If you missed my column today, I wrote about snitch culture and how conservatives are counting on Americans to turn each other in over abortion bans. Let me know what you think!
In the states…
A Senate committee in Oklahoma advanced two abortion bills this week that Republicans say ‘clarify’ the state’s ban. It’s just a lot more bullshit from lawmakers trying to make themselves seem more moderate on the issue, but here’s something interesting: During discussions of the legislation, a Republican all but admitted that rape exceptions are exemptions in name only. When a Democrat asked Sen. Julie Daniels about the requirement that victims report their attack to law enforcement, Daniels responded that the exception “probably would be almost never be used” because only a small percentage of women seeking abortions have been raped. Hmm.
Ohio reproductive rights groups are moving ahead with their plan to get abortion on the ballot. Susan Shaw of the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights says they’re “100% moving ahead with getting an amendment on the ballot to voters this November.” A coalition of other abortion rights-groups is also working on a campaign, but they’re still sorting out when they’ll get something on the ballot. Kellie Copeland, executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio, says they want to make sure to “get this right.”
This Nebraska Public Media article about eight doctors who formed a political action committee to push for abortion rights is a good reminder of how often these issues are often fought and won based on the hard work of a small group of people. Their group, Campaign for a Healthy Nebraska, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and convinced the Nebraska Medical Association to publicly oppose abortion restrictions. Definitely read the whole piece—these doctors are bad-asses.
Speaking of bad-asses, this column from an Idaho maternal-fetal health physician about why she’s leaving the state is a must-read. Dr. Kylie Cooper writes that her life as a doctor “has been turned upside down.” Idaho’s abortion ban doesn’t have any exceptions, and so doctors must give an affirmative defense if they need to break the law to save a woman’s life with an abortion. From Dr. Cooper:
“I need to be able to protect my patients’ lives, their health and future fertility without fear of becoming a felon. This fear is why I’m leaving Idaho.
Idaho’s maternal and infant health is worsening, mothers are dying at an increasing rate. A lack of physicians and access to care are major contributors. These bans make it difficult to attract physicians to the state. The loss of health care providers due to the criminalization of medicine will only further these health disparities. These factors made my decision to leave an immensely difficult one, but I cannot continue to practice in a place where I do not feel safe.”
She says she wishes lawmakers “could spend a day in my shoes, see the things that I see, deliver the news I have to deliver, touch the hands that I hold.” Absolutely brutal.
The South Carolina Senate passed a six-week abortion ban yesterday, a move to try to move forward with different abortion legislation after the state Supreme Court struck down a previous ban.
Something similar is happening in Wyoming, where the state’s abortion ban is blocked—but Republicans are moving ahead with a different, even stricter, abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest. The legislation would also allow citizens to sue abortion providers.
And in Utah, the legislation I’ve been telling you about—which seeks to change the rules around injunctions as a way to remove the block against the state’s abortion ban—has also moved forward.
Quick hit:
Vermont lawmakers advanced abortion protections in a preliminary vote;
West Virginia is moving forward with a bill allowing taxpayer funds to be used towards crisis pregnancy centers;
Nevada Democrats are pushing legislation to protect women who come from out-of-state to seek abortions;
A North Carolina doctor has written an op-ed asking lawmakers to stop hindering access to abortion medication;
And here’s some more info on that report out of Florida about the hoops that minors are expected to jump through in order to get a judicial bypass for an abortion.
In the nation…
All eyes are on the lawsuit over abortion medication, but we may have a few more weeks before a decision comes down: U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk announced today that he was extending the filing deadline until February 24th. That hasn’t reduced the urgency around the case, however, and pro-choice advocates continue to warn about the impact of banning mifepristone. Elizabeth Nash at the Guttmacher Institute told CBS News, “The clinics that are open in the receiving states are stretched thin, they don't have a lot of give in their capacity and being able to provide medication abortion is very, very important.”
And state Attorneys General from 21 states and Washington, D.C. argued in a filing to Kacsmaryk that banning the medication would have “devastating consequences.” They explained that women would be forced to have a more invasive surgical abortion, if they were able to get an abortion at all—and that the decision would disproportionately impact low-income women.
Yesterday, NARAL Pro-Choice America released research showing that if Kacsmaryk comes down on the side of the anti-choice organization, Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine, 64.5 million American women of reproductive age would lose access to abortion medication. A reminder that abortion medication accounts for over half of abortions in the U.S. NARAL president Mini Timmaraju said, “It could have an immediate impact on the country. In some ways this is a backdoor ban on abortion.”
Related: The Guardian has more info on Kacsmaryk’s background, if you can stomach it; and Stat News looks at what a misoprostol-only protocol for medication abortion looks like.
Democrats are looking to make people’s private health data safer: This week U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Mazie Hirono introduced the Secure Access for Essential Reproductive (SAFER) Health Act, which would strengthen HIPAA to ban doctors from disclosing patient information related to abortion without their consent:
“No one should have to worry about being investigated or prosecuted for receiving or providing reproductive health care. This legislation will protect the privacy of patients who have had abortions, regardless of where they live or receive care.”
And a new study shows that people who are having miscarriages are less likely to get optimal care if they are in a state with abortion restrictions, and that women in pro-choice states are more likely to get better care. Not shocking, I know—but what’s notable is that this study was conducted before Roe was overturned. I think it’s fair to guess that this gap is going to significantly increase in the next few years.
The Washington Post has a feature on a project from photographer Beth Galton, who has put together these oddly beautiful (though distressing) table-scapes of different items women have used to self-manage abortions:
Quick hits:
Ms. magazine looks at the future of telehealth medicine;
The New York Times has a piece on the anti-choice activists who want to expand financial support for parents (but please note that their programs give help to married Americans, specifically);
And Grid looks at Republicans who claim they’re seeking a more ‘moderate’ position on abortion (though as you can guess, it’s anything but).
Listen up…
KALW, the Bay Area’s public radio station, has a segment about the connection between the attacks on trans people and the attacks on abortion rights; and Maine reproductive rights activists are on a podcast talking about abortion rights and what people in their state can do to help.
Keep an eye on…
Gallup came out with a new poll today about public opinion on abortion laws, showing that dissatisfaction with abortion policy is the highest it’s been in over 20 years. Nearly 70% of those polled were dissatisfied with abortion laws, with 46% wanting less strict laws—16-percentage-point jump since January 2022.
What’s also notable is that there has a been huge jump in the percentage of Catholics and Protestants who want to see abortion restrictions loosened. This means we’re going to see Republicans rely even more on the lie of ‘exceptions’ to make voters believe that they’ve softened or compromised on the issue.
You love to see it…
College students at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California participated in a walk-out during a mandatory talk by anti-abortion extremist Lila Rose. Young people give me hope every day.
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