Just a reminder that Abortion, Every Day will not be publishing tomorrow through next Tuesday while I take some much-needed vacation time. Thanks in advance for understanding!
In the states…
The South Carolina House passed a near-total abortion ban yesterday, in the hopes that the new legislation—which prohibits abortion at conception—will meet the state Supreme Court’s standards for not violating women’s right to privacy. (The Court ruled that a previous law was unconstitutional—but a Justice suggested that the right to life could outweigh the right to privacy if legislators argued that life begins at conception.)
You also may remember that this is as the bill that would require doctors to tell rape victims—before their abortion—that they have to notify the Sheriff of the attack. It’s a way to intimidate women out of care, plain and simple. State Rep. Todd Rutherford called it a “slap in the face to victims.”
And I’m sorry to say that the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the state’s abortion ban today while the case continues to be heard: So women will not be able to get care while the lawsuit over the ban is argued, despite the fact that voters in the state made their wishes very clearly known.
Crisis pregnancy centers in Kansas are lobbying lawmakers to ban doctors from using telehealth to prescribe abortion medication—just another move by conservatives to ignore voters’ wishes. (You probably remember the resounding pro-choice win in the state last year.) Carol Daunis, a GOP precinct committeewoman who testified in favor of the Republican bill, said that women were treating abortion “as if you are buying a new television for your home via the internet.” They can’t help but let their disdain shine though!
I’m grateful to Zack Gingrich-Gaylord of Trust Women, who responded that the statement was “a really callous and untrue comparison,” and pointed out that “around 70% of the people that we see are parents already”:
“They know very well what it takes to raise children, and they’re coming to us because they want to be better parents for the kid they already have. These are actual people, actual individuals, who have taken this seriously and are considering their own life.”
Medical residents, unable to get abortion training in anti-choice states, are now traveling to Washington to ensure they get the education they need. Rachel Chisausky who lives in Idaho, for example, has been going back and forth to Washington for the last eight months in order to be able to get adequate training. That means organizing logistics like flights and lodging, but also coming up with money—Chisausky has been paying most of the expenses herself.
Making things even more difficult is the fact that most programs in the state are at capacity. The medical director of the Planned Parenthood in Washington, Dr. Erin Berry, says, “There’s only so many spots to go around.” But it is a good sign that the requests for training are only increasing. We need as many providers as we can get.
A report from Human Rights Watch shows that teenagers in Florida are increasingly being denied judicial bypasses for abortions. A researcher for the organization says that there was a spike in denials after Roe was overturned, and that state judges denied more than 1 in 8 petitions:
“In one case, a judge wrote about a minor's ‘soft spoken and shy’ demeanor in the petition denial. A judge rejected another minor's petition, writing that she didn't have the intelligence to make a decision to have an abortion because of her high school grade point average and lack of having a driver’s license.”
Charming. Also if you’re not fit to decide on an abortion, how in the world are you mature enough to parent??
And here’s some more information on that Utah bill that would essentially ban abortion clinics in the state by prohibiting abortions being performed anywhere but a hospital. OBGYN and abortion provider, Dr. Misha Pangasa, told Utah NPR that that abortion clinics can give patients “the same doctors, the same procedures, the same excellent standards of care, but it will cost them much less.”
She also says legislation “will result in more pain and suffering for people who are already going through some of the most difficult times of their lives.” And that’s the conservative theme these days, isn’t it? Suffering. Also in Utah: The Salt Lake-Tribune has a piece on the religious leaders who are supporting abortion rights in the state.
This is good news, at least: The two Ohio groups that were working on different pro-choice ballot measures are joining forces, and plan to get something in front of voters in November!
“Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights announced Thursday they are putting the final touches on a proposed state constitutional amendment. They aren’t sharing the details, but have described it as similar to the abortions-rights measure that voters approved in Michigan last November.”
Even better: Because they plan to get the measure on the ballot in November, it means the Republicans in the state won’t have had time to pass their legislation seeking to increase the number of votes necessary to approve new constitutional amendments. So the group will just need a simple majority to win.
Quick hits:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been shielded from testifying in a lawsuit over whether abortion funds can continue their work in the state, and CBC looks at restrictions in the state;
Over 100 faith leaders in New Mexico released a letter in support of abortion rights, urging state lawmakers to expand and protect reproductive rights and health;
NPR in Tennessee profiles women who are traveling out-of-state for abortion care;
The Associated Press on the backlash against the Kentucky bill that would treat abortion as homicide;
And an op-ed at The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina calls for abortion protections for gig workers.
