Abortion, Every Day (3.14.24)

Students want to go to college in pro-choice states

Click to skip ahead: In the States, news from Montana, Texas, Wisconsin and more. In the Nation, Kamala Harris visited an abortion clinic today in a historic first. In Stats & Studies, new data from Gallup shows that a state’s abortion policies are top of mind for students deciding where to go to college. In Care Denied, the horror stories continue, with profiles of women in Texas, Wisconsin and Florida. Mainstream Media Watch gets into the importance of publications using accurate language around fatal fetal abnormalities. Finally, Anti-Choice Strategy looks at the anti-abortion movement’s plan for IVF.

---

In the States

Big news out of Texas today, where the state medical board says they’ll consider language and “take possible action” on what qualifies as a medical exception to the state’s ban at their meeting this month.

According to the Texas Tribune, the move comes after lawyers filed a petition asking the board to issue “clear guidance” about when an abortion is allowed by law. Texas’ draconian abortion ban has been in the national spotlight since Roe was overturned—especially since Kate Cox’s story of being denied a health- and life-saving abortion went viral.

This also comes in the midst of a major lawsuit against the state, brought by the Center for Reproductive Right on behalf of multiple women who were denied abortions despite risks to their health and lives.

Since Roe was overturned, doctors in anti-choice states have struggled to define when they can give their patients the standard of care without risking jail time. If the board considers adopting new language around exceptions, the next step would be a a 30-day public comment period before the rule was formally adopted.

Speaking of questions over when doctors can provide care in states with abortion bans: The Atlantic has an interview with maternal fetal medicine physician Sarah Osmundson, who sits on a Tennessee hospital’s ‘abortion committee’. The panel decides when a patient is close enough to death to be able to legally access care. (A sentence I can’t believe I have to write.)

If this sounds familiar, that’s because ProPublica reporter Kavitha Surana did an incredible piece about the committee based on reports and interviews from Dr. Osmundson. (Seriously, read it.) You should give the interview a listen, but it was this from Osmundson that had me standing and applauding:

“I actually, in sort of joking one time when our hospital lawyer was there, I said, Could we just call up [Tennessee Gov.] Bill Lee or call up, you know, our attorney general and ask them? Like, give them the case and say, What would you like us to do? And it’s sort of tongue in cheek, but it’s not, right? Like, they’re the ones who are going to decide whether they want to prosecute me. So why can’t I call them up and say, Do you think this makes the exception? Why am I being asked to kind of guess at whether this is a prosecutable action?”

In Wisconsin, Attorney General Josh Kaul says that if the state Supreme Court agrees to hear an abortion rights case that’s been making its way through the courts, he’ll ask justices whether abortion is protected by the state constitution. For some background on the case likely headed to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, see my previous coverage here.

Kaul argues that the state constitution’s right to liberty and equal protection incudes abortion rights. Michelle Velasquez, chief strategy officer for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, agrees, noting that the legal argument is focused on the state constitution’s declaration that all people have the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Obviously, anti-abortion groups in the state are fighting back. I’m eager to see what happens in the case—as you probably remember, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is now under liberal control after the election of pro-choice judge Janet Protasiewicz.

More on state Supreme Courts and abortion, this time out of Montana: There are two open seats on the Court—elections that everyone expects will become very much about abortion rights. That’s because abortion is protected in Montana’s state constitution for now. But Republican leaders like Gov. Greg Gianforte and Attorney General Austin Knudsen have been trying to sway the Court to overturn precedent—in addition to their legislative moves to restrict access. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.

Finally, your regular reminder that Republicans want to ban birth control: Arizona lawmakers refuse to advance legislation to protect contraception, and it was just last week that Republican Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli said that if women wanted birth control they should just keep their legs closed:

“Like I said, Bayer Company invented aspirin. Put it between your knees.”

When they tell you who they are, believe them.

