In the states…
A poll shows that 67% of Michigan voters say they’re likely to support the proposed amendment that would enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution. Voters in the poll also made clear that addressing abortion laws in the state was a top priority, coming in ahead of education and crime. Related: Democrats in Michigan aren’t just optimistic about their amendment passing, but about how turnout related to the abortion vote will give them more of a stronghold in the state generally. Fingers and toes crossed.
Republican Rep. Sandy Senn in South Carolina, who voted against the state’s near-total abortion ban, said she was “sickened” by what she was hearing from male colleagues during the debate over the legislation. All she heard, she said, was “you little ladies...need to listen to us.” Once again, I’m glad Republican women are speaking up, but this is all too little, too late. It also doesn’t help that Rep. Senn made sure to clarify, “I'm not advocating for abortion on demand and I'm not advocating for abortion as birth control.” Sigh.
More Republican women suddenly being shocked that the party who is clear about hating women actually hates women: In Tennessee, Knoxville City Councilwoman Lynne Fugate supported a resolution to decriminalize abortions performed by doctors for “the well-being of their patients.” The Republican characterized her move as a “bold step for me.”
“I will be getting vilified on both sides for not going far enough in one way or the other. But I had a high-risk pregnancy. My sorority sister was my OB-GYN. I trusted her implicitly. And I shudder at the thought that she would have hesitated to give me her best medical advice because she might be prosecuted.”
Also in Tennessee, abortion providers continue to try to sort out how to help women while following the law. One clinic, for example, moved just one mile up the road to a town in Virginia—where abortion is still legal.
You may remember that before Kansas brought home a sweeping victory for abortion rights, voters were getting misleading text messages in an attempt to trick them to cast a ballot against abortion. The texts read: “Women in KS are losing their choice on reproductive rights. Voting YES on the Amendment will give women a choice. Vote YES to protect women’s health.” The issue, of course, was that to vote for abortion rights you actually needed to vote NO.
The texts were traced back to a Republican firm led by former Kansas congressman Tim Huelskamp. Now Huelskamp is responding by saying that there’s “no evidence” the texts came from his group—which is not a denial as much as it is a belief that he can’t be held responsible for his actions. But here’s a doozy of a paragraph from a Kansas publication covering the story:
“State officials said the messages were not illegal, even though voter registration data was used. Lying in election advertisements is permitted in Kansas, and senders aren’t required to reveal their identities when sending unsolicited text messages about ballot questions.”
Super cool.
At The 19th, Sen. Patty Murray—running for reelection in Washington—says that people, women especially, “are stunned, and angry, and we’ll see that in the elections.” I think that’s right, but I really wish she didn’t need to add this dig against younger women:
“A certain generation really understands it—they didn’t have [the right to abortion] before. But young women now are beginning to really realize that this impacts them too and the only way they can change this is through their vote.”
Young women aren’t just starting to realize the importance of abortion rights; they’ve been here all along. Most of all, they know that voting is far from the only way they can change what’s happening with reproductive rights.
In Florida, the state attorney who was removed from his position by Gov. Ron DeSantis for saying he wouldn’t pursue abortion cases, continues to fight back. Andrew Warren, who filed suit against DeSantis, has released a video warning that “there is so much more at stake here than my job.” (Namely, the idea that the governor can just ignore voters’ wishes to oust anyone who politically disagrees with him!)
Candidates for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District are speaking out about abortion—one quite a lot more than another. While Democrat Nikki Budzinski held a press conference with the EMILY's List executive director and NARAL's vice president of communications and research, to talk about the importance of abortion access, her opponent, Republican Regan Deering, tried to dodge the issue. (Conservatives really are running scared on the issue.)
Something similar is happening in Virginia: Republican Jen Kiggans—running against Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria in the state’s 2nd Congressional District—is fighting back against the idea that she’s an anti-abortion extremist. The strategy is not exactly working: Kiggans has called abortion a “shiny object” that Democrats are using to distract voters. Because what better way to show you’re not an extremist on abortion than to dismiss it entirely?
Love this op-ed from a California high school student about her grandmother’s abortion:
“My Nana is a person. She is a vibrant woman with generations of wisdom that I have been graced with as her granddaughter. She is a human. Her personhood should simply be enough to justify her choice. Not only is she ‘someone’s mother,’ ‘someone’s wife,’ or in this case, ‘someone’s Nana,’ but she is a person, a woman who needs to bear no relation to another for her well-being to be deemed important.”
May all our granddaughters be so wise.
