Abortion, Every Day (4.29.24)

Missouri anti-choice group is lying to voters. Badly.

Click to skip ahead: In Attacks on Democracy, an absolutely wild tactic in Missouri. In the States, abortion rights activists are planning to challenge Tennessee’s travel ban, and news from Arizona, Alabama and Florida. In the Nation, Mitch McConnell avoids talking about a federal ban. In 2024, Trump says the end of Roe is “working out well for people.” In What Conservatives Are Saying, a conservative outlet says the quiet part out loud. And in Media Muck-Ups, maybe don’t call your abortion panel ‘all-star’ when it’s all-male.

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Attacks on Democracy

This is absolutely shameless: Anti-choice activists in Missouri are tricking voters out of supporting a pro-choice ballot measure by telling them that petitioners are trying to steal their personal data. That’s right, conservatives are so desperate to keep abortion off the ballot that they’re playing on voters’ fears of identity theft to stop them from having a say on the issue.

KOMU reports that the “Decline to Sign” campaign—a coalition of groups, including national powerhouse Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America—is targeting Missourians with texts and phone calls warning them not to sign anything because “out-of-state groups are attempting to collect your sensitive data.”

The texts, which you can see here, say “protect yourself from fraud and theft” and “don’t share your personal data with strangers.”

Now, I’ve tracked attacks on democracy in every state where abortion has been on the ballot—from efforts to change ballot measure standards to million-dollar ad campaigns lying to voters about what proposed amendments would really do. This campaign might take the cake.

How much clearer can Republicans be? They know they can’t win by telling the truth, and they know that voters want abortion rights restored and protected. They are lying to voters—using a scare tactic that’s particularly resonant. (Who isn’t scared of theft and fraud right now??)

I really hope there’s some sort of consequence for this kind of blatant bullshit.

In the States

Tennessee abortion rights activists plan to challenge the travel ban that’s headed to the governor’s desk. Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, says the organization is exploring their options for how to move against the law, which will make it illegal to help a teenager obtain an abortion in any way. (Even by telling them where to get an abortion or lending them gas money to leave the state.)

A near-identical law was passed in Idaho, but was blocked by a judge who ruled that it violated free speech rights. Coffield nodded to that challenge in a press conference, making clear that her organization doesn’t plan on stopping their working providing teenagers with information about abortion:

"We're looking at our options for challenging this law and complying with this law. We do believe that we can still help people within the boundaries of this law. We always advise minors to involve their parents in their decisions, if that's possible. And under our First Amendment rights, we can still offer any patient information about where abortion is legal, about how they can make an appointment, and we can connect them with navigation services.”

Briana Perry, interim executive director of Healthy and Free Tennessee, tells Jezebel that “terror is the intent.” She says, “It’s about stopping people who otherwise would from helping kids who need them.”

The Arizona Senate is expected to vote this week on whether or not to repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban. The state House voted to repeal the ban last week, after three Republicans voted with Democrats, responding to pressure from national Republican leaders. Assuming the 1864 law is reversed, the state will revert back to having a 15-week abortion ban. In November, voters will then have the chance to protect abortion rights in the state constitution. (Republicans are hoping they can trick Arizonans with fake ‘pro-choice’ ballot measures of their own.)

In the meantime, the Arizona Supreme Court has declined a request from state Attorney General Kris Mayes to reconsider their ruling on the 1864 abortion ban. Mayes had put in a request with the Court at the same time that Democrats were pushing for a repeal of the law. The good news, though, is that Mayes’ request delayed enforcement of the ban by two weeks! The Arizona Star reports that means the soonest the ban can be enacted would be June 25.

A new sex education bill in Alabama would allow parents to sue schools and teachers who teach anything about “safe sex.” Quite a move for a state that has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country!

HB195 would prohibit sex education classes from including information that “promotes…nonmarital sexual activity,” including how teens can obtain contraception. The classes would be required to tell minors, however, the best way to surrender a newborn and how wonderful it is to give a baby up for adoption. The focus on adoption is par for the course in states with abortion bans: Abortion, Every Day has been tracking how Republicans are trying to make it easier to revoke parental rights and “streamline” the adoption process.