Quick hits:

• A federal court set a July 22 trial date for a lawsuit that challenges sections of North Carolina’s abortion ban;

• Walgreens will dispense abortion medication in Pennsylvania, CVS will do the same in Rhode Island;

• A Kansas Republican took thousands from anti-abortion extremists;

• President of Planned Parenthood Empire State, Robin Chappelle Golston, writes that the fight for abortion rights isn’t over, even in New York;

• And Today in Ohio asks if Ohio voters enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution, why aren’t pharmacies dispensing abortion pills?

In the Nation

Remember when I told you that “Med Ed” bills were going to be the anti-abortion movement’s new legislative focus? Well, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, has written an op-ed calling the bills “the way forward.” Republicans say the legislation—which mandate that the state health department publish an informational video and other materials to explain the state’s abortion ban—will eliminate doctors’ ‘confusion’ over when they can provide care.

But as I wrote last month, this is just a way for these groups to shirk blame for the nightmare they’ve created, and to push legislation that further enshrines their cruelty. The bills, for example, will define when an abortion is legally allowable. And trust me, the last people you want making that decision are anti-choice politicians.

In what appears to be a first for any American president or vice president, VP Kamala Harris visited an abortion clinic in Minnesota today. ABC News reports that Harris did a walk-through of Planned Parenthood North Central States and spent time with the health care workers there. From Harris’ remarks around the visit:

"Many of you have asked why I am here at this facility, and I will tell you it is because right now in our country we are facing a very serious health crisis…How dare these elected leaders believe they are in a better position to tell women what they need to tell them and what is in their best interest? We have to be a nation that trusts women.”

The visit is part of the Biden administration’s focus on reproductive rights as the reelection campaign speeds towards November. Vice President Harris, who is notably better and more enthusiastic on abortion rights than Biden, has been leading the abortion rights charge at the White House—most recently with her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” speaking tour.

Quick hits:

• The Chronicle of Higher Education looks at the doctors trying to learn how to perform abortions in a post-Roe world;

• HuffPost on the latest policy change that could limit ‘judge-shopping’;

• Rolling Stone and NBC on the Olivia Rodrigo concert where a group gave out free emergency contraception;

• And KFF takes a new look at the impact of the Hyde Amendment.

Stats & Studies

New numbers from Gallup show that 71% of current and prospective college students report that a state’s abortion polices are important in their decision on what school to attend. These aren’t surprising numbers; after all, we know young people are the most pro-choice demographic in the country. That’s why anti-abortion groups are so intent on indoctrinating them as young as possible.

Of the students who say abortion policies are important to their decision where to attend college, 80% say they would prefer to live in a state with greater access to reproductive health care. (I have so many questions for the 20% who’d prefer to live in a state with restrictions!)

As I’ve written before, we’re witnessing a serious brain drain in anti-choice states. Between students, doctors, and other professionals, I truly don’t believe that Republicans are ready for what the economic impact of their bans will be.

Care Denied

Since Roe was overturned, we’ve seen story after story come out of women denied vital health- and life-saving care. This week was no different, with women speaking up from Texas, Wisconsin, and Florida.

Olivia Harvey in Texas couldn’t get an abortion even though she had a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. That’s right—the kind of pregnancy that Republicans constantly tell us will get immediate treatment. But because of Texas law, and the fear it’s instilled in doctors, Olivia had to go to North Carolina for care.

Cardinal & Pine reports that Olivia was six weeks along when she found out she had an ectopic pregnancy, but doctors had her repeat blood work, urinalysis, and ultrasound over the course of a week to be sure. But each time, the result came back the same: the pregnancy wasn’t in her uterus. Still, doctors told Olivia that they couldn’t treat her, even though they admitted her pregnancy was “a ticking time bomb.”

“It was like they were tiptoeing around the subject and just waiting. I felt bad for them as well. I know they have to follow their laws, but it’s crazy.”

