In the States
I almost sent the newsletter out before seeing this terrific news: A Wyoming judge has blocked Republicans’ abortion medication ban. The law, which was set to take effect on July 1, is distinct from the broad abortion ban that Republicans also passed (that law was also blocked). Judge Melissa Owens ruled that the abortion providers who challenged the ban “have clearly shown probable success on the merits and that at least some of the plaintiffs will suffer possible irreparable injury.” Thank goodness. And thank Judge Owens!
North Carolina Republicans surprised Democrats today with a four-page amendment to their recently-passed abortion ban, a ‘clarification’, they say, of the law. (We have seen the word ‘clarify’ more times than I can count over the last few months.) This comes on the heels of a Planned Parenthood lawsuit challenging the law, which argues that the ban is vague and confusing—so this is a preemptive measure before that case gets heard. (The first hearing is scheduled for June 28.)
Also in North Carolina, The Charlotte Observer looks at how clinics are bracing themselves as they get closer to July 1, when the ban will go into effect. From Kristen Havlik, a volunteer for Carolina Reproductive Action Network:
“We are going to do as much as we can now to aid and abet abortion. And to me, that just means helping people access care in a hostile environment and in a hostile state.”
Here is a really good rundown of what’s happening in Iowa with abortion rights, where the state Supreme Court just declined to reinstate a near-total abortion ban. Reporter Laura Belin has the nitty gritty details on what kind of legislation Republicans are considering in response, including the possibility of an anti-abortion ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to declare that there’s no right to abortion. (A risky move, considering how successful ballot measures have been for pro-choicers.)
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is appealing a judge’s decision that classified a religious freedom challenge to the state’s abortion ban as a class action suit. Another challenge to the law was heard by the the state Supreme Court; we’re still waiting on a ruling there.
We’ve been waiting for the Florida Supreme Court to come down with their ruling on a challenge against the state’s 15-week abortion ban—a decision that could pave the way for Republicans’ 6-week ban to be enforced. POLITICO has a breakdown of the case, the justices, and how this could all go down—but the main thing to know is that the state Supreme Court is made up of DeSantis appointees. So there’s not a lot of optimism there.
That said, we do have some good news on the Florida ballot measure front: Abortion rights advocates have gathered about 240,000 of the 900,000 signatures they need in order to get the issue in front of voters.
Another one for the cruelty-is-the-point files: I’ve written before about how anti-choice states are losing their Title X family planning funding—federal dollars that require people be advised of all their reproductive health options (including abortion), even if it’s a matter of telling people about their out-of-state options. But because Republicans don’t want to even tell women about their ability to obtain an abortion, states like Tennessee have lost millions in funding. The state allocated new funds to make up for the loss, but now they get to dictate how it’s used—and they’ve implemented a rule that says undocumented people and families no longer get access to care. Never let them tell you this isn’t all about punishment.
NPR profiled a woman in Texas who wasn’t able to have the abortion she wanted, and how that lack of care has impacted her life. I’m especially grateful to pieces like these that goes beyond the most extreme horror stories, and look at the everyday consequences of not being able to get the care you need. A fair warning that this piece will piss you off, though—it features a woman who runs a San Antonio anti-abortion center. Her advice to a woman in an abusive relationship who already has four kids? “Be brave.” What she says in response to questions about the financial devastation some people are facing as result of forced pregnancy? “Struggle is part of the human condition.” (I told you you’d be mad!)
Love to see proactive abortion rights protections: This week, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced the appointment of two special counsels for reproductive rights cases—the lawyers will handle abortion-related lawsuits and develop pro-choice policy. The move is part of the state reiterating its abortion safe haven status.
Quick hits:
The Nation on how abortion led the ouster of an anti-abortion Democrat in Virginia;
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has missed the deadline for approving the state auditor’s cost estimate on a pro-choice ballot measure;
More on Oregon legislators abortion ‘compromise’;
Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced legislation to protect birth control;
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has done the same, with the introduction of the Arizona Right to Contraception Act;
And ELLE with the stories of the 15 women who are suing Texas after the state’s abortion ban put their health and lives at risk.
In the Nation
As we approach the anniversary of Roe being overturned, the White House and Democrats are making some big moves on abortion rights. The Democratic National Committee, for example, announced that they’re making a big ad buy, including pro-choice billboards in key cities and states. (Check out the one above in Times Square)
A little over a week ago, we told you that Google made over $10 million in the last two years from ads for anti-abortion centers. That same report, from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, also shows that when someone uses Google to search for an abortion clinic, it’s often an anti-abortion center that at’s the top of their search results. NPR reports on the online marketing strategy of the centers, noting that one guide recommends using ad language that’s deliberately vague about the fact that they don’t offer abortions:
“You can also be creative and instead use abortion terms in your ads without using them to describe a service offering: 'Get the facts before scheduling an abortion...' or 'Considering Abortion?'…Reaching abortion-minded women requires centers to be very strategic in all areas of marketing, but especially in Google advertising.”
NPR has a good, though chilling, report on the anti-abortion extremists who call themselves ‘abolitionists’—they want to classify abortion as a homicide. We’ve been seeing more and more of these activists in the last few months, who oppose the ‘mainstream’ anti-choice movement’s refusal to publicly support punishing women for abortion.
