In the States
In Iowa, where the state Supreme Court just declined to enforce a 6-week abortion ban, Republicans are weighing their options for what comes next. Anti-abortion activists and legislators want Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republican leaders to call for a special legislative session to pass a new abortion ban. Some Republicans, though, aren’t eager to enter into a special session unless they think they can reach a ‘compromise’ with Democrats on the issue.
This is where it gets dangerous for us: Republican lawmakers who spoke to the Des Moines Register are already framing an abortion ban as a compromise if it has ‘exceptions’. Rep. Brian Lohse said, “I think really it comes down to the exceptions.” And Rep. Luana Stoltenberg said, “I’m not really for exceptions, but if we can’t get legislation passed without them, then I’m willing to take that step.” I’ve said this so many times, but it’s worth repeating: Republicans are trying to make it seem as if exceptions—which we know aren’t real!—are something that lawmakers are conceding.
The South Carolina Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow on the state’s recently-passed abortion ban. The Court ruled that a previous 6-week ban was unconstitutional, so here’s hoping the same thing happens with this one. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one, and will update you whenever I find out more.
Another state we’ve been paying close attention to: The pro-choice ballot measure effort in Missouri, where Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been holding up the process by refusing to sign off on the state auditor’s cost estimate for the measure. Even after a judge ruled that Bailey—who claimed that it would cost the state billions (!!!) of dollars to restore abortion rights—had 24 hours to sign off the (much more accurate) cost estimate, he refused.
Bailey has appealed the ruling, and now the Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments on July 18 on whether the state AG can override the state auditor. All of this, just to keep voters away from abortion. That’s how afraid they are to have abortion rights on the ballot.
Public radio station KCUR has more on abortion in Missouri over the last year and how Republicans are trying to stop the pro-choice ballot measure. From Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri:
“While we believe that if Missourians had a chance to vote at the ballot box for abortion access that abortion access would win, right now, there is so much remaining to be seen in what happens in the process that is underway.”
Speaking of ballot measures, check out this local Florida segment about what’s happening with the abortion rights measure there. Pro-choice activists say voters are super enthusiastic, so fingers and toes crossed.
And as Ohio inches closer to its August special election—which could raise the standards on their ballot measures—the Associated Press points out that all Ohio’s living ex-governors and five former state AGs (Democrats and Republicans, alike) oppose the proposal. The effort is all about making it as difficult as possible, if not impossible, for the people of Ohio to protect abortion rights in the state.
All of these ballot measure efforts, of course, are part of the broader Republican attack on democracy across the country that we’ve been covering for the past few months.
Also in Ohio, The Cincinnati Enquirer has a good piece on the details of what’s happened in the state since Roe was overturned, but it was really the first few sentences that stopped me in my tracks:
“A 16-year-old survivor of sexual assault. A 25-year-old cancer patient and mother. A homeless woman in need of crisis intervention. A woman facing a wanted pregnancy with severe anomalies, no lower extremities and organs growing outside of the fetus' body. Each wanted an abortion in Ohio. But they did not get one.”
And in a few days, Kansas’ ‘born alive’ law will go into effect—legislation based on a complete anti-choice fantasy. We do know though, that laws like this can have a horrifying impact on fatally-ill preemies and newborns: doctors would be mandated to resuscitate babies in vain, providing painful interventions that prevent parents from spending those precious last moments with their dying children. It’s a nightmare.
In better news…
Health care workers in Pennsylvania want the state to broaden the rules around who is allowed to provide abortion care. From nurse practitioner Kara Pravdo:
“I provide this care for miscarriage. I’ve been doing it for years. But if somebody comes in [for an abortion], I actually have to wait for a doctor to come even hand them a pill, which the patient knows doesn’t make sense. The doctors know it doesn’t make sense.”
Other pro-choice states have changed their regulations around who can provide abortions—a move that’s lessened the strain on doctors who are seeing a massive increase of out-of-state patients. (Especially when it comes to abortion medication.)
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a new hotline in the state for those seeking abortion care and related resources and help. The hotline, which you can reach at (833) 767-3776, is staffed by registered nurses.
In Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order to take the power away from local prosecutors to charge abortion providers. The order would transfer that authority to the state’s attorney general (who has promised not to prosecute abortion). In a statement, Gov. Hobbs said, “I will not allow extreme and out of touch politicians to get in the way of the fundamental right Arizonans have to make decisions about their own bodies and futures.” Republicans in the state were furious, calling the move an unconstitutional power grab—sort of a hilarious take, given that Republicans across multiple states have been working overtime to remove DAs from their jobs if they refuse to prosecute abortion. Can’t have it both ways!
