Abortion, Every Day (7.3.23)

State-funded crisis pregnancy centers in Louisiana refuse to dispense contraception

In the States

A quick legislative update: Iowa legislators may be reconvening next week for a special legislative session. There’s been nothing official put on the schedule, but the Associated Press reports that lawmakers were sent an email to hold July 10th open. This comes in the wake of the state Supreme Court declining to reinstate a near-total abortion ban—a ruling that means Republicans in the state are eager to try to pass another anti-abortion law. I’ll keep you updated as I find out more.

One of the anti-abortion strategies we’ve been tracking is how conservatives are messing with data: Abortion, Every Day published an investigation about how Republicans use abortion ‘complication’ reporting laws in places like Texas to fabricate statistics about the safety of abortion. We’ve also warned about efforts to cover up or sow distrust in maternal mortality data—a tactic on full display right now in Idaho, where the state has disbanded its Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

Natalie Schachar at the Idaho Capital Sun points out that as of this month, Idaho is the only state “without a legal requirement or specialized committee to review maternal deaths related to pregnancy.” This is a big fucking deal, especially in a state that has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. Hillarie Hagen of the nonprofit Idaho Voices for Children told Schachar that the dismantling of the committee has made it near-impossible for groups like hers to do their work—and for lawmakers to create policies that take care of the families:

“How do we make decisions and policy decisions to improve the health of mothers and their babies if we’re not tracking the data? From our perspective, having consistent data and trends shown over time helps make more sound policy decisions.”

That, of course, is the point. If the state ignores the way that maternal health is worsening and maternal deaths are increasing, they don’t have to take that data into account when creating or debating laws. They know people will die—they’re just trying to ensure that they don’t have to think about it, and that voters won’t know about it. Oh, and in case you forgot: This all happened at the same time that Idaho lawmakers declined to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage.

More on anti-abortion states pretending to give a shit about women and families: Louisiana just made it easier for people to give money to anti-abortion centers, the fake clinics that lie to pregnant people and put their health and lives at risk. The new policy allows the religiously-affiliated organizations to get $30 million worth of income tax breaks through 2030.

The Louisiana Illuminator has the details of the law, some of which truly shocked me—which is difficult to do these days! For example, while the centers will be listed on the state health department’s website, the law states that the agency “shall have no regulatory authority” over the organizations. So these groups are being given an incredible amount of power and money while essentially being allowed to operate unchecked. The consequences of all this is dire: Remember this story out of Kentucky? Or this one out of Florida?

The legislation also requires that the centers who get these tax breaks be affiliated with one of the three national networks of anti-abortion centers: Heartbeat International, Care Net or the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates. All three of those networks prohibit their centers from dispensing or promoting birth control. (The Louisiana Illuminator found that Heartbeat International and Care Net won’t allow it, I did my own digging and confirmed that National Institute of Family and Life Advocates is also anti-contraception.)

Remember, the laws that give these organizations more money, more power, and less regulation are being framed as policies to support women and families through the post-Roe care crisis. Yet they won’t advise on contraception, and they don’t offer real medical help: An investigation by public radio station WWNO found that only five of the 33 centers in Louisiana had a had a nurse or medical director on staff. The groups won’t even give material aid without something in return; many of them will make women ‘earn’ diapers or baby clothes, for example, by requiring them to go to Bible classes.

What’s happening in Louisiana is part of a broader anti-abortion strategy we’re seeing across the country: Republicans are strengthening ultra-conservative religious groups as a way to reenforce traditional gender roles and evangelical beliefs. At the same time, lawmakers are claiming that all of this is to benefit women. I’ll leave you with this not-so-fun-fact: Louisiana has a new name for anti-abortion centers/crisis pregnancy centers. Now they’re calling them “maternal wellness centers.”

We’ve been paying close attention to the abortion rights fight in Ohio, and have some rare good news. The pro-choice activists from Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights report that they’ll be turning in hundreds of thousands of signatures this week—they need over 413,000—to move an abortion rights ballot measure forward. Next month, Republicans will hold a special election that tries to raise the ballot measure standard from 50% of the vote to 60%, which could determine whether or not the effort is successful. Related quick hit: An editorial board member at The Plain Dealer in Ohio wrote about Republicans’ efforts to make it harder for voters to have a say on abortion.