And in keeping with the broader tactic we’re seeing around school indoctrination, classes are required to include “medically sound information relating to fetal growth and development, maternal health, and infant health.” What Alabama means by “medically sound” is likely pretty different than what you and I would consider scientific standards, and we’ve seen how anti-abortion states are using the guise of “fetal development” to require that anti-abortion videos are shown in public school classrooms.

What’s most striking, of course, is that the legislation would give parents the right to sue if their children were given even an inkling of accurate information about sex education. You can read the bill here.

If you missed my explainer earlier today about the 6-week ban going into effect in Florida on Wednesday, you can read it below:

Countdown to Florida's Abortion Ban

The Hill reports that Florida Republicans are afraid that the abortion ban is going to impact them come November. Former Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo says, “Given how unpopular this new policy is and the fact that there’s a constitutional amendment question regarding abortion on the ballot, I do think that there’s some risk for down-ballot Republicans.”

Also in Florida, don’t miss this op-ed from emergency room doctor Juhi Varshney, who writes in the Miami Herald that the ban will endanger lives:

“Pregnancy can put a woman on bedrest for months, cause life-threatening infections, and lead to seizures. My job trains me to be ready for these emergencies, and I hope that my patients never face them. Pregnancy changes everything about a body, and people should be able to choose if or when they are pregnant.”

In Georgia, a former Democratic congressman wants to unseat a state Supreme Court justice—and he’s planning on using anger over abortion rights to do it. The Associated Press reports that former U.S. Rep. John Barrow is mounting a long-shot challenge against Justice Andrew Pinson. Barrow says Pinson helped pave the way for the end of Roe. (While Pinson was Georgia’s solicitor general, he led the state to support the Mississippi case that led to the Dobbs decision.)

“I happen to believe that the Georgia Constitution does provide a right of privacy, and that encompasses everything that we associate with what was the law under Roe vs. Wade,” Barrow says. “If the voters give me the office, I’m going to give it back to the voters.”

Abortion rights has taken the spotlight in state Supreme Court races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, with record-setting amounts of money being spent in those campaigns. If Barrow won, it wouldn’t change the makeup of the Georgia Supreme Court, but I’ll be interested to see how this turns out.

Finally, Ohio Democrats have introduced legislation to protect IVF while they wait for various anti-abortion laws to be repealed through the courts. Remember, Ohio voters passed Issue 1, which enshrines abortion rights in the state constitution—but pro-choice activists have to challenge each law one by one.

Quick hits:

• More on the bill to defund Planned Parenthood in Missouri that’s headed to the governor’s desk;

• How the Florida ban will impact patients in Louisiana;

• And the Idaho hospital that’s had to airlift multiple patients out of the state for care has responded to the Attorney General’s claim that it never happened.

In the Nation

In an interview with “Meet the Press” this weekend, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to say outright that he supports a federal abortion ban. Like most Republicans, McConnell knows that abortion bans are incredibly unpopular, and so instead of telling the truth—that he would pass any abortion ban he possibly could—he told NBC, “I don’t think we’ll get 60 votes in the Senate for any kind of national legislation.”

This has become a common talking point and tactic among Republicans. Instead of admitting that of course they’d support a national ban, they change the conversation to how they don’t have the support needed. Following Donald Trump’s lead, McConnell also insinuated that he believed abortion should be up to the states, saying, “It seems to me views about this issue at the state level vary depending where you are.”

We know, however, that McConnell wants a national ban; that’s why he refused to say either way. I just hope the media coverage of his interview reflects that this was political posturing, not an actual statement of belief.

Quick hits:

• NPR lays out the ‘controversy’ over the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act;

• I love this piece from Rewire on the incredible feminist activists at Catholic colleges;

• The director of the Office for Civil Rights at the HHS writes in The Hill about the importance of post-Roe privacy protections;

• Finally, the Los Angeles Times editorial board responded to the EMTALA case before the Supreme Court with the perfect (though depressing) headline: “Pregnant women are not incubators. Antiabortion states should not deny them emergency care.”