And in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke to Morning Joe about new protections for abortion providers who prescribe medication abortion to out-of-state patients.
In Maine, where a bill is advancing that expands abortion later in pregnancy when a doctor deems it necessary, House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross is being targeted by anti-abortion extremists. They’ve put up flyers in her neighborhood calling her a ‘baby-killer’, and chalked the sidewalk in front of her house. Ross is the first Black speaker of the Maine House. Dr. Connie Adler, board chair of Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights, said, “That anti-abortion activists are targeting a Black woman in a position of leadership at her home is unsurprising as it is despicable.”
Quick hits:
Austin NPR on how abortion clinics in neighboring states are seeing more Texas patients than locals;
Long-term birth control and sterilizations are increasing in Arkansas in response to the state’s abortion ban;
How Wisconsin Democrats are keeping abortion front and center;
And more on Massachusetts Democrats’ efforts to protect the cell phone data of abortion patients.
In the Nation
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in North Carolina this weekend to mark the anniversary of the end of Roe. VP Harris spoke about calling her husband after she heard the news, “because there were a collection of words that were coming to mind that would not have been proper for me to speak with some other people.” She went on to say, “the three words that came to me that I publicly spoke—were “How dare they.” You can watch the full remarks here:
The Atlantic looks at the way that politicians on both sides of the aisle are thinking about abortion as 2024 approaches—primarily the way that Democrats see it as a winning issue. (As they should.) What’s notable is that the only Republican strategist willing to talk to the reporter about abortion was Kellyanne Conway, who says that candidates need to stress that they support exceptions. (She also, naturally, uses the term ‘national standard’ instead of national ‘ban’.) This is why it’s so necessary for Democrats to be stressing that exceptions aren’t real. The fact that they’re not talking about it all the time is baffling to me.
As we get further away from Roe being overturned, abortion funds are seeing less and less donations. The Associated Press reports that major funders are shifting away from giving money to anti-choice states, instead preferring to “shore up providers in safe haven states.” (Individual funding has also slowed down as, the AP theorizes, people’s rage has simmered down.) Obviously pro-choice states need funding as they see more and more patients from out-of-state—but that doesn’t mean you give up on anti-abortion states, who need support now more than ever.
In The Guardian, Poppy Noor—who has done some of the best reporting on abortion rights this year, I believe—writes about her experience of being pregnant while covering reproductive rights in the U.S.:
“It’s our job as journalists to see what is happening, not what we want to see. But covering this beat, especially while pregnant, has changed my depth of vision. To see this assault up close and personal is to see it for what it is: not a journey to protect life; but to stifle, suppress and suffocate freedom.”
Finally, the Associated Press reports on how Republicans are trying to add anti-abortion riders to every funding bill that comes across their desk. Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said, “This is not just about an attack on women’s health. I view it as an attempt to derail the entire process of funding the federal government by injecting these riders into the appropriations process.”
Quick hits:
Moira Donegan at The Guardian on how pro-choice states are fighting back with increased abortion protections and shield laws;
NPR on post-Roe chaos and confusion;
CNN on the history of abortion;
Fortune on how employers haven’t done enough to protect abortion rights;
And pro-choice activists rallied this weekend in DC for the anniversary of Roe being overturned.
2024
Candidates made their presidential pitches to the audience at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference this weekend. Donald Trump, naturally, showered himself in kudos over the end of Roe and showed some soft support for a national ban, saying, “there of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life.” Trump also repeated a line of attack we’re going to see a lot of in the coming months: “We will defeat the radical Democrat policy of extreme late term abortion.”
There has never been a better time for Democrats to go on offense on abortion later in pregnancy. When the issue comes up, they need to hit back immediately by asking Republicans who they think gets abortions later in pregnancy. Ask them what they think about the women who do seek those abortions. Make them talk about the actual human beings that need and deserve care.
This is why I am so frustrated by comments like these from Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar—who told CNN she supports restrictions later in pregnancy. What exactly is the point? It’s not going to stop Republican attacks, and it just lends credence to the idea that this is something that needs restrictions. They are going to call us extremists and murderers no matter what—we might as well fight for the policy we want!
