In the states…
A Kansas lawmaker is proposing legislation to make it easier to remove judges who rule against abortion bans. Right now, the state constitution allows the removal of judges convicted of serious crimes. But a bill from Kansas Rep. Brett Fairchild would broaden that law to include the ability to remove judges when there is a “breach of public trust” or if they attempt “to usurp the power” of legislators. Fairchild says explicitly that the move is about abortion cases. “I do believe that the judiciary has gone too far in taking away power from the legislature when it comes to regulating abortion,” he said. As you already know, Kansas voters resoundingly defeated an anti-abortion ballot measure; so this is yet another move by Republicans to enact laws that voters don’t want.
Speaking of laws that voters don’t want: Florida keeps inching its way closer towards tightening their abortion restrictions from a 15-week ban to 12-weeks. And while anti-abortion activists in the states are grumbling that a 12-week ban doesn’t go far enough (since the vast majority of abortions happen before that point), but we all know that Republicans will keep chipping away until there is no right to abortion in the state at all. They’re just moving slowly so that the outrage from voters doesn’t come all at once. The new speaker of the Florida House, Paul Renner, said as much last month:
“I want to see us move in a pro-life direction, but I’m also sensitive to the fact that 50 years of Roe v. Wade has developed a culture and an expectation around this issue that is not going to change overnight, and I say that as some who believes that life begins at conception.”
In other words, they’re hoping if they move slowly enough that voters won’t notice.
Law enforcement is still no closer to finding the person who burned down an abortion clinic in Casper, Wyoming seven months ago. The police department says they’re following all leads and working with the FBI but “there’s not a whole lot more we can do right now.”
Wellspring Health Access founder Julie Burkhart says she’s working on getting a mobile clinic while the building is being repaired. “Wyomingites deserve access to reproductive health care, including abortion care,” she said.
A reminder that a 2021 report from the National Abortion Federation found a massive increase in violence against abortion clinics and providers, including a 600% increase in stalking and a 128% increase in assault and battery.
I really liked this interview with an abortion rights activist who used to work with North Carolina abortion funds, who describes what it was like to work directly with women seeking care. Ph.D. student Jessica Mencia says that one of her calls was with a woman who had been sexually assaulted and needed help coming with up money to end her pregnancy:
“It’s just one of those things that people will bring up when they’re talking about abortion accessibility. They’ll mention it, but you never quite hear someone's story and the panic in their voice and like how much it means to them to get this funding, like the humanity of it, really struck me.”
Mencia also rightly pointed out that abortion access in North Carolina isn’t just about the state itself—but the women in surrounding anti-choice states who rely on North Carolina as an abortion safe haven.
Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Joanna McClinton spoke to NPR about abortion rights in the state, and Republicans’ move to advance a constitutional amendment to declare that the state constitution has no right to abortion. It’s a good inside look at the legislative leadership struggle there. (Some more on the abortion rights fight in Pennsylvania here.)
In Michigan, Democrats are trying to pass legislation to regulate crisis pregnancy centers, which we know lie to women about their pregnancies and health in order to prevent them—by any means—from getting an abortion.
Also in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer just added a new chief general counsel to her executive team who has a history of fighting for abortion rights. Christina Grossi was previously the chief deputy attorney general, where she defended Gov. Whitmer’s lawsuit earlier this year to block the state’s abortion ban. Some remarks from Grossi’s closing arguments in that case:
“Women are upset because our bodies are regulated, and they are politicized in ways that men's bodies are never politicized or regulated. And women are upset and angry because some people suggest that our rights are subject to popular vote while a man's rights are bestowed upon him at birth.”
A Minnesota college student relayed a similar feeling this week when talking about what it’s been like working to protect abortion rights in the state: “I think a lot of the people that I work with believed that we were fighting for rights to be expanded and did not envision ourselves having to fight for rights that we were born with,” said Ellie Hartmann.
Quick Hits:
Insider has an interview with the Idaho woman whose story of being denied miscarriage treatment went viral on TikTok;
The new funding in Massachusetts that I told you about yesterday has brought abortion services to Martha’s Vineyard;
Ohio Republicans are still trying to change ballot measure rules to stop any pro-choice wins;
and public radio in Wisconsin aired a conversation about the history of abortion and abortion law in the state.
In the nation…
Yesterday, the Biden administration made a move to undo a Trump-era mandate allowing healthcare workers to refuse participation in abortions (even in cases of emergencies) or medications (like birth control) that they had a moral or religious objection to. The rule was incredibly broad; Fatima Goss Graves of the National Women's Law Center told NPR in 2019, “This rule allows anyone from a doctor to a receptionist to entities like hospitals and pharmacies to deny a patient critical—and sometimes lifesaving—care.” The mandate also would cut off federal money to any organization that didn’t comply.
And so yesterday the Department of Health and Human Services announced that they would partially rescind the rule, which was already blocked by federal courts, and restore the former process for conscience complaints. It would not, despite what anti-choice activists are already saying, force anyone to give an abortion. The proposal says the government will honor people’s religious or moral reasons for not providing a particular kind of care, but that patients also have rights:
“And they have health needs, sometimes urgent ones. Our health care systems must effectively deliver services to all who need them in order to protect patients’ health and dignity.”
You know how I feel about debating abortion, so I haven’t watched this—I can’t bring myself to because I know I’ll end up throwing my laptop across the room. But it’s my job to bring you everything abortion-related, so here you go: VICE got feminists in a room with anti-feminists to hash it all out. Let me know if I’m missing anything!
Here’s a wild statistic: One pornography platform says that they saw a 640% increase in lesbian content uploaded to their site (which uses an OnlyFans-style model), and a 268% increase in solo content. Sin Party’s head of content Madame Jo says, “You’re making girls want to go and fuck girls because it’s safer.”
The New York Times did a ‘year in charts’ feature—including one on abortion. They used data from the Census Bureau and their own (very helpful) legislation tracker to chart the percentage of American women living under abortion restrictions:
Quick hits:
The Washington Post looks at anti-abortion states considering expanding Medicaid to help the women they’re forcing to have babies;
He who shall not be named is warning Republicans to not be too extreme on abortion;
and NPR says that post-Roe, the Supreme Court seems set to undo other major precedents.
What conservatives are saying…
They are pissed that women and doctors aren’t being arrested for abortion yet. In a Wall Street Journal article about the Texas mandate allowing citizens to sue people over abortion, Stephen Billy, vice president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, says, “We’ve got district attorneys who are flagrantly saying they’re not going to enforce the law in certain places. Where that’s happening, civil enforcement provides another mechanism.”
By the way, if Billy’s name seems familiar it’s because he’s the charming guy who instructed Tennessee lawmakers to wait a year or so before trying to ban IVF and contraception in a leaked strategy session.
You love to see it…
In Tippecanoe County, Indiana, women can now get Plan B for free. The Health Department there has created a program that allows any woman to get emergency contraception when she goes to take an STI test. Dr. Gregory Loomis, Tippecanoe County health officer, says, “Overturning Roe v. Wade created a public health urgency and the job of the health department is to provide women the opportunity to exercise control over the safety of their sexual health and reproductive right.” (A reminder: Right now, the abortion ban in Indiana is blocked.)
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