3.23)

Conservatives are defining 'late' abortion as anything after 12 weeks

Skip ahead in the newsletter: In the States we’re talking about the latest with Florida’s pro-choice ballot measure and more. In the Nation, more on PEPFAR funding and a new report on Latinas living in anti-choice states. In Stats & Studies, the ACLU has a study on students, abortion, and school surveillance technology. I flag how conservatives are trying to change the definition of ‘late’ abortion in Anti-Choice Strategy, and give us a little bit of good news in You Love to See It.

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In the States

For nearly a year, I’ve been writing about the way that Republicans are trying to do away with the word ‘ban’—first by replacing it with ‘consensus’ and ‘standard’, then by arguing that it’s inaccurate and reporters who use it are “biased.” That’s how afraid they are of their own legislation. Right on cue, check out this absolutely unbelievable ad from Virginia Sen. Siobhan Dunnavan, who supports Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal for a 15-week ban:

They are literally saying “it’s not a ban!” That’s how afraid they are of their own legislation. It’s a sign of weakness and desperation, of course—but it’s also dangerous. The more Republicans push this idea that they don’t support ‘bans’, the more pressure we’re going to see on others not to use the term, as well. (As I mentioned yesterday, for example, I’m concerned that some reporters will use different language just to avoid the trouble.)

Back to Virginia: It’s clear why Republicans there are lying about their abortion legislation. A new poll shows that voters in the state have abortion very much top-of-mind ahead of the election. The University of Mary Washington survey found that most voters in Virginia say Roe being overturned will play a major factor in who they vote for, and that 57% of voters believe that abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances.

In Florida, pro-choice activists are still hard at work on a pro-choice ballot measure to restore abortion rights in the state. Floridians Protecting Freedom has collected enough signatures for a state Supreme Court review, where the Court will have to approve the measure’s language before it can head to voters. But there’s some concern that the Ron DeSantis-stacked Court could quash the initiative altogether.

University of Florida law professor Jonathan Marshfield told the Tallahassee Democrat that “because the state Supreme Court selection process is so heavily tied to the governor’s office, we have genuine reason to be suspicious about the extent to which the court is going to push back on [initiatives counter to the governor’s agenda].”

And the ACLU of Florida has criticized Florida’s Supreme Court for striking down other proposed amendments using “inconsistent” decisions and “inappropriate judicial discretion.” In fact, in the last five years, the Tallahassee Democrat reports, the Court has struck down four out of nine citizen initiatives.

From Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried:

“You have a very gerrymandered Legislature that is not reflective of the people in our state. You have a governor who is running for president who cares more about his political career than the people he’s governing for. And a stacking of courts that is going to back up these principles. Where do the people come in?”

We know that Republicans in other states have pulled out every sketchy move in the book to stop voters from having a say on abortion rights, so nothing surprises me anymore. But I’ll be watching this one closely.

NBC News has more on the fight I told you about last week between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Yelp. Essentially, they’re suing each other over Yelp’s labeling of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers as places that “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite.” Which is absolutely true! But Paxton claims the company is misleading consumers, and wants an injunction to prevent Yelp from including the warning—with civil penalties of $10,000 per violation. In response, Yelp’s lawsuit argues that Paxton is seeking to punish them for publishing accurate statements “intended to enable Yelp users to make informed choices.”

Something to note: In their coverage, NBC reports that “15% of crisis pregnancy centers’ combined staff and volunteer workers were licensed medical professionals,” but that’s a statistic from the anti-choice Charlotte Lozier Institute. What’s important to remember is that anti-abortion centers will often get doctors or nurses to sign on as a “medical director” (or some other position) in order say that they have licensed medical staff—but that person will show up maybe once a month to say hi. So, even 15% is likely an overblown number.

Meanwhile, Wyoming Republicans are still trying to keep abortion rights experts from testifying in the challenge to the state’s abortion ban. In a recent legal filing, the plaintiffs defended their experts, and explained why their testimony was necessary to show the unconstitutionality of the state ban. I’m just gobsmacked that this is where we are. And remember, Wyoming Republicans also were refusing to answer questions in this case about the details of their ban because it would be too “burdensome” to do so. They will do anything to keep abortion banned.

