In the states…
As Kentucky voters gear up to decide on an abortion-related ballot measure, Tamarra Wieder, director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, seems hopeful. Wieder told The Intercept that at an annual political event for state residents, a long line of people—many of whom were Republicans—formed at Protect Kentucky Access’ table to find out more and volunteer: “I mean, they were crossing over political boundaries to have conversations, to share their stories, to say why they’re afraid for their daughters, themselves. Many shared pre-Roe abortion stories of friends that they have lost.” Wieder says she thinks anti-choice activists in the state are nervous about polling, and are “starting to realize they went too far.”
Anti-abortion activists in Michigan have also been worried about polls showing overwhelming support for reproductive rights. So in the lead-up to to the vote on a ballot measure about whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, Republicans have pushed out (false) anti-trans messages claiming that the measure would allow minors to have gender affirming surgeries without parental consent.
Meanwhile, here’s an actual consequence related to the Michigan election: If an abortion ban passes, the maternal death rate in the state is expected to increase by 24%. (If abortion is banned nationwide, the overall number of maternal deaths is expected to also rise by 24%—but for Black women, a federal ban would cause a 39% increase.)
Also in Michigan: A judge allowed a school in Ann Arbor to send out an anti-abortion message using the public-address system. The Republican club at Skyline High School was allowed to encourage students to “protect the health of women and children” and vote against the state’s abortion-rights ballot measure.
In Ohio, three Republican judges up for election to the state Supreme Court filled out candidate surveys for an anti-abortion group stating that they think there is no constitutional right to abortion. I’ve mentioned this story before, but given the stakes it’s worth repeating. And as ethics and bias lawyer Dr. Tracy Pearson put it, their responses demonstrate “that you are not upholding the integrity of the legal system and administering the courts in a fair and impartial way.” But wait, it gets worse: The judges, who would hold the future of Ohio’s abortion rights in their hands, also attended a rally where Donald Trump claimed the election was stolen; and one of the judges, Pat DeWine, liked a tweet supporting a dangerous conspiracy theory about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
Columnist Sheritha Jones at the Omaha World-Herald notes the dire consequences that abortion bans have for Black women in Nebraska:
“Justices and lawmakers who supported the ruling this summer have the privilege of wealth and class that will make it unlikely they’ll ever have to feel the effect of these laws—but Black women will.”
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has been pushing a 15-week abortion ban since the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe, painting it as a “compromise” bill. Republicans in the state have been heartened by an October poll showing that a slim majority of voters, 51%, say they would support a 15-week bill that had exceptions for rape, incest, health and life. But here’s the thing: That same poll shows that 67% of voters say they want abortion to be legal in all or most cases. So Democrats need to finally get on messaging that makes clear exceptions are not truly accessible.
FiveThirtyEight writes that control of the Senate could come down to how Nevada voters feel about abortion. The good news is that folks there overwhelmingly support abortions—Nevadans are some of the most pro-choice people in the country. But Republicans have launched misinformation campaigns to convince voters that abortion rights are safe in the state, no matter who is elected—and we don’t know just how effective those messages have been.
Since Roe was overturned, pro-choice states have been inundated with out-of-state patients seeking abortions. Axios reports that the states with the largest increases in abortion care were North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado, and Illinois.
Speaking of Illinois, Planned Parenthood is just about to launch its first mobile clinic in the state, with an aim to serve patients in neighboring anti-abortion states and lighten their waiting and travel times. The clinic will offer medication abortion to start and expand to surgical abortion in the near future.
In Indiana, Eli Lilly employees are asking to be transferred in response to the state’s abortion ban. According to chief executive David Ricks, even though the ban has been temporarily blocked, some staff are still asking to relocate.
South Dakota abortion rights activists are already planning for 2024, working on petitions to get abortion rights on the ballot. An organizer with Dakotans For Health says, “We think this is a decision that the people should decide, not the politicians, not through trigger laws. Give them a vote.”
If you need some hope for the future, consider these teenage activists in Minnesota—who despite being too young to vote, are organizing their eligible friends to get to the polls.
This really stinks: A crisis pregnancy center used a shell corporation to mislead and buy Whole Woman’s Health’s Texas clinic. CEO Amy Hagstrom Miller says, “To say we were duped is an understatement.”
And Oklahoma, where there is an abortion ban, was one the five states with the biggest increase in women seeking abortion medication from sources outside of the state.