Back to the conference: Former vice president Mike Pence went all in, as expected, on abortion. He said, “Save the babies, and we will save America,” and that “many more are with us than are with them.” (Support for abortion rights is the highest it’s been in American history.) Pence also called out Trump on his recent comments on abortion, though not by name:
“Others will say that continuing the fight to life has produced state legislation that’s too harsh. Some have even gone on to blame the overturning of Roe v. Wade for election losses in 2022.”
Finally, Pence used the opportunity to call on Republican candidates to support a 15-week national ban as “a minimum nationwide standard.” (There’s that word again!)
Listen Up
USA Today has a segment on the abortion fight in Carbondale, Illinois—one of the border towns where we’re seeing increased tension.
Quick audio hits:
Morning Edition has an interview with Laphonza Butler, president of EMILY’s List, about the group plans to support abortion rights by backing Democratic pro-choice candidates;
Wisconsin Public Radio speaks to an abortion fund worker about what the last year has been like;
And NPR’s “The Politics Podcast” covers President Biden’s plan for new repro rights initiatives.
Anti-Choice Strategy: Anti-Abortion Centers
In the wake of all these horror stories coming out of states with abortion bans, Republicans are focusing heavily on anti-abortion centers, claiming that increased funding to these non-medical, religiously-affiliated groups is the best way to support and protect women. (Remember when the woman who was denied a life-saving abortion in Missouri just to have her state rep give her the number to a crisis pregnancy center?)
Republicans, like those in Tennessee, are trying to increase taxpayer funding for the groups by the millions—despite the very clear proof that they put people’s lives in danger. (Right now, a Massachusetts woman is suing an anti-abortion center after her ectopic pregnancy was misdiagnosed and she ended up needing to get her fallopian tube removed—which could have been avoided if she was properly diagnosed.)
As I reported earlier this month, part of the effort to increase funding and support to anti-abortion centers is to help them expand into ‘maternity homes.’ I uncovered a strategy document from the conservative organization Charlotte Lozier Institute that revealed how they plan to establish “a network of maternity homes across the nation” run by Heartbeat International—the country’s largest network of anti-abortion centers. So imagine shaming, scare-tactic based anti-abortion centers that you live in.
This weekend, TIME magazine asked vice president at Heartbeat International, Andrea Trudden about that plan and the quote she provided is chilling:
“Maternity Homes have been expanding over the past few years as the need for maternity housing has grown in various areas that are experiencing an increase in client homelessness. Each Maternity Home is its own organization and includes specific parameters women agree to before staying for the health and safety of all residents in the home.”
What do you think those “parameters” are? In this Idaho home profiled by NPR, it meant women adhering to a curfew, handing over their phones and “earning” the privilege to leave for the night. Total nightmare shit.
And as we know, these groups often have relationships with private religious adoption agencies; maternity homes also have a long history in this country of pressuring vulnerable women into giving up their children for adoption. So when Mike Pence gave a speech this weekend calling for increased support to crisis pregnancy centers and “advanc[ing] the cause of adoption in America”—we need to know that this is what he’s talking about.
Anti-Choice Strategy: Blaming Doctors
A question I get a lot is why don’t women who were denied abortions start suing? We’ve seen patients, like the group of women in Texas, who are suing states over their abortion laws—but what about malpractice suits? All the legal experts seem to agree that this is where we’re heading next.
And it makes sense! People aren’t receiving the standard of care in anti-choice states, and are suffering as a result. But here’s the thing: anti-abortion activists are hoping that women will sue for malpractice, because it shifts blame for the laws onto doctors. John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, says, “It could help achieve our goal if it clarifies that the law did not contradict standard medical practice.”
This, for lack of a better word, sucks. We want patients to be able to seek remedies for not getting the care they needed and deserved, but it absolutely will give ammunition to anti-abortion activists who are desperate to blame doctors—especially as they anticipate deaths-by-abortion-ban.
You Love to See It
A group of pro-choice show-runners have issued a report card for major Hollywoods studios and how they’re doing implementing abortion rights protections. Variety, who has the full breakdown of how different studios were rated, reports that Paramount/CBS came out on top. Related: The Conversation with an article on why abortion access is a workplace issue.
And we’ve featured a lot of articles about the terrific organization Elevated Access, which pairs patients who need to leave their state for abortions with volunteer pilots willing to fly them. But this piece from reporter Kelcie Moseley-Morris goes in-depth about the pilots, the patients, and the history of people needing to travel in order to get the care they need. Really important stuff.
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