Lots going on in Michigan today: The Court of Appeals ruled that county prosecutors can start going after abortions today—that an injunction barring enforcement of the state’s trigger law doesn’t apply to them. Which is going to cause a lot of confusion.
The Michigan Supreme Court could weigh in at any time. In better Michigan news, folks are finding inventive ways to raise money for abortion funds—over the weekend, a few tattoo parlors there participated in a mass fundraising event.
On Saturday, the Indiana Senate passed Republicans’ extreme abortion ban, a law that will likely go into effect come Sept 1st. In addition to banning most abortions, the law will force rape and incest victims to sign an affidavit attesting to their attack if they want to get care.
If you want a quick rundown on what’s happening in Kansas (the special vote there is tomorrow), NPR has a 3-minute segment that’s super useful. The Guardian also spoke to some people in the state about how they’re feeling and how they might be voting.
Nashville’s NPR station is looking at how Tennessee employers are handling the abortion ban (and how some employees are choosing to leave the state); and an Idaho doctor has written an op-ed about the danger her patients are now in because of the state’s abortion ban:
“This unprecedented interference in the physician-patient relationship will irreparably harm the people and families of Idaho. A family’s right to make their own choices has been taken away. The state has chosen for everyone. We will lose mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends from complications that no one in this century should ever die of.”
A doctor in North Carolina also has an opinion piece up at The Charlotte Observer, and discusses what this means for patients who are children: “In addition to the unimaginable trauma that these young people endure, shame and stigma often prevent them from seeking medical care and assistance from trusted family or friends.” He also points out that many children don’t even know they’re pregnant.
Which makes this next bit even worse. Here’s what the director of a Texas crisis pregnancy center said about kids who’ve been raped and impregnated:
“I’ve seen a lot of 13-year-olds do phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. It doesn’t have to be a negative thing.”
Phenomenal. If you want to be even more enraged, read the whole article for a description of how the center lets women earn ‘points’ that they can trade in for diapers or baby clothes by going to Bible study classes. Nothing says Christian love like making women earn diapers!
Also in Texas, abortion funds are getting calls from imposters trying to either tie up their time and energy, or set them up for criminal prosecution; and Dallas might be joining the multiple cities that are passing resolutions to decriminalize abortion or ban city funding from being used to investigate abortion cases.
A study out of Ohio shows that women in the state often don’t know they’re pregnant before the state’s 6 week cut-off, and that those more likely to discover their pregnancy later were those with lower incomes and lower education levels. (Meaning: Ohio’s law targets those that are more vulnerable.)
And Wyoming Public Radio has a segment on how abortion providers and clinics are faring. The state’s trigger law is blocked at the moment, but doctors are still in a state of uncertainty as they handle scared patients and wait for the next legal decision to come down.
I’ve mentioned before how some Republicans running for office are trying to water down their views on abortion, given how deeply unpopular the bans are. Right on cue: A Republican running for governor in Minnesota is walking back his stance on abortion. Scott Jensen, who once only supported abortion to save a person’s life, now says he’d be okay with rape and incest victims having abortions. How generous.
In national news:
Gallup reports that abortion has moved up the list of what Americans believe are the most important problems facing the country; and Guttmacher lets us know that despite conservative claims to the contrary, thousands of children become pregnant as a result of rape every year.
On CNN’s State of the Union yesterday, the secretary of Veterans Affairs stopped short of saying that the department would provide abortions to veterans living in states where it’s illegal. Secretary Denis McDonough told Jake Tapper, “We’re going to make sure that they have access to the full slate of that care, because that’s what we owe them.” (Democratic senators sent a letter to McDonough last week stating that the VA has the authority to provide abortions and “abortion related services and resources.”)
Democrats also want Biden to make clear that federal authority over the US postal service means people shouldn’t be prosecuted for sending or receiving pills in the mail. The Washington Post looks at the legal implications of mailing abortion pills to states where abortion is illegal.
Remember when I said the attacks on Dr. Caitlin Bernard were meant to have a chilling effect—to make other doctors afraid to provide care and speak up? Today ABC News looked at how doctors are feeling scrutinized and afraid. From Florida OBGYN, Dr. Rachel Rapkin:
“After seeing what's happened to doctors like Caitlin Bernard in Indiana who are being so intensely scrutinized ... doctors are really scared to provide what should be standard of care to our patients..And patients are getting substandard care now."
Kendall Ciesemier at The New York Times has a guest essay about the way the anti-choice movement uses disability rights: “They are forgetting, however, that pregnancy can endanger disabled people. Removing abortion access is not protecting our lives; it is putting them in danger.”
And in The Boston Globe, a digital security consultant gives advice about protecting your privacy on period tracking apps—and points out that for many women, it’s not realistic to simply stop using technology.
Slate has an interesting piece on the abortion coverage at The New York Times; Rewire reports on the multiple clinics that are being forced to move over state lines in order to keep providing care; and POLITICO looks at the growing black market for medication abortion. (Reminder that for safe information on abortion medication, you can go to Plan C and Aid Access.)
Finally, this very personal piece from Annie Lowrey at The Atlantic is an absolute must-read. In addition to being beautifully written, it gets to the heart of what we’ve been talking about since Roe got overturned: That pregnancy is too complicated to legislate.
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