Abortion, Every Day (3.3.23)

Republicans want to criminalize websites, credit card companies over abortion

I’ll be talking about abortion rights tonight with Chris Hayes on MSNBC—I should be on around 8:45pm EST if you want to tune in!

In the states…

Wyoming legislators passed two bills yesterday that will essentially ban abortion in the state; one which will outlaw abortion save for rape and incest (though we know that exceptions don’t mean shit), and another that criminalize abortion medication. The ‘exception’ for sexual violence would require that a police report be provided to a doctor before an abortion was permitted. Cruelty; it’s all about cruelty. Pregnancy Justice also points out that the state will be the first to pass a standalone fetal personhood law since Dobbs.

Meanwhile, I can’t believe that Republicans still have the nerve to claim that they have no interest in prosecuting women for abortion. Never mind that they have always done so, even before Roe was overturned—but conservatives continue on with this bullshit talking point even as they propose a spate of legislation across multiple states seeking to classify abortion as homicide. They are still arguing it even as they arrest women. The news broke yesterday that a South Carolina woman was arrested and charged for taking abortion medication in 2021. (Thanks so much to reader and fellow Substacker Emily Taylor, who flagged this for me and wrote about the case here.)

Ashley Lidow, director for the South Carolina feminist organization WREN (Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network), told The State, “Pregnancy outcomes shouldn’t be criminalized.” Lidow also pointed out the absolute hypocrisy of conservatives who claim they don’t want to charge women, but will use any opportunity to do so.

It should also come as no surprise that the woman who was arrested was Black—we know that women of color, Black women in particular, are those who get targeted most often when it comes to ‘crimes’ around pregnancy. And abortion rights activist Erika Christensen—whose work you absolutely should be following—also makes the vital point that the vast majority of people who are criminalized for self-managed abortions tend to be later in their pregnancies.

We knew that conservatives were going to be emboldened by the end of Roe, but the depths that they’re willing to go to in recent legislation has still managed to shock me. I told you earlier this week, for example, about bills in Iowa and Texas that would ban pro-choice websites and allow citizens to sue internet service providers who don’t block those urls. The ink was barely dry on those before a Texas legislator started pushing a bill that would make it a felony for credit card companies to process purchases of abortion medication. If successful, the legislation would also—of course—allow people to sue credit card companies. (Thanks to Andrea Grimes—who also publishes a weekly abortion newsletter—for surfacing this one!)

Speaking of the bill in Texas seeking to ban certain websites: Telehealth company Hey Jane—who was specifically named in the legislation as a website Republicans want blocked in the state—has pretty much the perfect response. They’ve launched a website, Texans for Free Speech, that the company is using as a fundraising tool for abortion funds. For every visit to the website, Hey Jane will donate one dollar to a fund. Love it.

Meanwhile, abortion funds in the state are trying to sort out if they can continue operating. While a federal judge blocked Texas prosecutors from targeting the groups, activists point out that they’re been hit on all fronts—and that they’re not sure what kind of legal attacks might come next. Kamyon Connor, executive director of Texas Equal Access says, “The nature of our work as Texas’ abortions funds is risky. Anything we’re doing is watched and becomes targeted.”

In Arizona, the Alliance Defending Freedom—who you know from their abortion medication lawsuit against the FDA—wants the state Supreme Court to reinstate the 1864 abortion ban that was voided by an appeals court in January. (The state currently has a 15-week ban.) As if that wasn’t bad enough, wait until you hear why they think this total abortion ban—again, from 1864!—should be reinstated: They’re arguing that because the state has a history of Republicans winning elections, it means that voters want abortion banned in state entirely. Never mind that an incredible 90% of Arizona voters want abortion legal in some way, and that a majority want abortion legal in most or all cases. Lawyers for the ADF are just making shit up, and write that Arizonans “made their voice heard at the ballot box.” Unbelievable. (Or, really, completely believable. Just disgusting.)

Missouri Republicans continue to be the absolute worst. Legislators in the state have been having a back and forth about extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to a year as part of an effort to combat the state’s horrific maternal mortality rate. But conservatives only wanted to move forward if women who had abortions were ineligible for coverage. (The federal Medicaid template for extended coverage offers care regardless of pregnancy outcome.) The ‘compromise’ that lawmakers are moving forward with is that only women who have abortions will only be able to get that Medicaid coverage if the termination was necessary to save their lives. Democratic Sen. Tracy McCreery said, “It really is a form of government policing and surveillance over low-income women, and it is unacceptable.”