In the nation…
So far, Republican presidential candidates are largely avoiding talking about abortion. Donald Trump has already made statements about how he think the GOP’s midterms losses were thanks to abortion extremism—but has neglected the topic entirely in recently speeches. Nikki Haley also ignored the issue when she announced her candidacy. Despite anti-abortion groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America claiming that the only way to win is with a strong anti-abortion stance, Republicans are nervous. And they should be: Polls show again and again that Americans support abortion.
Given that voters have abortion very much top-of-mind, it’s going to be hard for any candidate to avoid entirely; but this ABC News piece gives us a hint as to how Republicans may do just that: U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told the news outlet that abortion is a state issue, and “I want presidential candidates to talk about federal issues, which are actually going to make somebody's lives better.” I’m curious to see if any of the Republican presidential candidates will shirk abortion that explicitly—but I wouldn’t put anything past them.
Now this is the kind of support I’m looking for: U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon says that if Trump-appointed judge Matthew Kacsmaryk rules to ban abortion medication, President Biden should openly defy the court’s order: “You’ve got this one judge making a mockery of the rule of law, stomping all over the privacy rights of millions of American women.”
Wyden, who chaired the first Congressional hearing on abortion medication in 1990, gave an advance copy of a speech he’s giving today to Rolling Stone. In it, he calls on the White House to ignore the expected anti-choice ruling from Kacsmaryk, and says that a “judge’s rulings stand because elected leaders and citizens have agreed that abiding by them is right and necessary to uphold the rule of law.” But, he notes, “the judiciary must uphold its end of the social contract too.”
Really and truly, this is the kind of language and action we need right now: Make them do the right thing.
New data on Plan B shows that sales of the emergency contraception have skyrocketed recently: A 59% increase since 2018. Not entirely surprising, but what does worry me is the decrease in use of other kinds of contraception:
I’ve written a lot recently about the conservative cultural campaign against hormonal birth control, and I have to wonder if these numbers are—at least in part—due to the spread of misinformation. OBGYN and professor at Boston University’s medical school, Dr. Kate White, told the Financial Times, “There is a lot of distrust about highly effective methods of contraception, especially those with hormones in them.”
And you already know that there’s a link between the attacks on abortion and the way that conservatives are targeting trans rights, but this piece at Roll Call does a decent job of laying out all the policy and culture-war similarities—from strategies around legislation to the type of language that conservatives are using.
Sen. Edward J. Markey says, “Republicans are on a mission to put themselves in the exam room, wedged in between patients and providers, and are using disinformation as their tool of choice for this campaign of discrimination.” And if you still had any doubts, consider that the Texas lawyer credited with coming up with the bounty hunter mandate in the state, which allows citizens to sue anyone who violates the abortion ban, is now doing the same thing targeting libraries that carry LGBTQ books. Seriously.
Quick hits:
The New York Times has a huge piece on how the anti-abortion movement is targeting doctors, it’s an absolute must-read;
The Washington Post explains how the Comstock Act endangers abortion access;
Variety reviewed the documentary about abortion medication, Plan C, calling it “urgent and quietly angry”;
And psychiatrists in JAMA Psychiatry write that legislators need to consider the mental health implications of abortion restrictions and bans.
Listen up…
Kansas NPR has a short segment taking us inside one of the crisis pregnancy centers in the state that might get millions in taxpayer funding—definitely worth a listen, but don’t be surprised if you’re furious by the end.
Keep an eye on…
The attacks on pharmacies dispensing abortion medication. The anti-choice group Students for Life is organizing a National Day of Protest on March 4 that they say is part of their “Cancel Abortion Cartels” campaign. It would be great to see some kind of counter protest or support of pharmacies… Meanwhile, don’t forget that Students for Life is a group that says birth control pills are abortifacients! Just in case anyone cites them as a serious or reasonable organization.
You love to see it…
The folks running the abortion subreddit are true bad-asses (read this great New York Magazine profile of them here), but they need our help. The activists at the Abortion Squad are answering questions morning, noon and night about abortion—helping link women up with resources, letting them know about their rights and care in their areas, and just generally spreading accurate information and feminist good will. But they’re doing it as volunteers on their own time and dime.
Let’s show them that we appreciate all of the hard work helping the women who need it most by donating whatever we can. This the kind of innovative and on-the-ground activism we’re always talking about wanting to see more of: So let’s put our money where our mouths are! Donate here!
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