We also have some good news out of Illinois, where the state will now limit the kind of data it publicly shares about abortions performed there. In an effort to protect patients from both in and out of state, the health department will no long share the county that an Illinois patient lives in, or where out-of-state patients have traveled from. It’s the right move, considering possible criminalization and civil penalties elsewhere—but this is one of those news items that really drives home how fucked up all of this is. Pro-choice states are having to proactively protect citizens from anti-abortion states from their own governments.

Speaking of the ways that anti-abortion states are punishing people: Indiana abortion provider Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who was the target of a state-funded harassment campaign after speaking out about a 10 year-old rape victim, wrote an op-ed about her experience in USA Today. As a reminder, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita went after Dr. Bernard with the full weight of his office to try to get her medical license revoked or suspended. All because she had the nerve to shine a light on the real life consequences of abortion bans.

Dr. Bernard says she was effectively gagged from speaking out as she fought to keep her license. But now that the investigation is over, she writes, “I’m here now to speak my truth to power once again.” Bernard especially wants people to understand what doctors around the country are facing because of abortion bans:

“To watch as someone gets sicker, their hands tied not by lack of resources but by legal risk of criminal prosecution. To be silenced in the face of atrocity. The ever-present threat of losing your medical license and livelihood—or worse. Not for engaging in criminal misconduct, but instead for providing or advocating for lifesaving health care, the basic tenets of our physician oath. Even as I have personally endured these moral injuries, I have not been able to speak out against it.

…But I will no longer be silenced, no matter what comes next. No other physician should have to go through what I have gone through, and I will continue to advocate for them every day.”

It’s not just doctors in anti-abortion states who are dealing with the fallout from bans, but physicians in pro-choice states who are being inundated with patients traveling from other states. Drs. Alison Edelman and Maria Rodriguez, both doctors at Oregon Health & Science University’s Center for Women’s Health, write at The Oregonian about the “frightening reality” of the last year post-Roe—and about the kinds of patients they’re seeing rushed into their state.

One such patient, from Idaho, was told her pregnancy had no chance of survival after she began leaking fluid—which also put her at risk of developing a dangerous infection. But her state’s law bans abortion for doomed pregnancies while the fetus still has a heartbeat, and prohibits care for sick women unless it’s deemed an ‘emergency’:

“But under Idaho’s extremist laws, determining what is a medical emergency has become a legal minefield for doctors. The patient, who soon developed a life-threatening infection, was rushed to Oregon.

Although a care team at Oregon Health & Science University was able to treat her, it was a traumatic experience: Not only did she have to deal with the sudden loss of a desired pregnancy while facing a frightening medical diagnosis, but she was forced to do so away from her home, community and support system. Providers are seeing these types of circumstances every week.” (Emphasis mine)

The doctors also point out that out-of-state abortion patients have increased by 48%, and that most of the abortion care is provided by just a small number of providers in Oregon.

More on abortion patients leaving their home states: New data shows that more than 2,100 women from Oklahoma had abortions in Kansas and Colorado. Statistics about the number of abortions Oklahoma women had in New Mexico, the other nearby pro-choice state, are not yet available. Other data showed that nearly 3,000 Texas women obtained abortions in Kansas.

In the wake of North Carolina’s abortion ban going into effect this weekend, state Attorney General Josh Stein—who is running for governor to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper—spoke to MSNBC about how he plans to protect abortion rights by ending the Republican supermajority:

Three abortion rights proponents in Florida—including retired state Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Pariente—are getting the word out about the effort to pass a pro-choice ballot measure in the state. In a column for The News Press, the women write that Floridians shouldn’t wait to see what the state Supreme Court says about abortion, and that “the time to act is now.”

“Who knows? Maybe those politicians will ban birth control next! If this isn’t a wake-up call for Floridians, we don’t know what is.So what can we do? What can all of us do? The best way for us to ensure abortion access in Florida is to add an amendment to the Florida Constitution expressly establishing that in Florida, politicians cannot make decisions that impact our bodies and our families.”

To find out more about the ballot measure, check out Floridians Protecting Freedom.