In the nation…
Some White House staff are worried that Democrats spent too much time and money campaigning on abortion, Reuters reports. I don’t for a second think that there was any way to talk about abortion too much in the lead-up to the midterms, but I do find this compelling: “Some White House officials believe they should have linked abortion to economic concerns more, rather than fundamental rights and privacy…” Maybe not rather than our rights, but certainly in addition to. But here’s the thing: Stacey Abrams tried to do this, and got completely shit on by conservative media (without much of a defense from Democrats). There is no way to talk about economics without talking about what’s happening with abortion—they are inextricably linked.
But if you’re feeling anxious about the midterms—and I know I am!—try to remember that we saw an unprecedented number of new voter registrations from women after the Supreme Court’s decision. Democratic strategist and pollster Tom Bonier says, “We're seeing women engage politically at a greater rate than I've seen before.” Bonier also points out that a lot of those folks are Republicans who might not be ‘personally pro-choice’, but are “against the notion of the government taking away an established right.”
And at MSNBC, columnist Marisa Kabas points out that it’s young women who may be the most important demographic to protect abortion rights: “The Democratic margin of young women ages 18 to 29 who say they’re likely to vote jumped 9 points from the spring until now. And the most important issue to a plurality of these voters? Abortion.”
The corporations you’ve seen come out in support of abortion rights—saying they’d provide coverage for employees, for example—just might be supporting anti-choice politicians. From The Guardian:
“The analysis suggests that while some of America’s largest employers want to be seen as supporting reproductive health for their female workers and their families, the abortion issue has not affected their financial support for Republican candidates who have promised to further erode those workers’ reproductive rights.”
Essentially they want to benefit from the good PR of being publicly pro-choice but aren’t willing to put their money where their mouths are. Just a few on the list of shame: Meta, Comcast, Citigroup, AT&T, and Amazon.
It won’t surprise you to know that there’s a gender gap when it comes to support for abortion rights—not just in terms of the disproportionate percentage of anti-abortion voters who are men, but around how deeply those who are pro-choice feel about abortion. The New York Times calls it an ‘intensity gap’: “While men and women are still as likely to think abortion should be generally legal, men’s responses suggest that abortion remains for them a relatively remote issue.”
Jamila Perritt, the CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health, and Jill E. Adams, the executive director of If/When/How have co-authored a fantastic op-ed directed at medical care providers—urging them to not report patients who self-manage abortions at home. Necessary reading:
“We believe there is no place for the criminal legal system in healthcare spaces. The fear of criminalization and/or reporting to law enforcement agencies keeps people from seeking care and causes harm. It pits patients against providers. It is antithetical to care and misaligned with medical ethics and public health principles. There is absolutely no mandate to report patients to law enforcement for having an abortion or experiencing pregnancy loss. In fact, there is no underlying crime in nearly all states.”
NPR has a roundup of where abortion is on the ballot—from the states with ballot measures to the places where control of the state government is on the line; CNBC does the same, but their piece gives a little more context on the states themselves; FiveThirtyEight looks at all the abortion-related ballot measures; and The Washington Post has published an interactive on the midterms and abortion, if folks need a website to refresh over the next few days.
Listen up…
I’ve been writing a lot about the Mya Network—the group of clinicians who released photos of early pregnancy that were met with incredible backlash. If you don’t already know their work, definitely check them out; but they are doing something incredible: Publishing audio interviews with patients who have just had early abortions and chose to see the tissue of the pregnancy. Hearing from women directly is so powerful.
Conservatives have been attacking NPR nonstop over their segment on a Michigan abortion clinic, over their decision to include audio of a woman ending her pregnancy. President of the anti-abortion women’s group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Marjorie Dannenfelser, for example, wrote in Fox News article that she was “unprepared” for the “inappropriate and disturbing audio” of a woman “in pain and potentially deep emotional distress.” The woman featured does sound uncomfortable—but about a hundred times less so than what we’ve heard from women in childbirth. And what all of these outraged outlets have neglected to mention are that the first words out of the woman’s mouth when the procedure is done: “Thank you guys so much.”
When I had an abortion in 2006, that’s the overwhelming feeling I remember, as well: Gratitude.
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I couldn’t love this action more:
I do love this, but it also broke my heart: California Gov. Gavin Newsom posthumously pardoned an abortion-rights activist who was imprisoned in 1949 for abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion. While serving the four year sentence, Laura Miner wrote, “I can still hold my head up, and I respect myself because my conscience is clear.”
“I have helped humanity—someday it will be legal for a doctor to help a woman who will then have a right to decide for herself how many children she shall have, and when.”
And Cecily Strong is just the best:
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