I live in Tucson, AZ and received an update from Rep. Ciscomani claiming he highlighted the importance of women's health at a recent Congressional hearing with HHS. I don't believe for a second that this is a legitimate effort or reflects his genuine concern for women's health (or at least when it comes to abortion). He cosponsored H.R. 7, voted to prohibit distribution of mifepristone, and is a member of the Republican Study Committee. The language in the update, titled "Women's Health Research" clearly hopes to convey a different message than his voting record. I see this as part of anti-abortion efforts to soften their absolutism with claims of concerns for women's health. His House seat is precarious due to what's happened in AZ and his voting record.
I'm going to an event in DC next week about maternal mental health. Katie Britt will be there. I'm getting all anxious now about having to sit there with my mouth shut. AhhhhH!!!!! I can guarantee a negative impact on maternal mental health and the health of the developing fetus and the woman's other children if a woman has to carry out an unwanted pregnancy. I wrote a substack this week showing how my US rep has been very inactive on sponsoring/co-sponsoring anti-abortion bills since Dobbs, trying to lay low since he knows most Virginians want abortion to stay legal here and he's up for re-election this November. Ahhh!!!!!! My post would actually apply to all of the anti-abortion, anti-choice shitheads in Congress. https://talkaboutchoice.substack.com/p/know-where-your-us-representative
I am sharing an article from the Texas Tribune about Jonathan Mitchell that shows the lengths these men will go to pinish women.He is the architect of the Texas ant abortion law but that's not good enough for him. He's trying to use the courts to intimidate women who are doing something perfectly legal. These are things that should nev er be happening in a society that values women and believes in civil liberties. As someone who lives in this state, reading this brings a feeling of sadness that is hard to shake.
The CBS news report discusses how anti-abortion groups are “basically begging, can we at least have a 15 week ban” because she says they see the backlash. I found that framing so disingenuous. Any 15 week federal ban the GOP enacts is NOT they’re ultimate goal and would not make it a 15 week MINIMUM for every state - it would be 15 weeks OR MORE DRACONIAN BANS WOULD STILL BE LEFT IN PLACE.
@Jessica GREAT podcast with Chris Hayes!! As an avid reader I knew it all but was still happy to hear it with somewhat fresh ears. I think you painted a picture and hit home what we need voters who aren’t up-to-date on abortion news to know. Thank you!!!
Regarding a possible lawsuit preventing providers in blue states from sending the pill to prisoner states: It's not the pill that's illegal in, say, Florida. It's the act of a Florida doctor providing it, right? Wasn't their whole argument / sale pitch to the public that the woman wouldn't be prosecuted, the providers would?
Mifepristone is a federally protected (for now) drug. How can they argue that a drug that is legal nationwide can't be prescribed from a doctor out of state? That's crazy. That's imprisoning women inside their states.
Here, from the ACLU - from 2001 !!!
"In the absence of justifications based on true safety concerns, some state legislators have expressed an aversion to the “convenience” of taking a pill. This aversion is not a sufficient basis for legislation. States may not enact laws with the express purpose of making abortion more difficult to obtain or endure. Laws with the purpose of making abortion substantially more difficult to obtain are unconstitutional because they impose an undue burden on the right to choose abortion."
I have to read what Mary Ziegler is saying about it. It's just enraging.
My 13-year-old daughter went with her 8th grade class to Gettysburg. I read her the Address and said this country was messed up before this speech, during this speech, and it still is, more than 160 years later.
