Content warning: This newsletter contains descriptions of fetal abnormalities and pregnancy loss
In the states…
In Texas, a woman shared her story with Austin Public Radio of finding out during her pregnancy that one of her twins had failed to properly develop a brain. Because there was a risk to her health—and to the healthy fetus—this woman needed a selective reduction. But her doctor wasn’t allowed to even talk to her about it: “I'm handcuffed; I am basically limited on what options I can talk to her about. Withholding that information seems to be completely unethical.” The horror stories keep on coming.
This really pissed me off: In Louisiana, where abortion is banned with no exceptions for rape and incest, Republicans have come under fire because of their vague legislation—you may remember the woman who was denied an abortion despite her fetus missing part of its head and skull. Louisiana Right to Life thinks everything is fine and dandy. Ben Clapper, a spokesperson for the organization (who looks like a sentient Q-Tip), told a local news station that “the dust just needs time to settle.” I am honestly reeling with rage over this.
Meanwhile, doctors are being ignored by the Louisiana Department of Health. The department has been refusing to answer physicians’ questions about the state’s abortion ban, which makes it all the more difficult for doctors to know what kind of care they can provide without breaking the law. Instead, the department is telling doctors they should ask the Attorney General directly. Which seems…inconvenient??
In Pennsylvania, Carrie Lewis DelRosso—the Republican running for lieutenant governor—got caught on tape at a meet-and-greet bashing pro-choice women. Doug Mastriano’s running mate said she had “many women calling my office screaming. They’re emotional voters.” DelRosso went on to say, “I don’t think they’re gonna vote...They yell and scream, and they forget to go to the polls.” Well, I hope this serves as their reminder to then.
Wisconsin medical schools are struggling with how best to train OBGYNs given their abortion ban—right now the plan to send doctors to Illinois for training, but there are concerns about their ability to recruit physicians in the future.
Some real wackiness in Michigan: Kristina Karamo, the Republican candidate for secretary of state, said in 2020 that abortion is “child sacrifice,” and that—hold onto your hats—that abortion is a “religious ritual” for elite pro-choicers, who then go onto “sell the organs.” (I’m so fucking tired you guys.)
Also in the state, The Guardian spoke with Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin about the midterms, and how she sees how angry women voters are about abortion: “People tell me some of the most intimate things—things I could barely tell my close friends. They just want me to hear it and say that I’m going to do something about it.”
Voters are similarly furious about abortion in Indiana, even Republican ones. Democratic House candidate Joey Mayer told the Associated Press, “Many people that I have met through door-knocking that identify as a Libertarian or a lifelong Republican have said, ‘I’m done, I’m done. This is ridiculous overreach.’”
Fifty-five year old Karen Roper in Kentucky says something similar: “This issue is really beyond a candidate and it’s beyond a political party. I felt like this was more important than even any candidate I might care about.”
The second woman to accuse Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker of driving her to an abortion gave an interview on Good Morning America. She says, “I’ve kept this to myself for 30 years. I protected him. And I wanted this to remain private, for obvious reasons.” Mother Jones also has an interesting piece on Walker, and the connection between the allegations of pressuring women to have abortions and domestic abuse (which he has also been accused of.) Speaking of Walker, this made me ill:
Some good news out of North Dakota: A judge ruled Monday that a block on the state abortion ban will remain, noting that the Red River clinic's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law has a “substantial probability” of succeeding.
Signe Espinoza, the executive director of Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania, has written an op-ed about the links between abortion and the economy:
“Separating abortion from economics as driving factors in this election is naïve, and insulting to the women who know all too well the financial cost of interfering with their reproductive health care. Dismissing access to abortion a ‘social issue’ or a ‘moral issue’ is an affront to hundred financial decisions that are made throughout pregnancy – let alone the thousands of financial decisions in raising a child.”
Wyoming Public Media has a piece on Just the Pill, the mobile clinic providing medication abortion around Colorado’s border. And NPR looks at Planned Parenthood’s first mobile clinics in Missouri. Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the organization’s chief medical officer there, says the RVs are “for us, a demonstration of an act of defiance.” She says, “We're here, and we're going to be here, and we're going to continue to show up for people who need us.”