2024

I cannot believe I missed this quote from Donald Trump last week, but apparently the disgraced former president told a Philadelphia television station that the end of Roe is “working out well for people and they’re very, very happy.” If I was the Biden campaign, I’d use that quote in every campaign ad, playing it over headlines about women forced to carry doomed pregnancies and patients denied miscarriage care.

But there’s something else I just have to point out about this quote, and that’s that I fucking called it. Remember what I wrote in November? A reminder:

“Trump loves nothing more than taking credit for wins—any wins. I can very easily imagine him at a campaign rally or in a Fox News interview, saying that the only reason Ohio voters were able to get abortion in their state constitution was because of him. He gave the decision back to the states! Wasn’t that generous?!

In the same way that Trump has never stopped taking credit for the end of Roe, he will take credit for anything that happens after it.”

Well, compare that against what Trump said last week:

“Now all of the states are making their decision…and this is what people have wanted. The people are voting, they’re voting all over the country. Sometimes it’s conservative, sometimes it’s not conservative. We were able to do that. When you look at what's happening all over the country now states are voting. Ohio just voted. All different by the way. It’s tailor made and it’s really working out well for people and they’re very very happy.”

You all know I can’t resist a victory lap, so consider this a reminder of why you should upgrade your subscription if you haven’t already. :)

Some Florida-related national news: Democrats see Florida’s 6-week ban as an opportunity to oust U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who hasn’t ruled out running for president again in 2028, is bending the knee to Donald Trump. POLITICO reports that the two egomaniacal politicians had a sit-down recently to bury the hatchet.

Jim Bennett, who is running for the U.S. House in Georgia, said in a debate yesterday that he opposes “recreational abortion.” What do you think ‘recreational abortion’ is, exactly? He makes it sounds as if we’re jump-roping our way to the clinic. The other Republican candidates weren’t much better. One, Brian Jack, refused to say whether he believed embryos were people, instead—like McConnell—pivoting to talking about leaving the decision up to the states. Another, Mike Dugan, refused to say whether he’d ban IVF, saying it was a “deeper question.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry is sprinting away from abortion rights along with other Republicans. In an interview last week with a local Pennsylvania station, Perry said that he agreed with Trump’s position on abortion and that we should “have the states figure out.” But here’s the thing: Perry is an anti-abortion fanatic who sponsored legislation that would give embryos and fetuses “equal protection” under the Constitution. And if that language sounds familiar, it’s because anti-abortion activists use “equal protection” to mean that women who have abortions should be prosecuted for murder.

“I said, Here’s my one piece of advice. You have friends all over the country. The ones who live in any one of the states that are going to impose a complete ban, tell them that they must not get pregnant. And if they do want to be pregnant, they must move away. Because a lot of things can go wrong in a pregnancy, and if anything goes wrong, they’re not going to be able to get emergency care.” 

~ Sara Rosenbaum, emerita professor at George Washington University and health policy expert, on what she told her daughter when Roe was overturned.

What Conservatives Are Saying

I love when they give away the game. At American Family News, the Christian publication says that the EMTALA case before the Supreme Court would force emergency room doctors to perform abortions “if a woman declares a health concern.” This language is just so incredibly transparent—and reminds me of Idaho attorney Josh Turner’s argument about ‘mental health.’

Anti-abortion groups are obsessed with the idea that women lie in order to get abortions. That’s why they want us to show up with ‘proof’ that we were raped in order to access abortion ban ‘exceptions’, and why they’re so opposed to mental health exemptions: they can’t imagine a world where women tell the truth.

Media Muck-Ups

Can someone please tell me why no one at Scripps considered that if they were going to have an “all-star panel” on abortion rights in Florida, they might want to consider including someone with the ability to get pregnant? For a panel that’s more representative of the people who are actually impacted by abortion bans, watch this MSNBC segment instead.