Some of what you write, Jessica, hits home in the most visceral and unexpected way for me. I know the term "brain drain" may only be theoretical for some people, but to me it's terrifyingly real. Case in point: in October 1952, I was delivered by a doctor who had managed one previous stillbirth and one premature birth for my mom, and went on to manage others. His daughter was my mom's best friend. They met in junior high school. Who was this doctor? He was an OBGYN who had fled Vienna (Austria) in 1932 with his wife, two daughters and several other bright, accomplished, educated relatives. Vienna was considered to be the most wonderful, cosmopolitan city in the world--a center of art, culture, science, and more. So why did all of these people relocate to Depression-era America? Yeah--they were all Jewish and beginning to face violence, discrimination, curtailment of their rights and more in their home country. We don't even have to look at luminaries like Einstein to see the ways that everyday brain-drains affect people. College students don't want to go to college, med students don't want to go to med school or do residencies, in places where they can't have the right to be fully human. This, apparently, is what the forced birthers want here, now. And, as you've noted, Jessica, this is *not* where they will stop. A brain drain isn't just for a few years. It's permanent. My mom's OBGYN, his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren never returned to Austria, and there are lots and lots more cases like these.
We have a campaign of religious harassment and oppression in this country, seeking to culminate in the elimination of all 'evidence-based practice and human rights'. They're getting away with it because too many people still can't picture Donald Trump and religion in the same sentence, much less the same regime. This is what fascism does though; it's an alliance of multiple different toxicities. If the American people can't figure this out and see this death cult for what it is before November - and we're still trailing in the polls - it's going to be learned the hard way and we're going to be put through something none of us ever want to see in our lifetimes.
The Society for Family Planning weekly update for May 9 (https://mailchi.mp/societyfp.org/society-of-family-planning-weekly-[...] reminds us that May 9 is Free the Pill Day, the anniversary of the initial FDA approval of contraceptive pills in 1960. “This year, Free the Pill Day is especially celebratory, as Opill, the first over the counter (OTC) birth control pill, is now available nationwide.” The Society of Family Planning has a partnership with the Free the Pill Coalition to promote not only insurance coverage of OTC contraceptives (some plans do not cover OTC medications of any kind) but faster FDA review of OTC oral contraceptives submitted for approval.
I wish that there was a meme throughout the reproductive justice movement of selling OTC pills and things like condoms and spermicide at slightly above cost as a fund-raising tool. And it would be a little more work but not insuperable to recruit pharmacists and other employees to operate a mail-order pharmacy on the same terms. All health care costs are so inflated that it would be easy to save patients a lot of money while still more than covering costs.
The newsletter also reminds us that National Nurses Week runs from May 6-12, and nurses deserve recognition of their “tireless efforts in the reproductive health and justice landscape and their commitment to advocating for equitable care, including abortion care, for all.”
I would love to see more language to men about the danger of abortion bans.
Anti-abortion laws are a massive overreach that defies scientific understanding, medical standards of care, democratic and pluralistic values basic to our government and peace.
This is as close to death panels as we have ever had (remember 2009?) Fellas, death panels are happening now. We literally have courts empaneled opining on whether a single woman can get an abortion to save her organs or reduce her risk of death. 🤮
Bodily autonomy is essential to freedom. No one gets to force me to give blood, or can take my organs even to save another, or compel me to undergo surgery, hell, they can’t even take my organs after I’m dead without my permission. But here we are in 2024 saying they can take pregnant people’s organs. And no, they won’t stop there.
Fellas. My dudes. Bros. We have to stop this insanity. Everyone gets to decide what happens to their bodies. That’s a basic human right here in America. 🇺🇸
For a deeper dive on the HIPAA privacy regulations, or if you're interested in how it affects employment-related health plans, See Allison F. Bans, “The 2024 HIPAA Privacy Reproductive Health Care Regulations—Five Takeaways for Group Health Plans,” Snell & Wilmer Employee Benefits Blog (May 8, 2024), https://blog.swlaw.com/employee-benefits/2024/05/08/the-2024-hipaa[...] Five highlights of the April 26 Office for Civil Rights Final Rule amendments to the HIPAA privacy rules: 1 The rules limit when an employer-sponsored group health plan can disclose protected health information (PHI) for purposes other than health care—NOT for a criminal, administrative, or civil investigation of anybody for seeking, obtaining, facilitating, or providing reproductive health care, or to identify a person for such pruposes
2 However, this applies only to lawful reproductive health care (lawful under the state where provided, or where authorized by federal law. The health plan must assume reproductive health care is lawful unless it has actual knowledge that is not, provided by the party seeking the information
3 A group health plan can only disclose PHI that could relate to reproductive health care if it gets a valid attestation from the requester that is to be used for law enforcement or judicial purposes
4 A group health plan can respond to a subpoena or summons if it is specific and limit in scope, and there is no way the requester could use information from which personal identification is removed—but the disclosures must be required by law and now covered by rule #1 above.
