In the states…
I’ve written a lot about Republican moves to circumvent checks and balances as a way to push abortion restrictions and bans—and this move by a North Carolina lawmaker is no exception. House Speaker Tim Moore proposed a rule change for the state House that would allow a speaker to call a vote without notice to override the governor’s veto. Opponents called it a “shameful power grab.” A representative from Planned Parenthood South Atlantic says that this is all about Moore not getting the votes he needs in the midterms to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto on an abortion ban: “So what now? He wants to change the rules and circumvent the democratic process so that he can pass a draconian abortion ban in the middle of the night.”
Also in North Carolina, every Democrat in the state legislature has signed onto a pair of bills that would codify Roe in the state. Axios points out that the move is meant to be a show of united support for abortion rights in a moment when moderate Democrats are being pressured to sign on to restrictions.
Arkansas Democrats are doing their best at harm reduction in the state. Rep. Nicole Clowney has introduced legislation to make it easier for a someone whose pregnancy has severe fetal abnormalities to be able to obtain abortion—she outlines the bill in a Twitter thread if you want to click through:
Meanwhile, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Julie Daniels has introduced legislation that she says will make it easier for doctors to provide life- and health-saving abortions without fear of prosecution. “We thought it best to go in and standardize and clarify what exceptions are allowed, what we mean by ‘medical emergency’ and ‘reasonable medical judgment,’ so that wherever you look in our statutes that have to do with life, you will see consistency,” she says.
The actual bill, however, does not make anything clearer or less burdensome—doctors would still be put in the position of risking a felony charge if they provide an abortion that the state decides was unnecessary. And the legislation’s definition of ‘medical emergency’ still requires that the patient be in immediate danger, or that a delay in care would “create serious risk of substantive and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” Which means that until that risk of serious impairment is imminent, doctors have to wait to provide care.
And, of course, what these laws never make allowances for (or even consider) is suffering. How much emotional and physical trauma are Republicans willing to allow women to go through before their doctors can treat them? How many days in pain? How many days hospitalized in the ICU? Oh—and because Republican lawmakers will take any opportunity to be the worst, the bill also includes a dig against trans people:
“‘Woman’ and ‘women’ include any person whose biological sex is female including any person with XX chromosomes and any person with a uterus, regardless of any gender identity that the person attempts to assert or claim.”
Charming.
Republican members of the Virginia House voted to reject the Contraceptive Equity Act, which would have increased access to birth control by mandating insurance companies cover contraception without cost-sharing. And a reminder that Utah Republicans are trying to change the rules around injunctions as a way to remove the block on the state’s abortion ban—and that they’re pissed off that the state bar released a rare statement against the move.
In better news, Vermont lawmakers are trying to pass additional protections for reproductive rights—the legislation would not only protect health care workers who provide abortions or gender-affirming care from out-of-state prosecutions and civil attacks, but would also make it a crime to obstruct or interfere with anyone providing or receiving gender-affirming or abortion care.
And Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri plans to launch a mobile clinic that will travel the Illinois border to make it easier for those traveling for abortion care. A representative from the organization said, “The mobile abortion clinic is a health care tool. It is also a symbol of our act of defiance in a post-Roe era.”
Some more good news: In El Paso, Texas, the City Council voted to deprioritize police investigations into women suspected of having abortions and doctors suspected of providing abortions. City Rep. Alexsandra Annello said, “I believe that the City has a responsibility to protect its residents from any violation of their human rights and should ensure its residents have access to resources that will promote their health and wellbeing.” The bad news is that Texas Republicans are trying to pass a law that would allow the state Attorney General to go after any district attorneys who refuse to prosecute abortion cases—if successful, the law would also mandate that district attorneys pay (hefty) civil fines for every case they don’t go after.
Quick hits:
Nebraska women are sharing their abortion stories in anticipation of today’s public hearing on an anti-abortion bill;
Yesterday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill codifying abortion rights into law;
North Dakota Republicans are trying to pass a new abortion ban (the current ban is blocked);
And New York’s funding for reproductive health training, including abortions, can be a model for other states looking to expand protections and access to abortion.
In the nation…
We have a real problem with public understanding of abortion and contraception access. A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that nearly half of Americans don’t know whether abortion medication is legal in their state; 1 in 8 adults living in anti-choice states incorrectly believe abortion medication is legal in their state; and a third of adults don’t know whether emergency contraception is legal in their state.
Additionally, the study showed that a disturbing number of Americans don’t understand the difference between emergency contraception and abortion medication. More than a third of those surveyed didn’t know that the pills were different, and a whopping 73% (including 66% of women) believed that emergency contraception can end a pregnancy in its early stages.
This is a sign to Democrats and pro-choice advocates that we need to ramp up public awareness campaigns—because Republicans will absolutely use this kind of confusion to their advantage.
And right on cue: Twenty Republican state attorneys general have signed onto a letter threatening CVS and Walgreens about abortion medication, warning them that they would be breaking the law if they use the mail to send or distribute abortion pills. (The letter says that they disagree with Department of Justice’s determination that it’s not illegal to ship abortion medication.) Essentially, this is a way for state AGs to make it impossible for the retail pharmacies to ship necessary medications to certain states. And please remember that abortion medication is also a standard treatment for miscarriages—so this threat could also keep pharmacies from having medication in stock that is necessary to treat women who are losing wanted pregnancies.
When I reported on Wyoming Republicans’ efforts to ban abortion medication in the state last week, OBGYN Dr. Giovannina Anthony said something about the consequences of that move that’s absolutely applicable here: “This will truly be a crisis in the practice of obstetrics and gynecology…the reality of banning and criminalizing these drugs is they will not be available.” Again, which means women having miscarriages won’t have access to the medication that they need.
Representative Ayanna Pressley introduced a resolution that would enshrine the Equal Rights Amendment in the constitution. Rep. Pressley said, “It’s long past time the constitution affirm our equality in the eyes of the law.” You can watch the press event announcing the resolution here:
Quick hits:
Ms. magazine reports on the anti-choice plan for national protests against pharmacies on February 4th;
POLITICO interviews California Rep. Sara Jacobs about her efforts to protect private health data in a post-Roe world;
Teen Vogue on how birth control is under attack;
And Axios on the “fractured relationship” between Republicans and the American Medical Association (largely because of abortion and trans rights).
Listen up…
WNYC has a segment on Muslim American and abortion; and Here & Now visits an abortion clinic in Georgia (which I highly recommend listening to).
Keep an eye on…
Anti-trans bigotry and its link to abortion rights. Right now, conservatives know that abortion rights are extremely popular—even in red states—and so they’re hoping that using anti-trans bigotry will help their cause. Remember when Michigan anti-choice groups tried to convince voters that a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights would let kids get gender-affirming surgery without parental consent? Or when Republicans in Georgia used anti-trans dog-whistles in anti-abortion robocalls? We’re going to see more and more of that.
Some necessary reading on the issue: The Nation has a big article on the way that conservatives are tapping into their anti-abortion playbook to push anti-LGBTQ legislation; and if you can stomach it, the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation lays out how they think Democrats’ push for abortion rights in state constitutions will lay the groundwork for their “gender ideology.”
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