Jackson County, Missouri is establishing a new fund to help women travel out-of-state for abortions. One million dollars will be set aside for those who need transportation, lodging or childcare—the only caveat is that the money can’t used for abortions themselves.
In Virginia, Republican Sen. Amanda Chase announced that she plans to introduce a bill to ban abortions in the next General Assembly session. The legislation would define personhood as beginning at the “moment of fertilization,” and doesn’t mention any rape, incest or health exceptions. (Gov. Glenn Youngkin has said in the past that he would support a 15-week ban.)
Nebraska has been a safe haven for abortion, but Vanity Fair looks at how the midterms could change that; and in Ohio, doctors try to get Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to offer some clarity on his abortion position.
Some good news out of the states: City officials in New York have launched an 'Abortion Access Hub' phone line to help those seeking abortion care—the hotline will connect people with licensed health care providers, with callers remaining anonymous. And in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker has pledged to stop forcing people in prison who need abortions to pay for the wages of the correctional officer who need to bring them to their medical appointment. Sort of unbelievable that this happened in the first place, but I’ll take my wins where I can get them.
In the nation…
The federal government has launched its first investigation into a woman being denied an abortion despite a medical emergency—the case involves the Missouri hospital that refused Mylissa Farmer care. What’s difficult is that the real problem is Republican abortion bans that are making it impossible for doctors to know what they can do without risking jail time. A lawyer at the Center for Reproductive Rights says abortion bans “create an extreme deterrent to providing care in medical emergencies, given the risk of providers facing prosecution and losing their livelihood.”
New post-Roe research shows that the travel time American women need to get abortions increased significantly. A third of U.S. women of reproductive age live more than an hour from an abortion clinic—and the average travel time to get an abortion more than tripled.
The organization Aid Access, which provides medication abortion to those who live in areas where abortion is banned, reports that orders for the pills have increased in anti-abortion states. Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, who runs the nonprofit, along with other researchers, wrote about the increase in orders in The Journal of the American Medical Association. But here’s something irritating: POLITICO wrote about this increase in orders with the headline, “State abortion bans prove easy to evade.” Easy? Really? This kind of irresponsible journalism is exhausting.
The National Partnership for Women & Families and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice have found that Latinas are the largest group of women of color impacted by abortion bans. Their report shows that nearly 6.5 million Latinas live in states that have banned abortion or are likely to do so.
At the Scientific American, OBGYN Biftu Mengesha writes about the connection between abortion bans and white supremacy: “As people of color will now be forced to give birth, they will also be forced to experience an increased risk of dying from pregnancy.”
I told you yesterday how the FDA said they wanted doctors to stop offering advance provision of abortion medication—despite the medical community agreeing that it’s safe and smart, esp in a post-Roe world. Well, OBGYNs are pissed off about it, rightfully so. President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health, Dr. Jamila Perritt, says, “These unnecessary restrictions and groundless concerns regarding the use of mifepristone and access that is needed amidst the continued attacks on our communities creates greater barriers to care and harm.”
A new poll shows that 6 in 10 people are more motivated to vote when considering the prospect of a potential national abortion ban. I should fucking hope so.
And a new survey shows that abortions rights are impacting where med students will choose to study. Almost half of the respondents said the ruling would likely affect their educational path, with 26% saying it probably will and 21% saying it definitely will. One respondent said they “refuse to apply to any medical school in states where women don’t have rights to their bodies.”
PopSugar has a piece on the stigma around abortion in Latino communities; the Center for American Progress reports on maternal mortality and how abortion bans will quite literally kill women; The Washington Post looks at Democrats’ spending on abortion as an issue in gubernatorial races; and The Nation looks at a trend I’ve written about here, anti-abortion activists targeting clinics in pro-choice states.
I’ll leave you with a must-read at Slate from Christina Cauterucci, who writes about what’s at stake in the midterms: “Republicans have a newfound permission to seize authority over our most intimate bodily functions. Every election for the foreseeable future will determine what they do with it.”
You love to see it…
There’s a new public art initiative that is putting pro-choice billboards across fourteen cities in twelve states where abortion is banned or restricted. The project, founded by artist Michele Pred, features work from ten different artists who were chosen from hundreds of submissions. Love this so much.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Abortion, Every Day to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