5 The compliance date for the rule is December 23, 2024, so plans should consider drafting a standard form to use when a request for PHI is made. As of February 16, 2026, the plan has to update its privacy notices to cover reproductive health privacy rights.
Regarding Ed Kilgore's Intelligencer article in New York Magazine, this quote stuck out at me:
> There’s not much question New York Republicans believe transphobia is a better bet politically than hostility to abortion rights.
I so, so want Republicans to run on transphobia. Oh, please, GOP, as a Democrat, I'm begging you *not* to run on Transphobia because you'll win an election!
(To sane people here: Seriously, Transphobia has shown to be an election loser in *Red States*. What does that say about Transphobia winning in queer mecca New York, home of Stonewall and Broadway?)
Women in Kansas need to give ridiculous answers to the survey questions. Q: Why are you seeking an abortion? A: Because I want one. Q: Are your reasons financial in nature? A: My finances are none of your concern. Or simply respond to every question with either an interpretive dance or “fuck you and the horse you rode in on.”
I live in Tucson, AZ and received an update from Rep. Ciscomani claiming he highlighted the importance of women's health at a recent Congressional hearing with HHS. I don't believe for a second that this is a legitimate effort or reflects his genuine concern for women's health (or at least when it comes to abortion). He cosponsored H.R. 7, voted to prohibit distribution of mifepristone, and is a member of the Republican Study Committee. The language in the update, titled "Women's Health Research" clearly hopes to convey a different message than his voting record. I see this as part of anti-abortion efforts to soften their absolutism with claims of concerns for women's health. His House seat is precarious due to what's happened in AZ and his voting record.
I'm going to an event in DC next week about maternal mental health. Katie Britt will be there. I'm getting all anxious now about having to sit there with my mouth shut. AhhhhH!!!!! I can guarantee a negative impact on maternal mental health and the health of the developing fetus and the woman's other children if a woman has to carry out an unwanted pregnancy. I wrote a substack this week showing how my US rep has been very inactive on sponsoring/co-sponsoring anti-abortion bills since Dobbs, trying to lay low since he knows most Virginians want abortion to stay legal here and he's up for re-election this November. Ahhh!!!!!! My post would actually apply to all of the anti-abortion, anti-choice shitheads in Congress. https://talkaboutchoice.substack.com/p/know-where-your-us-representative
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/10/texas-courts-abortion-jonathan-mitchell/?utm_source=Texas+Tribune+Newsletters&utm_campaign=91af54f7b2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_05_09_11_34&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-91af54f7b2-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=91af54f7b2&mc_eid=c13596d5fc
I am sharing an article from the Texas Tribune about Jonathan Mitchell that shows the lengths these men will go to pinish women.He is the architect of the Texas ant abortion law but that's not good enough for him. He's trying to use the courts to intimidate women who are doing something perfectly legal. These are things that should nev er be happening in a society that values women and believes in civil liberties. As someone who lives in this state, reading this brings a feeling of sadness that is hard to shake.
The CBS news report discusses how anti-abortion groups are “basically begging, can we at least have a 15 week ban” because she says they see the backlash. I found that framing so disingenuous. Any 15 week federal ban the GOP enacts is NOT they’re ultimate goal and would not make it a 15 week MINIMUM for every state - it would be 15 weeks OR MORE DRACONIAN BANS WOULD STILL BE LEFT IN PLACE.
@Jessica GREAT podcast with Chris Hayes!! As an avid reader I knew it all but was still happy to hear it with somewhat fresh ears. I think you painted a picture and hit home what we need voters who aren’t up-to-date on abortion news to know. Thank you!!!