And as abortion access in the South continues to be eradicated, pro-choice activists are asking donors not to abandon them in a time when they’re needed most. Kwajelyn Jackson of the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Georgia, and Zaena Zamora from Texas’ Frontera Fund, coauthored a column in The Chronicle of Philanthropy reminding funders that “we’re still here, and we’re still fighting.”

“Many believe the South is a lost cause. We’ve seen glib Tweets reducing Southern states to the conservative politicians that run them and have watched philanthropic dollars flow elsewhere. Some argue that funding is limited and can go further in other states with more open-minded politicians. However, funding can be deployed efficiently through investments in grassroots organizations in the South that have a deep understanding of individual communities and can address their unique needs despite local laws…It’s possible to protect and expand abortion access across the country while also defending reproductive equity in the South.”

Finally, The Daily Beast looks at how Arizona has become “ground zero for the abortion rights battle.” You may remember that Gov. Katie Hobbs has stripped local prosecutors of the ability to go after abortion cases—instead, transferring that power to state Attorney General Kris Mayes, who has made clear she won’t prosecute anyone for abortion. It’s sort of a hilarious turn of events, considering that Republican Attorneys General have been working overtime to allow for the removal of district attorneys who refuse to prosecute abortion. Gov. Hobbs is just using the same strategy, and Republicans are not happy about it.

Quick hits:

• Abortion providers in Arizona describe a post-Roe climate of confusion and fear;

• The Associated Press breaks down which states have new abortion and anti-LGBTQ policies going into effect this month;

• More information on the New Mexico hotline that helps people find abortion care and resources;

• And a St. Louis judge has blocked the city’s proposal to use federal dollars to help people from Missouri get abortions in Illinois;

In the Nation

Everyone is thinking about the Supreme Court right now, in the wake of several decisions that undo precedent and progress. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says without checks and balances on the courts, the country is in real danger:

“Which is what we are seeing now, from the overturning of abortion rights to the ruling that discrimination and, frankly, stripping the full personhood and dignity of LGBTQ people in the United States…These are the types of rulings that signal a dangerous creep towards authoritarianism and centralization of power in the court.”

If you want to understand what’s been happening with the Supreme Court, I highly recommend listening to the last few episodes of Strict Scrutiny. And at WUSF, Slate writer Dahlia Lithwick spoke to NPR’s “All Things Considered” about how Americans’ trust in the Supreme Court has been eroded.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Times editorial board member Carla Hall writes about how abortion bans violate one of the foundational tenets of U.S. democracy: liberty.

“It shouldn’t take another American revolution for women in this country to simply have full autonomy over their bodies. We don’t need a new government. We just need the people who run this one to realize that without personal autonomy there is no liberty.”

More college campuses are putting vending machines on campus that sell emergency contraception, the Associated Press reports. According to the American Society for Emergency Contraception, there are 39 universities in 17 states with emergency contraceptive vending machines, which is terrific. What we have to be on the lookout for, though, is something I flagged last month: Anti-abortion groups targeting the machines by conflating emergency contraception with abortion, and claiming the increased access is a “trend toward deregulation.” More on this soon. (I’m writing another column on the conservative war on contraception, sigh).

Quick hits:

• The Guardian with an investigation into the anti-abortion/anti-LGBTQ group, Alliance Defending Freedom;

• Business Insider on how Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s refusal to advance military promotions in protest of the DoD’s abortion policy is mucking up military leadership;

• The Associated Press on the Supreme Court’s conservative dismantling of precedent;

• And NPR has some predictions for how abortion access trends could go in the next few years.

2024

Nikki Haley can’t stay away from the word ‘consensus’. On “Fox News Sunday,” the presidential hopeful answered a question about a national abortion ban by repeating conservatives’ favorite new word:

“I think that we should find consensus…Consensus on the fact that let’s encourage more adoptions that are good quality adoptions, consensus on the fact that we should have contraception—that contraception should be available and consensus that no state law should put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty for having an abortion.”

I sort of can’t believe Haley repeated this talking point that frames a middle ground as not arresting or killing women. When she said the same thing at her CNN town hall, I figured it was a telling off-message moment. But apparently it was deliberate! Which is even scarier.