We’ve been talking about that Utah bill seeking to ban abortion clinics in the state by requiring that abortions are done at hospitals—that legislation is heading to the governor’s desk, and he is expected to sign. Another anti-abortion bill in the state has moved forward—this one would only allow sexual assault victims to get abortions before 18 weeks, and would require the attack be reported to law enforcement. Originally, the bill was going to mandate that rape victims provide doctors with a case number before being allowed an abortion; now, it will require doctors “to document how they are verifying that crimes have been reported.” Essentially, they’re making it impossible for rape victims to get abortions—and as is the case with all Republican abortion ban exceptions, it is all for show.

Several anti-abortion bills have moved forward in Kansas: One bill targeting telemedicine that would require a doctor to be physically present to prescribe abortion medication passed the Senate last week; another would prohibit abortion providers from getting a state fund to provide them with malpractice insurance. And the Idaho bill I’ve written about quite a bit here that would label anyone who takes a minor across state lines for abortion care as a “trafficker” continues to move forward.

It’s nice to have a bit of good news: Colorado is considering a bill that would work to ensure anyone giving birth, recovering from pregnancy, or caring for a newborn is able to do so safely regardless of incarceration status. Alternatives In Criminal Justice System & Pregnant Persons (HB23-1187) would offer deferred or alternative sentences for a pregnant or postpartum defendant, with what the bill calls a “presumption against detention.”

And the pro-choice ballot measure language in Ohio has moved forward; it’s been approved by the state Attorney General. (State AG Dave Yost is anti-abortion, but his office just had to approve the language as a truthful representation of the law they’re suggesting.) Republicans there must be shaking in their boots—because if every other ballot measure is any indication, this one will do well.

Quick hits:

• A parental consent law in Montana has been struck down as unconstitutional;

• CBS News on the move to enshrine abortion rights in Maryland;

• Wyoming police have increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of the arsonist who attacked a Casper abortion clinic;

• Slate on the story of a Florida woman being forced to carry a doomed pregnancy;

• Also in Florida, the Clearwater City Council okayed a buffer zone after increased threats of violence at a local clinic;

• And Connecticut may cover the travel expenses of those traveling to the state for abortion care.

In the nation…

You know things are going great when human rights groups ask the United Nations to intervene on behalf of U.S. citizens. More than 200 organizations from around the world—including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International—have sent a letter to the U.N., saying “people residing in the U.S. who can become pregnant are facing a human rights crisis.” They’re not wrong. The groups accuse the U.S. of violating human rights laws, and are asking the U.N. to get involved.

And all we knew this was coming but it doesn’t make it any less disappointing. Walgreens has announced that it won’t be carrying abortion medication in certain states where abortion is legal. A little more than a week ago, the company assured Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach that they wouldn’t be shipping or dispensing the pills in his state—a response to an intimidation campaign by Kobach and more than two dozen other conservative state AGs. Now, Walgreens has confirmed that they also won’t be carrying or dispensing abortion medication in multiple other states, including Alaska, Iowa and Montana—again, where abortion is legal.

Absolute fucking cowards. This is a good time to call your local pharmacy chain (or independent pharmacy) and let them know you want to see them support abortion rights by carrying and dispensing abortion medication. And if you want to let Walgreens know how you feel about them withholding a legal medication, you can find a list of their executive team with contact information here, here, here and here; or you can call the corporate office phone number: (847) 914-2500. (Calls for a boycott are already growing.)

In a response from the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre didn’t mention Walgreens by name, but called out Republicans for “targeting pharmacies,” calling it “dangerous and unacceptable.” Meanwhile, reproductive rights and justice activists say that they’re disappointed with the Biden administration’s response to the lawsuit against the FDA on abortion medication. (As am I.)

Last month, I flagged analysis from the Guttmacher Institute showing which states would be hardest hit by a decision banning abortion medication—today, The New York Times looks at the same issue, outlining the states where medication is used in the vast majority of abortions, and looking at some of the roads forward if abortion medication is banned.

Quick hits:

• Media Matters says that MSNBC is the only cable news station adequately covering the abortion medication lawsuit;

• Bloomberg Law on how the abortion medication lawsuit could impact the FDA’s drug approval policy more broadly;

• Engadget on what reproductive health privacy looks like post-Roe;

• And Teen Vogue investigates how anti-abortion centers are using pro-choice feminist language to trick women.

You love to see it…

I know you could all use some good news! Firstly, a reminder that if you sign up for a paid subscription you get the benefit of the pretty amazing community in comments here, including our One Good Thing thread—where folks share something positive they had happen that week, no matter how big or small.

In less self-promotional news, this is very cool: Mayday.Health has launched mobile billboards that contain QR codes linking to online information about how to get abortion medication. The group is driving the billboards around college campuses in anti-choice states, including Mississippi, Texas and Idaho.

“We wish that everybody could just get these medications as easily as you can get Tylenol or Viagra in this country. Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Jennifer Lincoln, Mayday’s president, says.