Regarding a possible lawsuit preventing providers in blue states from sending the pill to prisoner states: It's not the pill that's illegal in, say, Florida. It's the act of a Florida doctor providing it, right? Wasn't their whole argument / sale pitch to the public that the woman wouldn't be prosecuted, the providers would?
Mifepristone is a federally protected (for now) drug. How can they argue that a drug that is legal nationwide can't be prescribed from a doctor out of state? That's crazy. That's imprisoning women inside their states.
Here, from the ACLU - from 2001 !!!
"In the absence of justifications based on true safety concerns, some state legislators have expressed an aversion to the “convenience” of taking a pill. This aversion is not a sufficient basis for legislation. States may not enact laws with the express purpose of making abortion more difficult to obtain or endure. Laws with the purpose of making abortion substantially more difficult to obtain are unconstitutional because they impose an undue burden on the right to choose abortion."
https://www.aclu.org/documents/potential-legal-flaws-state-restrictions-targeting-mifepristone
I have to read what Mary Ziegler is saying about it. It's just enraging.
My 13-year-old daughter went with her 8th grade class to Gettysburg. I read her the Address and said this country was messed up before this speech, during this speech, and it still is, more than 160 years later.
;_; I don't care what anyone thinks, I still love Hillary. It's a travesty she wasn't my president.
❤️Me too, and I followed her career for decades, as she worked to try and give us national healthcare long before Bernie was elected to anything.
<3 Same and for the same reason!
I hear you!
This is so extremely frustrating!! I want to throw up daily thinking about what women are being reduced too.
Some of what you write, Jessica, hits home in the most visceral and unexpected way for me. I know the term "brain drain" may only be theoretical for some people, but to me it's terrifyingly real. Case in point: in October 1952, I was delivered by a doctor who had managed one previous stillbirth and one premature birth for my mom, and went on to manage others. His daughter was my mom's best friend. They met in junior high school. Who was this doctor? He was an OBGYN who had fled Vienna (Austria) in 1932 with his wife, two daughters and several other bright, accomplished, educated relatives. Vienna was considered to be the most wonderful, cosmopolitan city in the world--a center of art, culture, science, and more. So why did all of these people relocate to Depression-era America? Yeah--they were all Jewish and beginning to face violence, discrimination, curtailment of their rights and more in their home country. We don't even have to look at luminaries like Einstein to see the ways that everyday brain-drains affect people. College students don't want to go to college, med students don't want to go to med school or do residencies, in places where they can't have the right to be fully human. This, apparently, is what the forced birthers want here, now. And, as you've noted, Jessica, this is *not* where they will stop. A brain drain isn't just for a few years. It's permanent. My mom's OBGYN, his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren never returned to Austria, and there are lots and lots more cases like these.
We have a campaign of religious harassment and oppression in this country, seeking to culminate in the elimination of all 'evidence-based practice and human rights'. They're getting away with it because too many people still can't picture Donald Trump and religion in the same sentence, much less the same regime. This is what fascism does though; it's an alliance of multiple different toxicities. If the American people can't figure this out and see this death cult for what it is before November - and we're still trailing in the polls - it's going to be learned the hard way and we're going to be put through something none of us ever want to see in our lifetimes.
The Society for Family Planning weekly update for May 9 (https://mailchi.mp/societyfp.org/society-of-family-planning-weekly-[...] reminds us that May 9 is Free the Pill Day, the anniversary of the initial FDA approval of contraceptive pills in 1960. “This year, Free the Pill Day is especially celebratory, as Opill, the first over the counter (OTC) birth control pill, is now available nationwide.” The Society of Family Planning has a partnership with the Free the Pill Coalition to promote not only insurance coverage of OTC contraceptives (some plans do not cover OTC medications of any kind) but faster FDA review of OTC oral contraceptives submitted for approval.
I wish that there was a meme throughout the reproductive justice movement of selling OTC pills and things like condoms and spermicide at slightly above cost as a fund-raising tool. And it would be a little more work but not insuperable to recruit pharmacists and other employees to operate a mail-order pharmacy on the same terms. All health care costs are so inflated that it would be easy to save patients a lot of money while still more than covering costs.