If you’ve followed conservative rhetoric on abortion over the last few decades, you know that they went from calling women murderers to, more recently, claiming that women are ‘victims’ of the ‘abortion industry.’ These activists, however, say they want to “destroy the second victim narrative.” All of it is appalling, but this particular quote from a female activist (most abortion ‘abolitionists’ are men) really irritated me:
“They’ve never actually gone out to an abortion mill and seen that the majority of women who come in here—they have very hard hearts. They’re flipping us off and screaming obscenities, just wicked things.”
I suppose it never occurred to her that harassing women outside of clinics and calling them murderers is pretty hard-hearted itself!
Quick hits:
Bloomberg on the toll abortion bans have taken on OBGYNs;
The Los Angeles Times has an overview of where abortion rights stands since Roe was overturned (including an easy-to-share map, if you’re into that kind of thing);
NBC looks at the data coming out on abortion access over the last year;
Mother Jones on how the last year has been for abortion funds;
And CNN checks in with some of the women who came forward about being denied abortion care since Roe was overturned.
Stats & Studies
We are seeing so many new data reports coming out about abortion—largely because of the anniversary of Roe’s end. Grace is going to be pulling together a report for all of you that synthesizes those numbers, but in the meantime I wanted to flag this analysis from FiveThirtyEight: I’ve written before about how support for abortion after the first trimester is increasing. FiveThirtyEight’s reporting on the latest Gallup numbers agree—especially when you’re talking about young people and women. A screenshot of some of the data below:
We know that overall, abortion after the first trimester is relatively unpopular; but the fact that it’s increasing at such a huge rate is terrific, and demonstrates that Americans are becoming all the more aware that pregnancy is too complicated to legislate. I actually think a huge part of that awakening for a lot of people are all of the horror stories coming out of anti-choice states—the majority of those stories are from women who were beyond 20 weeks into their pregnancy.
Meanwhile, support for abortion rights more broadly shows no sign of slowing or decreasing. From pollster Celinda Lake:
“People keep thinking and hypothesizing that the issue is going to diminish in its power. Well, not really. Twenty years from now, we may point to this as a realigning moment.”
Crisis in Care
The Washington Post has more on the KFF poll that Grace wrote about yesterday: It’s a total indictment of abortion bans—and conservatives’ claims that they’re actually helping women. This graph showing how doctors have been unable to give emergency and miscarriage care to patients is especially shocking:
Poppy Noor’s latest piece at The Guardian profiles two of those stories behind the stats: Women of color who were denied abortions despite doomed pregnancies and risks to their health and lives. And The Washington Post reports on the maternal mortality crisis among Black women, and how “bringing a child into this world has become alarmingly deadlier for American women.”
And if you’re a regular reader, you probably already know about Dr. Linda Prine and the Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline. Either way, you should check out this short video about the heartbreaking but necessary work that they’re doing to help people in anti-choice states who are self-managing abortions:
2024
This is interesting: POLITICO reports that Joe Biden “is poised to run the most overtly abortion rights platform of any general election candidate in political history.” Given Biden’s relative unease with abortion—he doesn’t like talking about it and certainly does give it the kind of enthusiastic support it needs—I’m curious to see how this plays out. I’m sort of at the point of “'I’ll believe it when I see it,” but I would love to be pleasantly surprised.
Related: Planned Parenthood Action Fund, EMILY’s List and NARAL Pro-Choice America are all planning to endorse Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally tomorrow.
Donald Trump has been the Republican candidate most wary of taking abortion head on—which makes me nervous. My worry continues to be that Trump’s refusal to explicitly support federal legislation will sway pro-choice Republican women. (He called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 6-week ban “too harsh,” and hasn’t said he’d sign a national ban.)
CNN reports that a group of anti-abortion leaders, including Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, actually went to Mar-a-Lago recently to try to convince Trump that he should come out in support federal legislation. He refused. From one of CNN’s unnamed sources:
“Trump will do and say whatever he needs to do to win the nomination. He doesn’t think coming out for a federal ban is a good idea politically.”
In a Los Angeles Times piece this week, Dannenfelser said that only candidates who support a 15-week national ban will gain their support: “So you see the bright red line that we’ve drawn.” Dannenfelser also says, “The fall of Roe marked the beginning of the race, it’s not the end of anything,” which makes me feel a bit ill.
And because you know I can’t stop talking about the word ‘consensus’ and how Republicans are using it instead of the word ‘ban’, check out this statement from Nikki Haley’s office, released after she was criticized on abortion: “Haley believes the best way to save as many babies as possible is to focus on finding consensus at the federal level to end late-term abortion, make adoption easier, support pregnant mothers, and protect religious liberty.” (Emphasis mine)
Also please note the language on making adoption easier: we’ve been talking about this a lot here, as well. When they talk about ‘streamlining’ adoption, what they’re really talking about is making it easier to terminate people’s parental rights.
Keep An Eye On
Speaking of conservatives and their language on abortion: Grace told you yesterday about how Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Elise Stefanik would be introducing a 15-week national abortion ban. She also reiterated how they wouldn’t call their ban a ‘ban’, instead calling it a national “standard'“ and a national “consensus.”
New York Magazine has a bit more on what a huge strategic mistake introducing federal abortion legislation is for conservative lawmakers, and reporter Ed Kilgore notes that it’s important that it’s Stefanik leading the charge on the ban: “Republicans want a blue-state woman to abolish reproductive rights nationally.” Literal handmaiden of the patriarchy: I hope she is totally fucking ashamed of herself!
GOP hypocrisy shall sink them with alacrity
Thanks for the link to the CNN story. Those women speaking up are very brave to recount the suffering to which these atrocious laws have subjected them. Sadly, we need many more speaking out.