In better news, Colorado abortion rights advocates are moving ahead with their pro-choice ballot measure. Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt, told The Denver Post, “We know so many things are going on, but I will tell you that the state of access to reproductive health care across the country really remains a crisis.” As a reminder, the measure would end the state’s ban on public funds for abortion care, and enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution—an added protective measure despite Colorado being a pro-choice state.

While abortion rights groups push forward with their initiative, anti-abortion organizations in the state are also looking to get a ballot measure in front of voters—an amendment that would define a fertilized egg as a human being. (They have tried this before in Colorado and have failed every time.)

A coalition of health care workers in Indiana—the Good Trouble Coalition—has filed a brief supporting the challenge against a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. And while the ban is horrific enough on its own, I wanted to flag something that a board member of this group said about its broader impact on young people. Dr. Mary Norine Walsh says that the law prohibiting puberty blockers could also be interpreted to be a ban on hormonal birth control for anyone under 18 years old. This is something I’ve written about previously: Anyone who thinks that a law banning hormones for trans teens won’t lead to a ban on contraception is fooling themselves.

Also in Indiana: You know I write often about how abortion ban exceptions aren’t real. These fake exemptions, which we know are impossible to obtain, are just PR tools for Republicans who want to seem more ‘moderate’ on abortion. So I was glad to see this piece today from Katie Blair from the ACLU of Indiana, who points out that even though Indiana’s abortion ban has exceptions—in practice, the law is a total ban.

Meanwhile, another Republican is trying to run from their anti-choice extremism. In Nevada, U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown has been sidestepping questions on abortion, pivoting instead to adoption and prenatal care. He’s also been pulling what we’ve seen so many times before from other candidates: claiming that it doesn't matter what he thinks because abortion is legal in the state. “Nevada law is not changing,” Brown told a reporter. (That’s what they told us about Roe, too!) Most recently, Brown attended Nevada Right to Life’s annual gala, but did so quietly—not publicizing his appearance not answering questions from a Nevada Current reporter on his attendance.

This is cool: Yesterday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell announced the creation of a “Reproductive Justice Unit” in her office, and named Sapna Khatri as executive director. Here’s Khatri explaining what her unit will do in the state:

“We must work to tackle the harmful practices of crisis pregnancy center. We must work to protect access to abortion care and gender-affirming care. We must work to critically examine the growth of technology, and enact protections for our data privacy and security. And we must champion policies that implement vital tools, like comprehensive sex education in schools across the Commonwealth.” 

Love it.

Finally, as Ohio voters inch closer to deciding on a pro-choice ballot measure, a rabbi in the state urges voters to support Issue 1, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution: “Abortion access is more than procedures, statistics and legislation: It is care. Show you care at the polls and beyond.”

Quick hits:

• Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke voted to restrict abortion medication nationwide, after saying just last year that the decision should be up to the states;

• Reckon on why Ohio’s Supreme Court case on the state’s 6-week abortion ban “is so important for BIPOC Midwesterners”;

• ProPublica on the connection between Idaho’s abortion ban and the state’s decision to disband it’s committee on maternal mortality;

• Crain’s Detroit Business with a possible update on the Michigan Democrat holding up the Reproductive Health Act;

• And Hey Jane is expanding into Washington, DC.

In the Nation

The fight over PEPFAR continues on, with Republicans endangering the AIDS funding program over abortion rights—they don’t want any money going to groups that even talk about abortion. Funding for PEPFAR wasn’t included in the stopgap funding bill signed by Biden over the weekend, but a State Department spokesperson said that they have enough funding to continue to providing care at least for a little while. A reminder that the PEPFAR provided care to over 10 million people with HIV worldwide in 2022 alone. I don’t know how anyone can believe Republicans ‘culture of life’ bullshit when they read stories like this.

I told you last week that Ron DeSantis had finally agreed to support a national 15-week abortion, after dancing around the issue for months. Today, the Associated Press reports the same, noting that the Florida governor’s campaign is trying to make it out as if his support for a federal ban is nothing new. Remember, DeSantis is now doubling down on his anti-abortion extremism in an attempt to distinguish himself from Donald Trump. Whether or not the strategy will be successful remains to be seen.

A new report from the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice and the National Partnership for Women & Families found that 43% of Latinas of reproductive age—nearly 6.7 million people—live in states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion. And NBC News points out that that’s an increase of 200,000 more Latinas than the organization found were in anti-choice states last year.

