Abortion, Every Day (4.1.24)

A woman is suing Texas after being charged with murder for her abortion

Click to skip ahead: In Criminalizing Care, a Texas woman sues after being arrested for her abortion. In the States, news from Ohio, Alabama, Louisiana and more. In the Nation, we’re prepping for the next Supreme Court abortion case. In Stats & Studies, a reminder that we got a bonkers poll last week that no one seems to be talking about. IVF Battle Continues outlines the new anti-abortion plan to restrict fertility care. Post-Roe Ripple Effects looks at the women who don’t want to travel to states with bans. A moving photoessay of a Texas woman forced to carry a doomed pregnancy to term in Care Denied. Finally, in You Love to See It, a pro-choice banner flies over Texas.

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Criminalizing Care

A Texas woman who was wrongfully charged with murder after self-managing an abortion is suing the state for over $1 million. I hope she gets every cent.

Lizelle Gonzalez was arrested in 2022 after using abortion medication about 19 weeks into her pregnancy. She was later turned in by hospital staff. (Remember, when women are arrested for self-managing abortions, 39% of the time it’s a health care provider who has turned them in.)

Gonzalez’s suit argues that the hospital violated patient privacy and that prosecutors pursued a case even though Texas law prohibits arresting abortion patients. The district attorney who targeted the then-26-year-old, Gocha Ramirez, was fined and suspended at the time.

The complaint says “the fallout from defendants’ illegal and unconstitutional actions has forever changed” Gonzalez’s life, and that she “was subjected to the humiliation of a highly publicized indictment and arrest, which has permanently affected her standing in the community.”

I’m really glad to see this suit, because it pushes back against the idea that Gonzalez could just go back to her normal life after the charges were dropped. We know that’s just not true.

Side note: Something I hadn’t seen reported earlier is that doctors gave Gonzalez a c-section to remove the fetus after finding it had no heartbeat. Obviously I don’t know the medical details in this case, but that seems to align with what we’re seeing in other states like Louisiana where doctors are performing major abdominal surgery rather than giving patients abortions because of legal fears.

For more on criminalization, check out Abortion, Every Day’s year-end review.

In the States

I was hoping to have an update for you on Florida’s ballot measure—today is the state Supreme Court’s deadline for a ruling—but nothing has come down yet. As you likely remember, the Court needs to approve the language of the measure before it can move on to voters this November. I’m sure I’ll have more for you on this tomorrow.

In Ohio, pro-choice advocates are suing over abortion restrictions, pointing out that they violate Issue 1—the recently-passed amendment that protects abortion rights in the state constitution. The ACLU, the ACLU of Ohio and Planned Parenthood Federation of America are challenging the state’s 24-hour waiting period period and a mandate that doctors give patients false information about the risks of abortion.

The groups are asking the courts both to repeal the laws and block them while the issue is battled out.

I told you last week about the new travel ban proposed in Alabama, a bill that doesn’t just criminalize taking a teen out-of-state for an abortion—but helping a minor get care in any way, shape, or form. Republicans didn’t bother to keep up the pretense with this one, and laid out explicitly that providing any kind of assistance—from gas money to a place to stay—would be illegal.

Stephen Stetson, director of Planned Parenthood Alabama, told the Alabama Reflector that the bill is “blatant fear-mongering” meant to make people too afraid to help each other. Similar bills are advancing in Tennessee, Mississippi and Oklahoma; Idaho passed a law that’s currently blocked.

Staying with Alabama for a moment: Marilyn Lands, who just flipped a House seat there by campaigning on abortion rights (!!!), gave an interview to CBS News this weekend. Lands says that voters on the campaign trail shared personal stories with her, and spoke about her decision to share her own abortion story: “I felt great peace about it, and I haven’t had any reservations or regrets about it. I hope it helps.”

You can watch the full segment below:

I’m sure you remember the report I flagged not too long ago from Louisiana: Lift Louisiana found that among other nightmare consequences of the state’s ban, doctors are giving women with life-threatening pregnancies c-sections instead of abortions.