In Minnesota—where Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen keeps moving further and further away from his original abortion position—the Minnesota Reformer has done us the great service of making a timeline of his flip-flops on the issue.
Political strategists in Indiana are wondering if the gender gap in new voter registrations will have an impact on abortion in the state (tl;dr: it’s unclear). I have to imagine that the imminent closing of the state’s clinics—the legal right to abortion will end in a few days on Sept. 15—will make a huge difference on that front.
An Ohio Christian minister has written an op-ed at The Columbus Dispatch about how not all religious leaders oppose abortion:
“As people of faith it is our calling to protect other’s innate dignity, to respect their moral agency and to be co-creators with God ensuring that everyone has safe, healthy and sustainable communities where they can thrive and parent if they decide to do so. Our calling is not to force pregnancy and birth onto a 10-year-old little girl who experienced a sexual assault that already left her traumatized.”
A congressional candidate on Long Island, New York compared abortion to slavery—because that’s how fucking ridiculous these people are.
In the nation…
On Meet the Press yesterday, Republican strategist Matt Gorman was working overtime trying to convince folks that abortion “is not an issue at all” for voters. That is some serious wishful thinking!
Just a reminder a poll from The Wall Street Journal found that abortion was the number one issue driving voters this November.
A bioethicist is warning Americans about digital health privacy in a post-Roe world. Kayte Spector-Bagdady, associate director at the University of Michigan Medical School’s Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, points out that it’s not just obvious things like period tracking that can put your health privacy in danger—but every day actions:
“For example, if someone visits their local pharmacy and uses their pharmacy discount card or credit card every time they check out, or buy tampons the same time every month, and one month, they buy a pregnancy test and no tampons. If they start buying tampons again two months later, that’s likely ‘health proxy information that can be discoverable and used against them in a criminal case.’”
Planned Parenthood leaders from 24 states traveled to California late last week to convene and discuss strategy; and the Associated Press explains why emergency contraception isn’t always available to rape and incest victims and why it isn’t an adequate alternative to abortion rights.
And at The Hill, law professors argue that pro-choicers should pressure lawmakers by pointing out that abortion bans violate international law, and predict that “if the U.S. does not change course, it will be the subject of international critique and sanction.”
Some American women who can’t access abortion aren’t just traveling to another state for care: A leading abortion provider in the UK says she seen multiple women who have traveled from the U.S. to end their pregnancies: “We are seeing people from America travel here for abortions, which is just unbelievable. They are coming all this way just to access abortions.”
The Guardian looks at Republican’s “wake-up call” on abortion. One strategist told the publication that conservatives advocating for strict abortion bans in the past didn’t get the same level of voter scrutiny because Roe protected abortion:
“Now it’s no longer theoretical. So now the most restrictive policies have real-life consequences. And suburban women are giving a candidate’s position on abortion greater weight as they consider who to vote for.”
The Washington Post also looks at how spooked Republicans are backing off their most extreme views—but reports that anti-abortion activists are pinning their hope on Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is expected to introduce a national 15-week ban. FiveThirtyEight examines how voter anger over the bans is impacting Republican infighting over just how extreme abortion laws should be; Vox also reports on that intra-party discord.
The New York Times talks to OBGYNs about the impact of abortion bans—and how outlawing abortion forces doctors to break the oath they took to “do no harm.”
Also at The New York Times, editorial board member Michelle Cottle points out that Republicans running for office who are under attack for their anti-abortion position have found a new tactic: Their wives. As the polling data got worse, these Republicans decided that the best way to battle back against the (very true!) criticism that they’re anti-women was to enlist their wives in campaign ads talking about how great they are. As Cottle so aptly put it, “gag.”
The Academy of Eating Disorders has released a statement about abortion bans: “People with eating disorders may have an elevated risk of unplanned pregnancies and pregnancy complications and may be more likely to require access to an abortion.”
USA Today looks at how the surge in voter registration among women and the anger over abortion bans is giving new hope to female candidates; the House Veteran Affairs Committee will hold a hearing this week over the VA’s decision to provide abortion in some circumstances; and Cards Against Humanity continues to be the best.
And if you’re watching the Emmys tonight, you’re going to love this as much as I do: Actor Hannah Einbinder (who you may recognize from Hacks) is supporting abortion rights in a clever way. Apparently the show asked nominees to send them names of people they want to thank—so they can scroll them the screen as winners give their acceptance speech. Instead of sending the Emmys names, Einbinder did this:
As always, feel free to send tips to jessica@substack.com—and don’t forget to talk to someone about abortion today!
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Abortion, Every Day to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