At that point, Olivia decided to call her old OBGYN in North Carolina, who told her to get on a plane immediately. After she ended her pregnancy, Olivia returned to Texas—but says she won’t live there long.

“I’m scared to death because I don’t want to go through that again. I don’t want to have to deal with the doctors in Texas…I feel like they are walking on eggshells.”

And in Wisconsin, mother Megan Kling was diagnosed with a nonviable pregnancy after her 20-week ultrasound. At the time, Wisconsin clinics had just resumed abortion care—but only up until 20 weeks.

“I knew the baby was not going to survive. To carry my baby that I knew was going to die for another four months sounded to me like pure torture.”

Remember, that’s what anti-abortion groups want for anyone who has been diagnosed with a fatal fetal abnormality. Instead of being able to get the care she needed in her home state, Kling had to travel to Minnesota to be induced.

Adding insult to injury, on the drive home, Kling saw a billboard with a picture of a young woman slouched on a bathroom floor. The sign read, “abortion is not healthcare.” Kling said, “I feel it’s kicked when you’re already knocked down.” That’s part of why she decided to share her story.

Finally, States Newsroom features the stories of two women who needed to end their pregnancies—but only one of whom was able to do it “on her own terms.” Ariel Cavanaugh-Okhah of Florida relays how she found out about her fetus’ abnormality right around 15 weeks—the state legal cut-off for abortion care.

I’m so grateful to all of these women for being willing to share their most painful experiences in the hopes that it might help others. I just wish they didn’t have to.

Mainstream Media Watch

I want to flag something about the reporting in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel piece about Megan Kling’s story. I’ve reported many times anti-abortion efforts to change medical language, particularly around fatal fetal abnormalities. Instead of calling lethal conditions ‘nonviable’, for example, anti-choice groups want doctors to call them ‘potentially life-limiting.’

Their hope is to play down and lie about lethal conditions for two big reasons: 1) to trick women out of getting abortions, giving them false hope that their pregnancy is viable. 2) They want to change the way Americans talk and think about nonviable pregnancies in general so we won’t fight back as much when they ban abortion for such pregnancies. (That’s why, for example, they’ve started to call fetuses with lethal abnormalities ‘babies with disabilities’. They want it to sound as if people who end nonviable pregnancies are simply targeting disabled kids.)

I’m reminding you of all this because I noticed that in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel piece, the publication doesn’t call Kling’s fetus’ condition lethal. Yes, the reporter makes it evident that the condition is lethal—it’s just that the word isn’t used. Nor is ‘nonviable’. Instead, the publication uses terms like “incompatible with life,” and notes that the fetus “likely has a condition that is impossible to survive.”

That would be fine (if slightly irritating) if it wasn’t for some language I noticed in a picture’s caption—it says Kling’s pregnancy had a “life-limiting condition.” I realize this may come across as nitpicking—especially considering that the piece is excellently reported. But it’s so important that publications don’t repeat anti-abortion talking points, particularly when we’re talking about fake medical terms. And ‘life-limiting’ is quite literally on the list of anti-abortion terms that conservatives are trying to insert into the public consciousness.

Anti-Choice Strategy: IVF

There’s a reason that anti-abortion groups are fighting with Republican legislators right now—they really don’t like that lawmakers are backing off their opposition to IVF. After all, this is an issue that conservative groups have put decades of work into!

Over at NPR, we find out more about how the movement against IVF went from fringe to mainstream (despite what Republicans say). They report that groups like the Heritage Foundation and Live Action have “long villainized” the IVF industry, which they refer to as "big fertility industrial complex.”

Sound familiar? That’s exactly what they’re trying to do to prenatal testing companies, too!

NPR also talks to our friends over at Pregnancy Justice, who have been working to stop personhood laws (and the consequences of those laws) for decades. On that note, I’m going to leave you tonight with a reminder to read the brilliant Lynn Paltrow—founder of Pregnancy Justice who wrote a guest column for Abortion, Every Day not too long ago:

After Alabama