This weekend atThe Times-Picayune, columnist Stephanie Grace gets into the nitty gritty of the report—which also found that women were being denied treatment for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, and that the state’s ban was nullifying the EMTALA.This particular quote from a doctor is going to stick with me:

“I had a patient who had a pregnancy with multiple abnormalities, and we were talking about her options, and she asked me, ‘Do I need to get a lawyer?’ And that wouldn’t have been something that a patient would have asked me prior to Dobbs.”

Imagine getting perhaps the worst news of your life, and instead of having a moment to process, mourn and get care—you need to worry about whether or not you need an attorney.

Quick hits:

• How the SCOTUS mifepristone case could impact states like Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire;

• A look at the support for a pro-choice ballot measure in Arizona;

• A profile of AED’s favorite Tennessee candidate, Allie Phillips;

• And The Hill outlines where abortion is on the ballot this year.

In the Nation

Naturally, people are still analyzing last week’s Supreme Court arguments over the availability of mifepristone. The New York Times editorial board points out that regardless of the ruling, the attacks on women and reproductive rights will continue. They remind readers, for example, about the attacks on abortion rights ballot measures and “why any successful strategy to protect or restore abortion rights must understand reproductive rights and representative democracy as inextricably linked.”

Rachel Rebouché, dean of Temple University’s law school, predicts that even if anti-abortion activists lose their current mifepristone case, that doesn’t mean they’re just going to pack it up. She tells POLITICO that if the case is dismissed, conservative groups will likely look for other plaintiffs to bring a similar case.

Finally, at the Crooked Media podcast “What a Day,” hosts look at how mifepristone became enemy #1 for the anti-abortion movement:

The New Republic has a rundown of the next abortion case headed to the Supreme Court. This one is about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a federal law that requires hospitals to provide life-saving and stabilizing care, including abortions.

The short, horrific, version is that Republican-led states like Idaho argue that the federal government can’t force them to provide life-saving abortions. (Remember: Of Course They Want Us Dead.) Their claim is that abortion bans already allow for life-saving abortions—and that the federal government is trying to make hospital ERs into abortion clinics.

Last week, nearly two dozen Democratic Attorneys General signed onto an amicus brief asking SCOTUS to rule that states must provide abortions as required by the EMTALA. Just one of many stomach-churning sentences from their brief:

“Pregnant patients denied or forced to wait for necessary emergency care will suffer serious and sometimes irreparable harms including organ damage, infertility, limb amputations, and even death.”

Nearly all Democratic federal lawmakers also submitted a brief in support of the EMTALA, which pointed out that this isn’t just about life-saving abortions—but preventing more maternity deserts in Idaho, where the state’s ban is driving out OBGYNs.

Finally, this is really smart: a new digital ad campaign is targeting Republican physicians in Congress. The campaign, called “Oathbreakers,” accuses the fourteen Republican doctors who serve in the House and Senate of breaking their oath to ‘do no harm.’

Stats & Studies

I wish I understood why I haven’t seen more news about the incredible poll that dropped last week showing overwhelming support for abortion rights:

This New Poll Should Terrify Republicans

The poll from Axios/Ipsos shows that over 80% of Americans believe abortion shouldn’t be regulated, and that it should be a decision between a patient and their doctor. This is the sort of thing that seems like front page news to me—a serious reminder that abortion bans and restrictions are being passed against voters’ wishes.

Yet of the little coverage I’ve seen, most has been has focused on Americans’ support for abortion medication, specifically—which is great, but not the whole story! Again, this feels like a much bigger story than the media is making it out to be.

IVF Battle Continues

Ever since the Alabama Supreme Court ruling on frozen embryos, Republicans have been battling it out with the anti-abortion movement: the GOP is scared of public outrage over attacks on IVF, while anti-abortion activists and groups want to push ahead regardless.

Today, POLITICO looks at that conflict, and how conservatives think they can move forward with IVF restrictions without voters noticing. Namely, they want to use the same chipping away approach that they did with Roe and abortion rights:

“The groups are not advocating banning IVF but want new restrictions that would significantly curtail access to the procedure, such as imposing more regulations on fertility clinics, limiting the number of embryos that can be created or transferred to the uterus at one time, and banning pre-implantation genetic testing, which they argue allows parents to discriminate against their embryos on the basis of sex, disabilities like Down Syndrome or other factors.”