Candace Gibson, director of government relations at the NLIRJ, says that the report also shows the connection between reproductive and economic justice:

“We can’t have one without the other. Right now, families, and in particular Latinx families, are just being hit on every front, when it comes to that nexus of reproductive and economic justice.”

Quick hits:

• Jezebel has more on Rep. Nancy Mace’s “insufferable” interview at The View;

• STAT News on how doctors are navigating politics around abortion, LGBTQ issues and more as conservatives ramp up hatred towards medical professionals;

• And The New Yorker investigates Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal group behind Roe’s demise and so much more.

Stats & Studies

A new report from the ACLU found that American students are concerned that the surveillance technology used by their schools could identify students who are looking for reproductive health care, like abortion or birth control.

Increasingly, schools are relying on surveillance technology—like social media monitoring software, online monitoring, and monitoring of student communications. The ACLU reports that the industry “has grown into a $3.1 billion a year economic juggernaut with a projected 8% annual growth rate,” and depends on using scare tactics around school shootings and self-harm to get schools to adopt their technology. I had no idea it was this big; it’s terrifying.

And students notice. The ACLU reports that 21% of students report worrying that the technology “could be used to identify students seeking information about abortion or contraception. reproductive health care (such as contraception or abortion care).” Which makes sense! The companies who put out this kind of software are also set up to send information to administrators, parents, and even law enforcement.

Bloomberg points out that last year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats asked some of the biggest companies in this sector whether or not their tools flagged search terms around reproductive health, like ‘abortion.’ (And asked them to promise not to do so.)

Anti-Choice Strategy: Changing what ‘late term’ means

You all know that a huge part of Republicans’ messaging strategy on abortion is focusing on abortion later in pregnancy: They’re constantly talking about ‘abortion up until birth’ because they’re desperate to paint Democrats as the real extremists (even as raped children and cancer patients are denied care because of their laws). But the conservative obsession with so called “late” abortion later goes beyond finding a successful talking point.

Something I’m seeing come up again and again recently is the strategic redefinition of what “late” abortion means. I mentioned this back in May when I noticed an op-ed from the president of March for Life Action, Jeanne Mancini, characterize care after weeks as “dangerous and extreme late-term abortions.” Now, with Republicans trying to push 15-week bans—both federally and in states—the anti-abortion movement is very slickly trying to define ‘late’ abortions as anything after that point in pregnancy.

Yesterday, the Charlotte Lozier Institute—the ‘research’ arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America—put out a paper arguing for a national 15 week ban by calling it a “Federal Limit on Late Abortion.” The piece is written by Ingrid Skop, the extremist doctor that anti-choice groups trot out when they need (false) medical justifications for their bans. And what’s telling is that Skop uses a constantly shifting definition of “late” abortion.

The framework of the paper, for example, is that anything after 15 weeks of pregnancy is a “late abortion.” But she also uses several examples that characterize anything after the first trimester (12 weeks) as a “late” abortion. There’s even a section on “extremely late” abortion where Skop writes about abortions at 20 weeks, 24 weeks and 28 weeks.

Because ‘late abortion’ is not a real medical term, Skop—and the anti-abortion movement more broadly—define it however they way. Indeed, in a footnote, Skop admits that that there is “no standard medical definition” for “late abortion.” She writes, “this discussion will consider ‘late abortions’ to be those performed after the first trimester and ‘extremely late abortions’ to be those performed after viability (late second trimester and third trimester).”

So there you have it. Conservatives war on language, and constant attempts to redefine and invent words, is getting even more dangerous. (At this point, I think I may have to start a glossary of fake anti-abortion terms because there are so many.)

You Love to See It

Remember the organization that put up a billboard in Nebraska telling people that women are going to jail for abortion in the state? Well, now that Free & Just’s ad space on the ground was so successful, they’re taking to the air. The Nebraska Examiner reports that the group is flying their message across the state:

More of this, please!

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Correction: Yesterday, I wrote that the Supreme Court had agreed to hear the mifepristone case—that was incorrect. They’re expected to hear the case, but haven’t announced as much yet. Huge apologies for the error—I was doing too much and misread an article. Sigh.