The newsletter also reminds us that National Nurses Week runs from May 6-12, and nurses deserve recognition of their “tireless efforts in the reproductive health and justice landscape and their commitment to advocating for equitable care, including abortion care, for all.”
I would love to see more language to men about the danger of abortion bans.
Anti-abortion laws are a massive overreach that defies scientific understanding, medical standards of care, democratic and pluralistic values basic to our government and peace.
This is as close to death panels as we have ever had (remember 2009?) Fellas, death panels are happening now. We literally have courts empaneled opining on whether a single woman can get an abortion to save her organs or reduce her risk of death. 🤮
Bodily autonomy is essential to freedom. No one gets to force me to give blood, or can take my organs even to save another, or compel me to undergo surgery, hell, they can’t even take my organs after I’m dead without my permission. But here we are in 2024 saying they can take pregnant people’s organs. And no, they won’t stop there.
Fellas. My dudes. Bros. We have to stop this insanity. Everyone gets to decide what happens to their bodies. That’s a basic human right here in America. 🇺🇸
🎯🎯🎯
For a deeper dive on the HIPAA privacy regulations, or if you're interested in how it affects employment-related health plans, See Allison F. Bans, “The 2024 HIPAA Privacy Reproductive Health Care Regulations—Five Takeaways for Group Health Plans,” Snell & Wilmer Employee Benefits Blog (May 8, 2024), https://blog.swlaw.com/employee-benefits/2024/05/08/the-2024-hipaa[...] Five highlights of the April 26 Office for Civil Rights Final Rule amendments to the HIPAA privacy rules: 1 The rules limit when an employer-sponsored group health plan can disclose protected health information (PHI) for purposes other than health care—NOT for a criminal, administrative, or civil investigation of anybody for seeking, obtaining, facilitating, or providing reproductive health care, or to identify a person for such pruposes
2 However, this applies only to lawful reproductive health care (lawful under the state where provided, or where authorized by federal law. The health plan must assume reproductive health care is lawful unless it has actual knowledge that is not, provided by the party seeking the information
3 A group health plan can only disclose PHI that could relate to reproductive health care if it gets a valid attestation from the requester that is to be used for law enforcement or judicial purposes
4 A group health plan can respond to a subpoena or summons if it is specific and limit in scope, and there is no way the requester could use information from which personal identification is removed—but the disclosures must be required by law and now covered by rule #1 above.
5 The compliance date for the rule is December 23, 2024, so plans should consider drafting a standard form to use when a request for PHI is made. As of February 16, 2026, the plan has to update its privacy notices to cover reproductive health privacy rights.
HHS press release: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/04/22/biden-harris-administration-issues-new-rule-support-reproductive-health-care-privacy-under-hipaa.html
HHS fact Sheet: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/reproductive-health/final-rule-fact-sheet/index.html
Regarding Ed Kilgore's Intelligencer article in New York Magazine, this quote stuck out at me:
> There’s not much question New York Republicans believe transphobia is a better bet politically than hostility to abortion rights.
I so, so want Republicans to run on transphobia. Oh, please, GOP, as a Democrat, I'm begging you *not* to run on Transphobia because you'll win an election!
(To sane people here: Seriously, Transphobia has shown to be an election loser in *Red States*. What does that say about Transphobia winning in queer mecca New York, home of Stonewall and Broadway?)
Thank you, Jessica. Your pieces are difficult to read and heart rending. They are also necessary 💙💙💙
Women in Kansas need to give ridiculous answers to the survey questions. Q: Why are you seeking an abortion? A: Because I want one. Q: Are your reasons financial in nature? A: My finances are none of your concern. Or simply respond to every question with either an interpretive dance or “fuck you and the horse you rode in on.”
They have to ask them, they cannot make them answer.
I could not agree more
This advice needs to be put on billboards and tv ads. Very smart!!