This, obviously, is worrisome. We know an incremental approach has worked for the anti-abortion movement in the past, and there’s so much horror and urgency around reproductive health right now, I worry that conservatives’ focus on ‘reasonable restrictions’ on IVF very well could fly under the radar.

That’s certainly what GOP strategist Bob Heckman seems to think is going to happen, telling POLITICO that while people were “running for the hills at first,” the panic is dying down and Republicans are ready to move forward.

Post-Roe Ripple Effects

How many women do you know who’ve avoided travel to anti-choice states since Roe was overturned? I’m betting a few. I’ve had friends turn down jobs, I’ve watched family reunions get postponed and more—all because people with the ability to get pregnant don’t feel safe in states with abortion bans.

This week, a popular California-based urologist pulled out of presenting her research at a conference after finding out it would be held in Texas. Ashley Winter, who is trying to get pregnant, announced on Twitter that because she has a high risk of miscarriage, “I don't want to go somewhere my healthcare options are limited should I have an emergency.” And who could blame her.

We know, both from personal accounts and a suit brought by multiple women, that Texas patients have been denied emergency care, including care for miscarriages. At least one woman has gone septic and nearly died as a result of doctors delaying miscarriage care; another died after doctors refused to tell her that an abortion might save her life.

In addition to Winter, other urologists and doctors signed onto an open letter, asking the American Board of Urology to pull out of the conference. Winter says they got the brush-off—that’s why she announced that she wouldn’t be attending. Her hope is that others will consider putting similar pressure on similar professional conferences in states where abortion is banned.

Let’s be real, though: this is part of the point. Abortion bans aren’t just about banning abortion, but limiting women’s freedom and participation in the public sphere. I 100% agree with Winter’s decision, but I’m also confident that the men who crafted Texas’ abortion law would love if the only professional conferences in the state were those attended by men.

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Anti-Abortion Indoctrination in Schools

Tennessee public schools are just one major vote away from being forced into showing students an anti-abortion video as part of their ‘science’ curricula. The video cited in the bill was produced by Live Action, one of the nation’s most extremist anti-choice organizations—a group known for creating deceptive videos.

If you’re a regular reader, you know I’ve been tracking this legislative trend for months: Similar bills have been proposed in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Iowa; another has passed in North Dakota. They’re all part of a broader move to embed anti-choice propaganda in schools across the country.

Essentially, conservatives know that young people are the most pro-choice demographic in the country, so they need to indoctrinate them as early as possible. I’ll keep you updated on what happens in Tennessee, but in the meantime, learn more here.

Care Denied

I’m sure you remember Samantha Casiano, the Texas woman who vomited on the stand while describing what it was like to watch her daughter take pained last gasps. Casiano—one of the women who sued the state after being denied vital abortion care—was forced to carry her doomed pregnancy to term.

CNN has a really powerful photoessay of Casiano, following her day-to-day life and reminding us that the impact of abortion bans doesn’t just fade away. She says, “I feel like I’m going to feel this way forever. I’m scarred forever, literally.”

“I want people to ask questions. I want people to know about her. I want people to be aware of the situation and why abortion is health care and why my daughter had to wait all the way until birth to be released into heaven.”

I have so much admiration for this woman, and she’s clearly incredibly strong—but I feel sick that she had to be.

Finally, make sure you don’t miss this vital piece from The Marshall Project about abortion access for incarcerated women. The nonprofit journalism group reviewed the pregnancy policies in 27 jails across 12 states, finding that even in states without abortion bans, access is near-impossible.

For example, most jails in Illinois—a state often cited as a model on abortion rights—don’t have abortion policies, and the ones they do have are confusing and stacked with hurdles. Really, read this whole article; it’s an important one.

You Love to See It

Just to end on a positive note: Mayday.Health flew a banner over a packed baseball game in Texas this weekend, reminding people that they can legally order abortion medication online. Olivia Raisner, executive director of the group, said, “They can try to ban clinics, and they have in many states, but they cannot ban free speech.”